Speeches

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this European Union action programme for the environment up to 2030, as well as the and other climate proposals, in this context of crisis and war, now seem totally out of touch. Huge increases in energy prices are hitting household and business bills dramatically, with price increases of up to 500%, forcing many companies even to temporarily suspend production. In Italy, in my country, bills in one year increased by 131 % for electricity and 94 % for gas; the cost of gas has jumped to a maximum of 295 euros per megawatt hour, a year ago the same gas cost about 18 euros, the price has therefore increased tenfold. What is the European Commission's response to an epochal crisis like this? It is still empty environmentalism, denial of reality and unreal attempts to oppose the use, at least temporarily, of existing coal, gas and nuclear. In this programme, you propose the elimination by 2025 of all direct and indirect subsidies to fossil fuels at national level and, therefore, also at the level of the whole European Union. An irresponsible choice, especially now. Furthermore, we cannot agree with your request to make the best possible use of environmental taxation. The European Union gets about 40 % of its gas and 30 % of its oil from Russia, and our energy dependence from abroad instead of improving has been worsening in recent years due to the energy transition you have carried out, which has led to the closure of coal-fired power plants; you have totally opposed energy sources such as, for example, nuclear, focusing everything on renewables and not guaranteeing the necessary energy mix. Even in these hours the Commission's answers are rather vague, there is still talk of acceleration on renewables, which in the short term will absolutely not help our continent. Instead of thinking of serious alternatives to dependence on Russia, you have given birth to yet another brilliant idea: lower the thermostat, as if Europeans were not already doing so, given the crazy prices of recent weeks. In addition, with the surge in raw materials there are thousands of farms and breeders totally in crisis. I hope that the ideas of reducing agricultural production by 30% and leaving 10% of agricultural land uncultivated to protect biodiversity will be immediately put to rest. In short, it is time to stop with the "Greta" style ideology; I think companies, consumers and families need seriousness and healthy realism. Realpolitik In other words.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the flight of millions of women, children and the elderly from Ukraine is a tragedy that deserves the utmost commitment from Europe. We must be focused on welcoming and supporting Ukrainian refugees. According to UNICEF, one million children have already fled in recent weeks. I am thinking of the moving images of solidarity and welcome in Poland and Hungary; These are nations that the left has insulted here for months and that have been called fascists and racists because their governments oppose illegal immigration. They now welcome more than a million people fleeing the war. They give us an exact dimension of the differences that exist between the real refugees and the many illegal immigrants that Europe, and in particular Italy, have welcomed and still welcome. We have in our eyes the scenes of women and children greeting the fathers who remain there to defend the homeland and freedom, images very different from the selfies on the boats of the many economic migrants who do not escape from any war and that the left wants in Europe to feed the business of hospitality. This background caciara gives exactly the figure of how true what I'm saying is. Now the time for propaganda and goodism is over, it is time for concreteness, it is time to really help those fleeing war. This is the only real welcome and on this we are and will always be at the forefront.

