Debate contributions by Silvia SARDONE

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Manchester attack is only the latest dramatic episode of violence linked to Islamic extremism. How long will you do nothing in the face of the danger of radical Islam? How long will you be silent in the face of attacks, beatings and intimidation against Jews? How long will Europe submit to those who dream of sharia on our continent? Because, let's be clear, that's exactly what's happening. The European institutions, the left in particular, are dominated by the Islamic communities and close their eyes to the extremism that is spreading ever more strongly, targeting the Jews, but also us Christians. A weak and silent Europe is useless, if we do not defend our values and freedoms, we will end up being trampled on by those who dream of an Islamic Europe. We don't have to bend. I don't want Islamic Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Commission, through a spokesperson, has said that it supports the Flotilla mission, acknowledging the humanitarian commitment of activists. I remember that no humanitarian aid was brought and that those who were there did not fill half a truck. It is therefore clear to everyone that there was no intent of humanitarian aid, it was simply a media operation. No children from Gaza were helped by that mission. I also remember subtly that many of the participants in that mission are even opposed to Trump's peace plan, which practically the whole world recognizes favorably. The Commission has supported those who evidently have even more extreme positions than Hamas, people who say "Palestine free from the river to the sea", which means Israel canceled.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, last term you decided to impose the electric car, obviously limiting the consumer choices of citizens. Here, in this warrant try to put a piece of paper. Why? Because you understood that these vehicles have a strong environmental impact, which requires the extraction of critical raw materials for which, look at it, we are dependent on China. So much so that, even today, the rapporteur has spoken of reducing dependence on imports. So what are you doing? Are you changing the rules? But it goes! You decide to do what? To impose new rules and new leaps towards producers, towards demolishers, which will eventually result in higher costs for citizens. This regulation also weakens everyone's freedom to do what they want with their car. Decide to put constraints on selling cars outside the European Union and then put crazy constraints on recycled plastic. Yes, because you decide that a percentage of new cars must have recycled plastic, and of this recycled practice, of this percentage, a part must come not from any good, from any product, but from other vehicles. In other words, sheer madness! We are tired of a European Union that, instead of strengthening its strategic industrial sectors, weakens them and then proposes corrective measures that do not solve anything. I mean, when you realize it, it'll be too late.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, a certain left cannot quite put 'Islamic' close to the word 'terrorist'. We have also seen this in this resolution, just as we have seen the images of the bloody church in Damascus, which should shake consciences. Yet some media, some institutions – including European institutions – and left-wing parties have long tried to erase the horror: chilling scenes that are of a clear Islamist matrix. Denying it is simply indecent and I say it by looking at the very people who wanted to deny it. The Syrian Christian community remains, of course, particularly exposed under this transitional Islamic government, with which now, even, some have in mind to cooperate. The real risk is that of having a new caliphate, institutionalized and legitimized by Europe. Enough silence against the continuous persecution of Christians, also because – we must say it clearly, we must say it here – Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world. The European Union is – as it were – almost afraid to say that these crimes are the result of Islamic extremism. This silence reeks of submission and not only of submission, but also of a shocking retreat on our values. But do you realize? You slap those who ask for help, those who want to profess their faith and those who refuse to bow to Islamism.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to discuss US tariffs on European products, but there is only one reality, namely that the real tariffs that scare businesses are those imposed by Europe itself. And the anti-European right does not say so, says one like Mario Draghi, who a few months ago spoke of the long-standing inability of the European Union to face its high regulatory obstacles, much more damaging - he says - for the growth of any tariff that the United States could impose. According to the International Monetary Fund, Europe's internal barriers are equivalent to a 45% tariff for production and a 110% tariff for services. So – among other things, pending a possible agreement with the United States, I cannot fail to mention the arrogant attitude taken in the negotiations – Europe in general has been suffering from weak growth for decades. Instead of helping companies, what has Europe done in recent years? Over the past five years it has produced an impressive number of standards. I give you the numbers: more than 13 000. Do you want to know how many have been produced in the United States in recent years? 3 500. Enough of this oppressive bureaucracy: The real damage is only you.