Debate contributions by Martin SCHIRDEWAN

Mr President, High Representative! We have felt the joy of the overthrow of Assad and his cowardly flight into the lap of his war buddy Putin millions of times in the last few days on the streets in Syria, but also in Europe, but the future of Syria is open. The new leader al-Dschaulani is an Islamist wanted with a $10 million bounty. His militia, the HTS, is listed as a terrorist organization by the UN. And it is pure racist hypocrisy to talk now about how to send the Syrians who fled 14 endless years of civil war back into the unknown as quickly as possible. Germany has taken in one million Syrian war refugees. Many work in systemically important jobs such as the health and transport sectors. Germany needs this workforce. But it also needs these people, who for many have become neighbors and friends. The times when the EU played a political role in the Middle East are long gone. And today, too, an intolerable double standard has emerged: The Commission's silence about Turkey's long-standing war against Kurdistan, which is contrary to international law, is deafening, as is Israel's violation of the ceasefire agreement and its illegal occupation of other Syrian territories. Dictator Erdoğan, who unabashedly dreams of his Great Ottoman Empire, works with Islamist militias that enslave women and children and are in no way inferior to ISIS in their desire to destroy Kurds and Yazidis. And as often as you've been in the last few years ‘Slawa Ukrajini’ I've heard you say so many times I wish you had only once. ‘Bijî Rojava’ said. The Kurds have defeated ISIS – they should have our gratitude. Turkey must immediately stop its war against Kurdistan. The EU must now recognise the democratic-autonomous administration in northern and eastern Syria and establish bilateral diplomatic relations with it – that would be credible European foreign policy. And we now need the united signal from the EU to recognize a Palestinian state. The key to pacifying the Middle East lies in resolving the Palestinian question. Israel must immediately end the war in Gaza and the deaths and suffering of Palestinian civilians and comply with international humanitarian law. The Israeli hostages must be released by Hamas. A safe and sovereign Israel needs a safe and sovereign Palestine by its side, otherwise this region will never come to rest.

Madam President, Mr President Zelenskyy! The war of aggression against Ukraine has been raging for 1,000 days now, and well over 10,000 civilians have now been killed in Putin's murderous war. My solidarity and sympathy belongs to the needy Ukrainian people. That is why it is true that millions of women, the elderly and children who have fled the war have found humanitarian protection in the European Union for the time of the war. To those who are now questioning this protection, including in this House, I would like to say: Shame on you! Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed in this war: Ukrainians, who rightly defend their country, and Russians, many of whom – and this is part of the truth – did not want this war and whom an imperial ruler sent to a cruel death on the battlefields he created. This war must end as soon as possible. Mr President Zelenskyy, our goal is a just and lasting peace, a peace based on international law and respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russian soldiers have lost nothing in Ukraine. Of course, Ukraine will have to sit at the table when this peace is negotiated. This must be respected by all actors, including Putin and the incoming President of the United States. Russia's victory peace, which would be imposed on Ukraine, calls into question the international order as a whole, but international law has no double standards. The right of the militarily stronger must never prevail, otherwise autocrats and imperial states will again and again threaten the territorial integrity of other sovereign states and conjure up belligerent catastrophes. But to do so, we need to find a way out of the language of the military and violence and force diplomacy – through international cooperation, through sustained and increased political pressure from the international community on Russia. Everyone has done too little: the EU Commission and the European governments, the US and China. And we must, on the other hand, increase economic pressure, through targeted and effective sanctions against Putin's power apparatus, against the military-industrial complex, against his oligarchs and against his shadow fleet, with the help of which he circumvents the sanctions. Reconstruction of critical and civilian infrastructure for the people of Ukraine must begin now. An international debt reduction would be an important help for this. Mr President, I do not want large corporations and international capital in particular to earn a golden nose from the war and the reconstruction of Ukraine. Democratic rights must also be defended in times of war, because the future of Ukraine must belong to Ukrainians.