Yes, but these documents are produced by the Commission. All right, I'll finish. In recent weeks, the European Commission, at the Conference on the Future of Europe, presented another manifesto entitled "The future is in your hands", with the image of a veiled woman, this one. I don't know if he remembers, he was from the Commission. Yes, I put it away, but it's everywhere. Either you are ashamed of it, or I tell you that this is the image of women for the European Commission today. I agree with you, we should take it off. It is bleak indeed that in 2022, for Europe, the muse of several communication campaigns is an Islamic woman with a veil, because it means backing down on rights, archiving our values, our culture and our identity simply to please Muslims. I'm right! But if this is the future of Europe for you, I think it is absurd and shameful!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Europe must participate by presenting its priorities at the 60th edition of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Well, let us say that the European institutions have shown that they have an image of women that I think is frankly disgraceful. Let's go in order. In November, the Council of Europe carried out a campaign, fortunately then withdrawn due to the right protests, of the title "Beauty is in diversity", as freedom is... (The speaker shows a poster and is then interrupted by the President.)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in accordance with the wishes of the European Union, the European Year of Youth should lead to greater involvement of young people in society, politics and decision-making processes. Apart from the propaganda, however, it is quite clear that Europe is not able to intercept and understand the difficulties of young people. I am thinking, for example, of the growing phenomenon of baby gang, which in many European cities represents a growing scourge and a serious danger to the security of citizens. The risk of emulation, also fueled by social media, is very strong. The baby gang They grow in the contexts of abandoned suburbs and, very often, are linked to real problems of non-integration. In fact, these gangs There is no doubt that inclusion and integration are a mirage in certain communities, especially in Islamic communities. We have seen cases of unprecedented violence and gravity, such as those of New Year's Eve in Milan, with over a dozen girls harassed at the hands of young people of North African origin. I also point out that in juvenile prisons there is a dramatic increase in foreigners. Consider that in Italy, in my country, more than half of the prisoners in juvenile prisons are foreigners. It is a higher percentage than that of adult foreign detainees. New Europeans cannot be represented by those who have no desire to respect our laws and values. The left in this case, as in others, pretends not to see reality or worse minimizes it, linking it, as we have heard, to COVID. In short, it is a justification that cannot be supported. We also cannot remain silent about the alarming loss of centrality of the family, which is no longer taken as a model, often in favor of characters, such as some rappers, who send messages often complacent towards delinquency and violence.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this debate is also about women's rights. Well, on New Year's Eve in Milan, my city, twelve girls were assaulted with sexual harassment. Twelve is the number we have today, but complaints are continuing to increase. They have been sexually harassed by over fifty boys of foreign origin, have suffered violence sometimes even for twenty minutes and have been thrown to the ground, touched in every part of their body, have been violated. Imagine dozens of hands simultaneously on their bodies without being able to defend themselves. It has been repeated what happened in 2016 on New Year's Eve in Cologne, you will all remember, with many women attacked and harassed by dozens of men. When we talk about respect for women we must have the courage not to turn our heads on the other side and we must also do so when discussing the image of women carried out by certain communities, I am talking about Islamic communities. These violences, which in Milan were carried out by people of foreign origin, have a clear name: In Arabic they are called taharrush gamea, i.e. "collective harassment". They are daughters of an established idea of a submissive woman, to be oppressed. These criminals, these shits are the offspring of unrestrained, unmanaged immigration and are a product of failed, indeed never truly aspirated, integration. We must say it forcefully: Integration in many suburbs of our cities does not really exist and is failing miserably and parallel societies are being created. Here many people will say that wearing the Islamic veil is a sign of freedom. I do not think so, I do not think so, in my opinion it is a symbol of submission, it is a symbol of a woman who does not have the right to be seen for what she is, who cannot show herself. I think of the case of Saman, the girl killed in Italy because her Pakistani family did not want her to go around without a veil and then she also wanted to refuse, think about it, an imposed marriage. But I also think of the many girls attacked in the family because maybe they just want to live in the West. So as a mother, as a woman, I cannot accept in any way the liberal silence of a certain left, which has tried in every way to deny the connection between the violence in Milan and immigration and the role of women in Islamic circles. I close, unfortunately, even in this institution we are more interested in gender language than in defending women from violence.