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, continue to propose ideological and unachievable targets, such as the 90% reduction in emissions by 2040. Yet every day, entire European manufacturing sectors are calling for a change of course. Von der Leyen and Ribera ignore the alarm cry of businesses, workers, families and consumers, who are increasingly affected by your crazy choices. Your Green Deal is estimated to cost around €1 285 billion by 2050. For Italy alone, we are talking about 40 billion euros per year. These expenses for buying new cars, renovating homes or paying green taxes fall entirely on citizens and businesses. We are in the midst of a crisis, and according to trade unions, European industry is losing 500 jobs a day. But you don't care at all. Let's be clear: According to some estimates, in the last ten years, compared with a reduction of ten points in the emissions of the countries of the European Union, the rest of the world has increased them, emissions, by 120, therefore twelve times as much. European citizens must know that this Commission is building a future of degrowth, which only some left-wing fanatics like. I am also saying this to you, Commissioner, who, theoretically, should not like these fanatics of the left.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are tired of those who want to criminalise fishermen and the economic sectors linked to the sea. We would not want the new EU rules on the seas to be driven once again by ideology, by the proliferation of rules and prohibitions and by attempts to target traditional fishing. Consideration should be given to the fact that considerable efforts have already been made to comply with European regulations. The ecological transition cannot be truly sustainable if it does not take into account the sea and the people who depend on it. We therefore want European fisheries to be protected by introducing mirror clauses in all trade agreements to ensure that imports meet the same quality, environmental and social standards as European fishermen. We cannot accept ecological rules that only penalise European operators. We also call for our fishermen to be able to operate without facing unfair competition from third-country vessels, which are often engaged in unsustainable fishing practices. We want to defend national sovereignty also over the seas, together with local traditions and needs, without suffering centralised models imposed by the European Union, which lead to new regulations and additional burdens for sea-related economic activities. In short, we defend our seas and we also defend those who work in our waters.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, why is the European Union wasting EUR 17 million of public funds on projects on Islam, Islamophobia and sharia? Why do we see among the European funds, given in recent years to universities and associations, so many projects related to the Koran? Here are some of the titles of the funded studies: "Animals in the Philosophy of the Islamic World"; Then there's another one: "Mapping the evolution of Sharia"; or "Understanding past history to address Islamophobia of the present"; and one more: Openings to the inclusion of Muslims in democracies. A real priority for Europe, isn't it? No, because the European institutions use public funds very casually for questionable projects. Moreover, I find this obsession with the Muslim world, which so much resembles shameful propaganda, disconcerting. Why is Europe not defending our values, our culture and our traditions?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are voting on the proposal to simplify the CBAM regulation, the tax that applies to carbon-intensive imported goods. It is yet another measure that seeks to modify insufficiently the disasters that you yourselves have generated, attached to a short-sighted ideology, that green. Your proposal makes it easier for small importers who cannot bear the current burden but still do not make the mechanism more economically sustainable. These provisions are the daughters of the ETS, the absurd tool designed by you to combat climate change and which represents a noose for the European production system. We need a complete break with the failure logic of the Green Deal: Enough with the absurd constraints you want to impose. let our companies breathe, let them grow, defend our jobs, relaunch European industry before a slow but unstoppable decline.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Turkey is not Europe, it can never be, and we must say it forcefully. The accession process has been suspended but must be cancelled without hesitation. For too many years the left has been pushing, with a wrong and disconcerting attitude, to drag Turkey into Europe. For too many years, the European Union has poured billions into Ankara in a hypocritical and short-sighted way. Only now – and I stress only now – do we wake up to serious human rights violations, with mass arrests of protesters, journalists and opponents. Nor can we ignore the dangerous Islamist drift undertaken by the Turkish government: To deny our values, to close our eyes to the rights trampled on, would be unforgivable. Turkey can remain a trading partner and a major player on the international stage. But it is clear that profound cultural, legal, values and fundamental rights divergences keep it and must keep it away from Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, what is happening in Cameroon is unacceptable: journalists who have been arrested for exercising the right to report and the fundamental right to freedom of expression. It is unworthy that there is control over the media of this kind, with methods of intimidation to silence the press and thus suppress dissent. Justice cannot be disrupted for political reasons, and this applies everywhere, not only in Cameroon. The European Union must be able to make its voice heard, defending freedom and, in general, freedom of expression. Human rights must be defended in every way. We would have liked to have shared this resolution, but the cordon sanitaire did not allow it; You have, as it were, a strange concept of democracy in this House. So, even on such an important issue, such as freedom of expression and arrested journalists, you prefer to exclude a political party even if it perhaps shares the text. I believe instead that human rights must be defended in every way and by as many people as possible; Your attitude that aims to exclude a political party is unworthy, and it is unworthy especially for the people who are in prison today.