Madam President, One of the great democracies and the greatest economic and military power will be ruled for the next four years by a professed anti-democrat and a convicted criminal. Billionaires dominate the media, business and politics in the United States. There is an oligarchy before our eyes. The announcement of a fundamental reorganization of the state, the political control of the judiciary, the permanent contempt of political competition lead directly into the authoritarian state. Trump and his best buddy Elon Musk spread on Twitter in a fort Fake news, Conspiracy theories, racist and sexist prejudices. Elon Musk is a fool, and I think Twitter should be socialized. Trumps America-firstProtectionism and the threat of punitive tariffs on European products threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs in the European Union. And there is only one sensible answer: A single European industrial policy that secures jobs and makes our industry fit for the future. And in times of global crises and wars, the EU must strengthen its role at the United Nations. Because Trump's election is bad news for climate protection, the protection of existing human rights and also for a just peace order. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East need diplomacy. But they don't need anyone who would rather play golf with Putin than negotiate a just peace. The best answer to the election of Donald Trump is a social policy change in the European Union. Unfortunately, the Commission, Mr Borrell, has been burying its head in the sand for too long and is turning a blind eye to American reality. The EU is not prepared for Trump's victory. We now need investment in the future, in good jobs and in strong public services of general interest – this is the only way to defeat the new fascism.

Madam President, If you look at the state of the European steel industry, this is not a debate about the future of this industry, but an obituary. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in the steel industry and upstream and downstream industries are at risk. How can such a strategically important sector get under the wheel? Unfortunately, the answer is clear: Political and economic mismanagement. Firstly: High energy prices in the European Union threaten energy-intensive industries. Mrs von der Leyen had promised to reduce energy costs. But instead of finally rebuilding the European energy market in a way that lowers prices for consumers and the economy, the Commission is burying its head in the sand and keeping it all going – the main thing is that the big companies continue to make fat profits. But this is how strategic industries such as the steel, automotive and chip industries will not achieve the necessary transformation: For this we need cheap and clean energy, and that is why the energy supply belongs to the public sector. Secondly: The international competition, especially in China, is massively subsidized and can thus produce cheaper. In response, the management of leading European steel companies such as thyssenkrupp or ArcelorMittal is shifting production – outsourcing and job losses at the expense of local workers. First, the top managers and major shareholders fill their pockets with the work of the employees, and then they don't even have the minimum of respect to give back what they deserve to the people, the regions that made them big and rich; They should be ashamed. And thirdly: Public investment must be used to counteract this, but the EU has arbitrarily imposed debt rules that prevent future investments. That's how you shoot yourself in the knee. We need massive investment rather than austerity. If you want to save jobs and keep steel production in Europe, you have to spend money today, that's how easy it is. That is why, like the trade unions, we are calling for a steel action plan for green steel from Europe. The steel industry is a strategic sector; It must not be relocated. Thumbscrews must be applied to the management. We need massive public investment in energy, transport and the necessary infrastructure: This secures the local sales market for steel. The European steel industry is in danger. Maybe their death bells are already ringing, but my group will not accept that. We are on the side of the workers, and we will fight for every single job.

Mr President! For many of the 150 million tenants in the EU, housing has become priceless. And why? Because living space has become a speculative object, because a fat return can be earned with the rent. The left says: Stop it! We want an investment plan in social housing. The costs for energy-efficient building renovation must be socially just and certainly must not be passed on to the tenants alone. In short: We need more affordable housing. Housing is a human right. Stop the speculation with apartments on the stock market and with speculative vacancy. Short-term rentals need to be better regulated. We don't need a rental policy that serves Vonovia, BlackRock, Deutsche Wohnen, Airbnb and the other greedy corporations. We need a rent policy for low-income families, for single parents, for the elderly, students, apprentices, i.e. for everyone without a big bank account.