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, arrests of journalists, imprisonment of political dissidents, violence and clashes in the streets: The situation in Hong Kong is increasingly worrying. China's behavior increasingly poses a global threat to human rights. What is happening in Hong Kong is unacceptable and the European Union's attitude towards the Chinese is unfortunately subdued. China is using its growing power to silence critics. We would not want Europe to bend because it is facing a global economic giant. The continuous arrest of journalists, called "bad apples", is sinking Hong Kong into a constant state of repression of opinions. Hong Kong, once a bulwark of freedom in Asia and around the world, has plummeted from 18th place in 2002 to 80th place in 2021 in the world's press freedom indicator. The goal of the Chinese communist regime is to accompany the island on Chinese standards. China ranks third out of 180 countries, with more than 120 reporters and bloggers currently detained. The repression of rights in Hong Kong is a problem that we also see in Taiwan, Tibet and other minorities. It is quite clear that statements of condemnation are no longer enough, but instead it is necessary to impose respect for human rights among the conditions of any kind of trade or political agreement between the European Union and China, including through economic sanctions.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, controlling borders and maintaining order are not human rights violations. It is good to say this and at the same time to reiterate that illegal immigration is a crime and not a right. Too often, however, the Commission and the left carry out policies with propaganda that, frankly, is pathetic and promotes illegal migration, the profits of which end up in the pockets of human trafficking criminals. Europe, both on the border with Belarus and with the coasts of Italy, should carry a message of seriousness and rigour in defense of the borders of state sovereignty and against illegal immigration. It should follow the example of Matteo Salvini, who had blocked the landings and for this reason received insults, threats and absurd trials. On the other hand, too often you have launched slogans on reception, slogans that have only fuelled false hopes of immigrants and tragedies, as often happens to migrants trying to cross the sea. Blackmail by dictators through immigrants can no longer be allowed. At the same time, enough with the ideology of immigration, do neither immigrants nor European citizens a favor.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Glasgow conference has produced results, let us face it, which are frankly disappointing. Be clear: environmental protection is a top priority, but the ecological challenge must be addressed with pragmatism and seriousness, certainly not with ideology. The green transition, as envisioned by the European Commission, has costs that are often overlooked. The European race towards climate neutrality, not accompanied by that of giants such as Russia, China, India and partly also the United States, risks being a burden only for our continent. Europe accounts for only 7% of global emissions. Only European taxpayers, and in particular the poorer classes, are at risk of paying for the wrong choices, as we have already seen in France for the expensive gasoline. At the same time, rising energy prices with dramatic effects on bills are partly linked to certain decisions. green. These meetings in which hundreds of leaders arrive by plane objectively risk being the pride of hypocrisy and broken promises. Let's also not forget that China is already a leader in many of the commodities products of the future. I am thinking of the lithium of electric vehicle batteries, the semi-metals that are fundamental for wind turbines and also for solar panels. In short, our productions risk being penalized by unsustainable constraints and then becoming totally dependent on the Chinese giant. The environment must be preserved at all costs, but we must have the foresight to calculate the social and economic consequences of the choices we will make. The risk is to see further relocations and redundancies.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, what can I say? This is a surreal discussion. We are here to talk about police brutality against Roma. In order to fuel your goodness you come to attack the police, those who often find themselves operating in difficult contexts, receiving violence, threats and insults. I express my solidarity with the men and women in uniform and I am tired of this absurd attempt to beatify the Roma. Let's be clear: Many Roma communities have no intention of integrating and very often live in camps where illegality is a constant, among children who do not go to school and adolescents targeted at theft and scams. In Italy, in recent weeks, the chronicles report the cases of numerous house occupations. Consider that in Rome some women occupied the house of an 86-year-old man who had gone to the doctor. Rather, I wonder why Europe remains silent about the increasing violence that uniformed men and women face every day. In Italy, only police officers record an attack every three hours, for a total of almost eight attacks a day. Instead, you think of massively funding fake inclusion and non-existent Roma integration. You confirm, for the umpteenth time, very far from the real needs of the citizens.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in a package of economic recovery measures, the European Commission has financed two Dutch companies with two million euros for the development of meat production in laboratories. It is money that is allocated to the business of test-tube meat, that is, to understand: We finance synthetic meat. It is unacceptable to support companies that sell products obtained from cell multiplication in the laboratory as meat. Your offensive against the flesh, the real one, is sincerely reaching incredible paradoxes. With choices of this type our farms are penalized, our productions with a consolidated tradition of food excellence. You do this to support synthetic and ultra-processed products, the impact of which on human health and the environment, among other things, is not even known. This wasted money is a slap in the face to the meat supply chain, brought to its knees by the crisis. We are tired of a Europe that tramples on products that are part of our history and our food culture.