Speeches

Greetings fellow Members, Commissioner. Health is the foundation of everything. Without health, there is no functioning economy, school systems, social protection, politics ... nothing. As long as we have it, we like to forget it in our daily lives. But two years ago, we all received a clear warning, which also showed how very vulnerable individual countries are in the fight against crises of this magnitude. Managing cross-border threats and threats to public health depends, of course, on a number of factors. The first is to strengthen the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Its successful functioning will also depend on digitalisation, data collection and data processing, while ensuring adequate security. In the meantime, the quality of treatment and access to medicines should not depend on the country you come from. This is why we need uniform standards and their delivery, perhaps even joint procurement of health products through EMA. The most important thing is that we have an effective health system in place, because none of us knows the future. Health, as I said, is the foundation of everything.

President-in-Office. We're in the twenty-first century. I know you know, but unfortunately you also know that autocrats and democrats who threaten peace and human freedoms still exist. In the twenty-first century, even here on European soil. Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milorad Dodik is destroying the state and institutions. He denies genocide. As if what people had already lived there wasn't enough. Thirty years after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the war in Ukraine begins. Vladimir Putin is a criminal, and rightly so. Because that's exactly what it is. But what is Dodik? How can anyone not condemn his actions? Since some of his clients are connected to him, is he a less evil man? The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina also deserve a better life, you know, and leaders who care, and we must support them, the citizens, on their way to the European Union. While we must resist, equally loudly, all autocrats and criminals, because the hypocrisy of the European Union in this context was long overdue. Even in their own ranks. The methods are very similar, unfortunately.

Mr. President! If you criticize, attacks follow. If there is no subordination, destruction follows. If you're not with this government, you have to leave. If you are not theirs, be careful. Yes, I am talking about the current situation in Slovenia. In the case of Poland and Hungary, however, we have seen that such a deviation from democratic norms transcends national frameworks and becomes a problem for the Union. It is true that the current Slovenian government has recently yielded to pressure. They released STA funding after nearly a year of manipulation. They took note of the names of the European Delegated Prosecutors after more than a year of legal farce. But don't let that fool you. All this problem is not solved, it is not known what will happen next year, and with prosecutors, the government is still making fun of independent institutions with its decisions on temporaryity and even some new legislative proposals. This indulgence is therefore only an escalation of pressure elsewhere. The prosecution, the judiciary, the police, the media, non-governments, independent regulatory agencies are trying to subordinate, silence, smear. By all means. Behind the alleged pluralism lies the destruction of institutions, behind conspiracy theories about the Communists there is clientelism and corruption. This is not a defence of traditional values. That's their negation. For the sake of the rich democratic tradition and integrity of individuals, our institutions have abstained so far. But how much longer? Where are the concrete responses? When will you learn that the situation in one Member State affects the whole Union?