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the major debates in this plenary in Strasbourg: Immigration, security, work... but go! The European Union's top priority is a strategy to support the Roma and combat discrimination against them. We are truly absurd. Practically every year, since I have been an MEP, there has been this debate. We are discussing what for you, evidently, is perhaps the only emergency: EUR million for unnecessary actions. Talk about easy access to homes and work, without distinction between those who respect the rules and those who do not, with good peace of the many decent people who have been on the list for years for a social home. But for you there must be preferential treatment for Roma: It is unacceptable! At the same time, you are completely disinterested in the fact that many Roma communities have no intention of integrating and live proudly between delinquency and degradation. Are we going to stop throwing taxpayers' money into really questionable strategies and plans for the Roma?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to examine the report on human rights and democracy in the world and what we read is often disconcerting: ideology everywhere and very serious omissions. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the rights of immigrants, which talks about the growth of xenophobia, racism and discrimination against migrants, victims of increasing dehumanization; no mention of the need to stop irregular immigration and the role of some NGOs complicit in human trafficking. Silence on the horrific treatment of women in numerous Islamic countries which, I recall, have not signed the Universal Charter of Human Rights; they have created a different one, an Arab Charter of Human Rights, in which Article three even mentions positive discrimination, provided for in favor of women by Islamic sharia. Not a word, moreover, about the 360 million Christians persecuted in the world. We need to focus on the real emergencies for Europe: the expansion of Islamism, which undermines our values and rights, and the spread of insecurity in our cities, often exacerbated by out-of-control immigration.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, a debate on the first 100 days of the new Commission, with triumphalist tones. Nothing, it already makes you laugh like that. Ursula von der Leyen commented (I read her statements here): "This Commission stands ready to tackle crises. We need speed and determination. We have a unique opportunity to build a stronger, safer and more prosperous Europe." Comic statements. In recent months you have worked only to modify the plans, since Green Deal to the car, passing through the repatriation regulations, because you have realized the enormous mistakes that you have made. First you make disasters by damaging businesses, families and consumers, and then you have to intervene, often badly, to remedy them. It's ridiculous! We are also here to celebrate your plan to rearma Europe and your considerations of pathetic defiance of Trump's United States: 100 days of proclamations, slogans, useless meetings, sensational turnarounds and shameful arrogance. The European citizens in the elections have already made you realise that you are doing everything wrong: But you're still pretending to be nothing!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, bad faith, ignorance, incapacity: Here, let's say, these are the watchwords of the disaster you have caused in the world of the car, in these years. Bad faith? Bad faith, because you have carried out industrial policies disguised as environmental, an economic suicide with more unemployed in Europe while in Beijing they celebrate. Ignorance? Well, let's just say it didn't take a genius: You have imposed epochal changes without studying the effects they would have caused. Incapacity? You've hurt businesses, families and workers without getting any environmental improvements. Now correct the repairs. But it is not enough to postpone the expiry of the fines to give oxygen to the producers: You have to cancel the 2035 diesel and gasoline block. Incentives are useless, they do not convince consumers. Are you waiting for the entire supply chain to collapse? You have to apologize and change course once and for all.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, incredible! The European Commission is finally waking up. Better late than never, I'd say. After years of empty words, good attitudes about reception, you realize that the strategy on returns must be changed and, in general, that work must be done to limit illegal immigration. But you have to do a huge mea culpa. While in Italy Minister Salvini blocked landings, collapsed arrivals and therefore reduced tragedies at sea, you criticized him! When we demanded the redistribution of migrants and the rotation of ports, you slept. You've been blocking repatriation reform for six years, slaves to the blackmail of the left. Now unlock it but don't face a very important problem: In fact, there is no sanction against third countries that do not want to take back their compatriots illegally present in our countries. Against illegal immigration we need a more coordinated and firmer work, otherwise we will face yet another failure of yours: Desperate in our territories who have no right to remain there and who live delinquently. That's enough!