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union's migration policy is a failure. Twelve European countries with right-wing and left-wing governments are calling for an end to illegal immigration by any means necessary, and what does Europe say? He raises his shoulders and continues to do nothing, succumbing to his goodness. There are those who have fought human traffickers, such as the leader of the Salvini League, and incredibly risk jail for enforcing laws and those who, like Europe, do nothing to limit departures and landings, fueling the business of reception. Let us also not forget the danger of Islamic extremism, since so many terrorists have arrived by sea or via the Balkan route. The European Union is a continuing disaster on immigration: no automatic relocation, no rotation of ports, no attempt to stem landings, no action to curb land immigration routes. Just empty words and a pathetic attitude. You get the line dictated by Captain Carola who wants all illegal immigrants in Europe.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this debate on the objectives of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change risks being very similar to the bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla Your actions on the environment are ineffective and costly, and I do not say so, we do not say so, but the European Court of Auditors says so, criticising you for spending a mountain of money badly. In fact, 135 billion have already been spent and would not have had any effect in the fight against climate change. Despite mistakes and out-of-the-way goals, you want to throw away more money from European taxpayers, another $320 billion for the next seven years and $1 trillion for the Green Deal until 2030. The Utopia green it is already causing damage in a crisis context: severe difficulties in finding energy, lost jobs, relocations, bills and rising costs for households. Meanwhile, China continues to quietly pollute and has even ordered the production of more than 120 coal mines at maximum capacity. Europe is experimenting against citizens, getting the line dictated by those who do not then give up flights low cost, air conditioning and state-of-the-art mobile phones. The truth is that your proposal green It feeds on catastrophism, but does not offer viable solutions in such a short time, with the risk of condemning us all to self-inflicted economic regression. In short, we call for more pragmatism, a global approach, more time and more attention to citizens, rather than fashions. green.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the Farm to Fork programme is dangerous, ideological and inadequate. It is dangerous because it supports tools such as Nutri-score that, without adequate scientific basis, penalizes healthy foods, such as the excellence of "Made in Italy", instead promoting junk foods, damaging the Mediterranean diet, which is a cultural heritage of humanity, favoring only multinationals. Moreover, it is frankly inconceivable that Europe, instead of supporting our food history, carries on food such as insects. It is ideological because, without an adequate analysis of the economic and social impact, it provides for the reduction of the farmer as climate guardian and imposes controls and objectives that make so much "big green brother", with the risk of favoring extra-European imports, going to weigh on the producer and, above all, consumers. It is inadequate because there is a claim that food is cheap; in this way you will only favor junk, poor quality and industrial foods penalizing quality excellence. Moreover, the prejudices against foods of animal origin, such as meat, are frankly ridiculous. The recent 2021 UN Nutrition Report also shows that for a significant proportion of poorly fed people, meat, milk and eggs are sources of essential nutrients that plant foods will not be able to offer today or ever. We are tired of a European Union that, instead of supporting and enhancing our food culture, targets our products to benefit multinationals.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the civil rights situation in Myanmar continues to be very bad: More than 1,000 dead, more than 7,000 arbitrary arrests, nearly 6,000 convictions for political crimes, more than 2,000 arrest warrants for fleeing opponents. Unfortunately, in recent attacks there have also been children killed. The rights to freedom of expression and association are not allowed; the outcome of democratic elections is not respected; different ethnicities and religious groups in the country are persecuted; the former democratic leaders of this nation have been arrested on unfounded charges; the number of political prisoners is increasing; political demonstrations are prohibited; There are even attacks on schools and health facilities. I also point out that here, as in many other countries of the world, the Christian community suffers very serious violence: We are witnessing periodic killings and arrests of Christians and bombings and raids in churches. Europe must be proactive and stronger in demanding respect for human rights and must somehow prod China into condemning what is happening, instead of indirectly supporting the new regime. It is unacceptable to witness such a violent repression, limiting ourselves only to expressing concern. The European Union must take strong action against those who deny freedom in Myanmar. The former Burma was building a democratic future before the military coup and we must support those who, even risking their lives, demonstrated to defend human rights. Europe must defend freedom and democracy, otherwise it makes no sense to exist.