Madam President, Prime Minister Orbán, it was a great mistake to entrust you with the Presidency of the Council. Unfortunately, you prove this every day through your policy. I am not only referring to your trips abroad to Trump or Putin, which were above all embarrassing PR stunts in their own cause. It's all so absurd and embarrassing, I'll leave that to you. But what really drives me politically, ladies and gentlemen, are your government's political attacks on trade unions and workers' rights. That puts you in line with all these guys preaching water but pushing through a tough neoliberal agenda and creeping the big corporations in the ass. Restriction of the right to strike, tax reforms in favour of the rich and to the detriment of the working population, poorer support for the unemployed and pensioners and cuts in public services - this is your political signature towards your own population. You have unnecessarily covered Hungary with a brutal austerity policy, even though the country is receiving billions of euros from Brussels, which you hate so much, year after year. I wonder: Where does the money go, other than to the government’s business partners? Under your government, Hungary has become the most corrupt country in the European Union. In order to enforce this anti-social policy and disguise corruption in the country, minorities and refugees are scapegoated and fundamental rights and freedoms are systematically restricted. Dear colleagues, every year the largest Nazi march in Europe takes place in Budapest. You probably think, Mr Orbán, that fascism is an opinion and not a crime against humanity. As an anti-fascist, I strongly disagree. As a Democrat, I demand that the German anti-fascists like Maja T., who are in Hungarian prisons, be immediately returned to Germany and that there be a Europe-wide ban on extradition to Hungary, because the Hungarian justice system has had nothing to do with the rule of law for a long time. In your illiberal democracy, Mr Orbán, democratic rights such as the independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press are systematically eroded. Those who again suffer the most from this anti-democratic policy are the Hungarians, i.e. their own people themselves. Jean-Claude Juncker once described you as a small dictator. And you know what, Mr Orbán? I think he was right. Anti-democrats cannot be trusted to lead democratic institutions. That's why I stick to it: You should never have taken over the presidency.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen spoke at length this morning about transparency and accountability. Now, just yesterday, the European Court of Justice ruled that this Commission unlawfully withheld from the public the full COVID contracts it concluded with the major pharmaceutical companies. This is about the essence of democratic politics. Transparency is a prerequisite for trust in democracy, and the European Parliament – that is, us – must also be able to exercise its supervisory role vis-à-vis the Commission in a decent manner. That is why we want clarity about the fact that European taxpayers' money has been used for the public and not for the interests of the big pharmaceutical companies. That is why my group is asking the Members present here to give the President of the Commission the time to be able to fully disclose the Treaties – to ensure transparency – and that is why we are requesting that the vote be postponed to September.

Madam President, Of course, it is necessary for the European Union to continue to support Ukraine so that Russia's war of aggression ends as quickly as possible. Almost every day, Ukraine is attacked with Russian missiles and drones. The repulsive rocket attack on Kiev's largest children's hospital a few days ago once again showed us the entire brutality of Putin's war. The families of the victims should have all our sympathy. However, these deadly weapons often contain electronic components from the West – for example, with the TÜV seal or inscriptions such as ‘Made in USA’ – and the European Union imposes one ineffective package of sanctions after another. Let me give you another example: German exports of vehicle parts to Kyrgyzstan have risen by an incredible 5 100 percent in the last four years. I will not tell you a secret when I say that these exports will of course be forwarded to Russia in order to circumvent the sanctions. And the EU? She is silent again. But why aren't effective sanctions being imposed on the military-industrial complex and on the corrupt Russian oligarchs? Let me tell you why: Because the corporations dictate what they want, and they don't want to lose sales just because Russia is attacking Ukraine. While the yachts of sanctioned oligarchs dock in European ports, our citizens have been financing the maintenance of frozen oligarchic empires for two years. The EU is doing nothing again. Cheating on corporate interests and protecting the property of oligarchs is certainly not a smart peace policy and will in no way force Putin to the negotiating table – but only there can the path to peace be negotiated together with Ukraine. So far, the EU remains guilty of any diplomatic initiative, and I do not want to speak here of Viktor Orbán's poisoned love greetings from Moscow. After more than two years of war and death, it is becoming increasingly clear that more and more weapons will not end this war. The future of a peaceful Europe lies in strengthening international organisations and mutual disarmament, not in a new arms race.