Look, I'll tell you what's going on in my country. In my country, whoever arrives, whoever arrives as a legal immigrant, has all the rights that Italian citizens have. So, there is no push from the state to bring these people to delinquency. But I'll ask you a question: If what you say is true, and therefore if the left is right, why in Sweden, which is the state we are talking about, did the centre-right win, in fact certifying the failure of years of the left? Probably because the Communists were wrong this time too.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, you do not have the courage to say that it is irregular immigration that has caused the spread of increasingly dangerous criminal gangs in Europe. Sweden, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy: There are more and more networks of delinquency, often involving very young people who are the protagonists of fights, dealing, vandalism and even murders and attacks. This criminality is the result of years of do-goodism, of indiscriminate acceptance, of fake integration, of open doors. It is the collateral damage of the policies of the left, which still denies the obvious correlation between irregular immigration and crime. Suburbs that become ghettos of degradation and insecurity, territories that we lose and where the police struggle to enter, areas where laws and rules no longer exist. When will you understand that those who push for more immigration put the security of European citizens at risk?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am in my second term here. For years now, we have been in this Parliament denouncing the horror of the human rights situation in Iran. It is regrettable, however, that for the umpteenth time we avoid saying that it is an Islamic regime, which tramples on the rights and freedoms, starting with those of women. But left-wing feminists are silent, and I address you, who are silent for fear of losing their votes. Yes, because that's the reason. If the European Union does not start from this assumption, it is as if it turns its back on women, political dissidents and those in prison subjected to isolation and torture. Let us not forget, moreover, the persecution of minorities by the Iranian regime, including Christians, Kurds and Baha'is, all victims of ethnic and religious discrimination. We cannot, therefore, condemn Iran without mentioning in the slightest the Islamic context on which the moral laws and repression carried out by the regime are based. Yet no one here has mentioned once that the regime is Islamic. In the background, there remains a huge question: Apart from pointless resolutions, what is Europe doing in the face of the terror imposed by Iran?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are here to discuss how to deal with the demographic challenges facing the European Union. As you herd in the dark, let's look around: Europe is already changing face. Mohammed is already the most used name for children in Brussels, Oslo, Berlin and England. In France, almost 30% of new births involve the use of names of Muslim origin. In Molenbeek, Brussels, of the top ten most common names of newborns, nine are Muslims. The Europe we know today will no longer exist. The future that awaits us will be characterized by a panorama consisting of minarets and Islamic veils everywhere. European Judeo-Christian roots will be replaced by cultures that do not belong to us. An Islamized Europe for Muslims is a dream, a nightmare for us. What does Europe do? It pretends not to see and, indeed, with its policies favors immigration and therefore substitution.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today, the day after Donald Trump took office, there are long faces here in the European Parliament, faces of people who are shocked by the inauguration speech. But what did he ever say? He said all the right things that we can share and that we should do too. For example, Trump talks about repatriating irregular immigrants: Instead, here the left is talking about giving away citizenships. Talk about defending national borders: instead, in Europe we had someone like Matteo Salvini who risked jail for defending European borders. Talk about using all available energy resources, including oil and gas: Here, on the other hand, we are moving forward with the Green Deal that is sinking businesses. It is contrary to ideology. woke: Here, in Brussels, we are succumbing to political correctness. He says that American citizens will be able to buy the car they want: Right thing, but the Europeans don't, because here you continue with the obligation of the electric car from 2035. In short, on the one hand Trump's revolution, on the other an embarrassing immobility.