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, as always, Europe is more interested in bringing in immigrants than in defending our borders. You have thought of an Agency to facilitate operational assistance in the management of reception and in the evaluation of applications for international protection, but in this way you risk increasing the bureaucracy and also the costs for the countries of first arrival. In short, you have created yet another bandwagon. Italy has for years been forced to bear alone, in the silence of Europe, the burden of an increasingly unacceptable irregular immigration. Instead of working to limit departures, you continue to pursue policies that push more and more immigrants to enter Europe illegally. Illegal immigration is detrimental to the whole of Europe. We propose strict management of external borders, both land and sea, and call for migrant identification centres in North African transit countries. How do you respond? Respond with such hypocrisy and ridiculous goodness, favoring only human traffickers. When will you finally be able to open your eyes?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the ideological environmentalism of the European Union produces only disasters. Rising energy prices are, in fact, the result of Europe's foolish policies. It is increasingly evident that Greta's supporters are good ecologists, but with the wallets of others. It is the citizens and consumers who pay the increases in bills and also the increases in product prices in general, as well as the hundreds of thousands of workers, who are evidently considered expendable on the altar of the ecological transition. Let it be clear that it is good that young people are more responsible for the future of the planet, but the European Union should, as it were, be more focused on reality. European companies pay much more for energy than competitor Instead, do absolutely nothing with the countries that pollute the most, such as China and India, with which you continue to sign trade agreements. At the same time, of course, allowing China to get its hands on solar power allows it to have a monopoly on that kind of production. In short, in practice the future is gray. We ask you to be more consistent and not to discriminate against European companies and citizens.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, how long will we endure the repeated violations of human rights by the Islamic Republic of Iran? Iran severely represses the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly. Security forces have made illegal use of force to crack down on the protests. The authorities continue to detain hundreds of dissident protesters and simply human rights defenders and have sentenced many to imprisonment, flogging and other torture, including amputations. Women experience entrenched and violent discrimination, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment are systemic. The right to a fair trial does not exist. The death penalty is used as a weapon of political repression. Executions were carried out on boys who were not even eighteen years old at the time of the crime. Djalali's story is dramatic. The Iranian-Swedish researcher was sentenced to death on an absurd charge of espionage. Unjustly detained, tortured, placed in solitary confinement and forced to have no medical care, subjected to a trial defined by gravely unfair international observers. The death sentence and its imminent execution are inconceivable acts that should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by the international community. Yet nothing is done here. Iran's Islamic regime continues to commit crimes against humanity often by justifying them on religious grounds. How long will Europe be silent? How long are we going to be silent? Assuming someone really thinks that with a resolution you can solve something.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this proposal is an acknowledgement of failure. You have failed in the coordination of European countries, despite the promises of President von der Layen, you have failed in solidarity between states with countries such as Italy, which was denied the availability of ventilators and masks at the beginning of the pandemic; you have failed on contracts with pharmaceutical companies, where you have not provided for penalties with conditions that have seen us add up delays on delays compared to other countries in the world; You have failed through EMA on vaccines. Do we want to talk about the tragicomic affair with AstraZeneca? First planned only for young people, then no no, it is for the elderly, then let's make it for everyone, then pay attention only to an age group and while EMA reassured about the goodness of the vaccine, European countries blocked it. The European Union has consistently acted late, in a disorderly manner and without adequate transparency. Despite the many mistakes made, however, no one takes responsibility and no one thinks about resigning. On the contrary, relaunch, asking for more structures and more skills and obviously also more money. You are now proposing to strengthen prevention structures so that they can better organise themselves through databases for the supply of medicines and medical devices. In this regard, we consider it strategic to support European production because today more than ever we should have understood, at the very least, that there is a need to reduce dependence on third countries for raw materials, medicines and medical devices and much more. Synergy between bodies and the exchange of information are certainly useful because it is absolutely a priority to finally be able to respond quickly, efficiently and in a coordinated manner to emergencies, but we cannot forget that between 2011 and 2018 the European Commission asked the Member States 63 times to cut their expenditure on health. In short, the critical issues of healthcare arise from problems that you have created and that we are now facing. We are therefore puzzled to give further responsibility to the European Medicines Agency, which, quite frankly, did not shine, indeed. You want more competences in the Union, more task forces, in our opinion it is not necessary to have more structures, but a more adequate organisation and more capacity and quality. And I conclude, perhaps, if I may give a suggestion, let us also avoid giving European money to finance absurd investments such as the one at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Perhaps we can help the Member States and indeed the citizens of Europe.