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen: women to be abused and subjugated. It is the vision that is spreading more and more among young people in Islamic communities. I wonder: When will you open your eyes? I want to read you the dramatic testimony of a young Englishwoman, one of the victims of group violence on New Year's Eve in Piazza del Duomo in Milan. He said: There were 40 disgusting men harassing me. I had to fight to survive. These are his words. Group harassment by immigrants of Islamic faith against a dozen girls according to an Arab rite called "taharrush gamea". This is not the first time: How to forget the horror of New Year's Eve 2016 in Cologne? Then we had similar cases in Hamburg, Zurich, Salzburg, Helsinki and then again in Milan, on New Year's Eve, in 2022. You are pretending nothing because you should mea culpa about the damage of immigration and failed integration in so many European countries. When will you understand that we are facing an emergency?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the first plenary day of the first plenary session in 2025. So, we are talking about very important issues. And what is the priority for you? The priority is the record heat of 2024, the warmest year on record. So for you, again and again, it is the call for climate action to combat global warming – this is the title of the debate. What does it mean, however, in essence? More Green Deal and therefore more mazzate to the European economy. You really don't want to realize that you're making a blatant mistake. But, I say: Have you ever looked at the numbers? No, because Europe accounts for just 8-9 % of global emissions: Even if we reset ours, nothing would change. And yet, to be the first in the class, you have imposed ideological rules that no one follows, let alone China. In the meantime, however, you will remove funds from businesses, health and education. For what? Not at all. And in the meantime, did you know that global coal consumption reached its all-time high in 2024? Yes, because China consumes and produces more coal than anyone else, burning one in three tons of coal extracted in the world to power its own power plants. And then there is the electric car, your obsession, driven by a Europe that is scourged to give Beijing global dominance driven by coal. A masterpiece of contradictions. You will not convince us with this exasperated and almost grotesque climate terrorism. It's your fault what's happening, all yours.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the repression of women in Iran is ruthless: Arbitrary arrests, brutal violence and even executions are commonplace. Women's rights are being systematically crushed because of religious motivations linked to Islam. It is crucial to emphasize that the engine of this terror is radical Islam and the spread of sharia. It is unfortunate to note that in this House the Left is hesitant to recognise this clearly: I see the benches of the left completely empty. Then, I don't know, they probably don't care what's happening to women in Iran. Condemning the Iranian regime is a necessary step, but it is not enough. We must also firmly oppose the imposition of the Islamic headscarf, which remains a symbol of oppression for women. And feminists: Where are those who fill the squares, often by the way, to denounce the patriarchy? Why don't they take to the streets to raise their voices against certain Islamic communities that treat women as objects? Why are they silent in the face of the atrocities suffered by Iranian women? Why are they absent from this House today?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, we proudly say 'no' to Ursula von der Leyen. "No" to this majority, "no" to this European Commission. We say this because the world is changing direction but the European Union, inexplicably, insists on wrong policies that are weakening it. In the United States, with Trump's victory, the aim is to stop conflicts, to put an end to political climate madness, to streamline the oppressive bureaucratic machine and to reduce the fiscal burden. In Brussels, on the contrary, it pushes to fuel wars, to multiply policies green Disastrous and to impose an obsessive regulation that suffocates businesses and families. Entire sectors are being ruined, such as the European car industry, which is already on its knees. We have already had the von der Leyen experience and it turned out to be a failure, as confirmed by the voters themselves. Europe deserves better. Europe must change course. Europe must change now.