Speeches

Mr President, colleagues, this is my first text as a rapporteur in human rights, and I have to say I’m very proud of it. Together with my great shadow rapporteur colleagues, we managed to put together an extensive, but also ambitious, set of recommendations that draws up a clear strategy for the Council and for the external services to follow. I believe the two main strengths we have in this report are its pragmatism, but also its complex approach. It is indeed a pragmatic text because I am convinced that the way to pursue a value-based EU foreign policy is not only through big words, but also through practical instruments. For instance, we should never forget that we are a market of 450 million people, and this gives us very concrete tools to promote our values across the globe. We can leverage our trade agreements, our financing programmes and the corporate value chains to promote our human rights and good governance all across the globe. And the other important message, I believe, is that global problems are interlinked and we have to see them in their complexity. Take just the example of climate action, human rights and anti-corruption. Communities all around the world suffer from polluted air, deforestation, polluted waters, and the very fact that it happens to them is an attack on their rights. But from the Philippines to Colombia, there is always a network of corruption in the background: oligarchs, bribery, organised crime. We need to recognise these links so that we can step up to fight for the environment, and we need our mandatory due-diligence law to make sure that no European companies are complicit in these crimes because the health of our planet also depends on the health of our democracy. And finally, this Parliament stands with the activists, with the human rights defenders, with the investigative journalists worldwide who are on the forefront of this fight against kleptocracies. Designing programmes to support them by all financial and legal means possible is one of the key priorities of this report.

Mr President, with this report an overwhelming majority of Parliament makes it clear that the European Union needs to stand up against authoritarians and the way to do this is to go after their money. This demand has never been as important as today when Vladimir Putin’s Russia is on the brink of invading Ukraine and we have to face it. Putin has spent 20 years freely stashing his money in the West, and now he feels like he can do anything. We need to show him and the other authoritarian criminals that this is not the case and he cannot. Because just think about what’s happening here – authoritarian regimes are robbing their own people, squeezing resources from them, trashing their human rights and then they take this money to buy luxury property in Italy or art in Paris or company assets in Frankfurt. And when a journalist writes about it, then expensive lawyers just show up to muzzle them. All this is profoundly immoral – immoral and against everything Europe stands for. This is also a slap in the face for those people who suffer from authoritarian repression and, yes, also a slap in the face for every Ukrainian who is terrified of a devastating war. But we have real power here. We have real leverage because Putin relies on access to Europe. He needs to keep his oligarchs happy with their yacht parties in our ports and their money stashed in our banks. We need to use this leverage now. So, in this report, we call for a more effective sanctions framework against oligarchs. We also call for stricter due diligence and transparency in sectors such as finance and real estate – because let’s face it, this is where shady money finds their way into the legitimate economy. And we also call for financial support and legal protection for activists, whistleblowers and journalists who are our strongest allies in this fight and who should never be silenced or intimidated by autocrats and the oligarchs who they investigate. We have to use our leverage and we have to purge tainted money out of the EU once and for all. So, let’s face it, there is a very clear divide emerging in this Parliament. The pro-European centre wants to stand up against the growing influence of Russia or China, while the far right, unfortunately led by the Orbáns, the Le Pens and the Salvinis are actively blocking it. Hungary’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, for instance, he keeps saying that the EU should lift even the existing sanctions regime on Russia and that sanctions don’t work. Well, I have to say this is the only way to show that actually they do work because no surprise that Putin’s Trojan horses are campaigning against them. Opaque business dealings can always count in the background. So we are calling for the EU to very thoroughly monitor this. We have to look into the financial ties between the Kremlin and the far-right parties, and we have to scrutinise large-scale investment projects financed by Moscow or Beijing. Russia, for instance, is building a nuclear power plant in Hungary, a EUR 12.5 billion project awarded without a public tender. China is involved in a grand railway construction project and in the building of the Fudan University’s Budapest Campus. Billions of euros and the terms and conditions of these projects are classified for decades. No means to scrutinise how this money is being spent and the oligarchs connected to the Prime Minister are carving out their own slice. For most of the time, the EU has been passively watching on the sidelines, watching this creeping influence, despite repeated warnings about security risks that might be entailed. So it’s time to put an end to this. This set of recommendations shows a clear way how.

Madam President, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our cities have been fighting for survival. They had no other choice but to face high rates of infection, dwindling economic activity and very rapidly exacerbating social inequalities. We have also seen them showing leadership in managing the crisis on the front lines, helping to limit the spread of the coronavirus and mitigating its impact on the ground. And when we all thought that things could not get any worse, they did, at least in Hungary. Prime Minister Orbán has used the coronavirus response effort just as a pretext to take funding away from cities and towns. And why? What is the reason? It’s very simple because many of them had the audacity to elect opposition mayors. A colleague of mine is deputy mayor in charge of development of Szeged, the third largest city in Hungary, and he very regularly tells me that the government does not give any access to meaningful documentation about EU development aid, let alone consult him about the needs of his constituents. And mayors all across Hungary tell us just the same. They are ringing the alarm bell that EU funds are used as a political weapon to starve independent institutions of their financial resources. Now, why am I telling you about these examples right now? Because I believe that engaging local stakeholders is the only guarantee to ensure this crisis relief reaches those communities who need it the most. In our report, we urge the Commission to make direct funding opportunities available to local and regional authorities and thus creating a powerful instrument that will enable the fight against political favouritism. And in light of the upcoming ECJ ruling about the application of the rule of law conditionality mechanism, I believe direct funding is more crucial than ever because cities should never have to pay the price of the wrongdoing of governments. They are not responsible for that. Renew Europe has been calling for directly accessible EU funding to be part of the conditionality mechanism since day one. Now it’s time to make it happen. While working on this report, my aim was to prepare a general set of recommendations, addressing some of the most serious challenges that the urban areas are expected to face in the post—COVID-19 era. And while lack of proper funding, I believe, is one of the biggest ones, the list is not exhaustive, so I am only going to mention a few other points. Let’s note that more than 75% of Europeans live in urban areas and thus face very specific urban challenges, such as the lack of affordable housing, the risk of social exclusion, the increasing climate—related disasters, the deepening digital divide and also the growing gender inequalities. Because in addition to health risks, women are more vulnerable to the economic risks that are also associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and they could find themselves further behind when the crisis ends. And while social distancing measures were necessary strategies to curb the spread of the virus, staying at home has put many women at risk of domestic violence, without an adequate network of support. And how could direct funding help cities to address this? They could use the money to support helplines for domestic violence victims or strengthen the care sector or support women to learn digital skills. Cities can help us face these challenges, but first, we need to rethink and reform our existing structures because neither the pandemic emergency nor the future threats will limit themselves to our legal boundaries. So let’s be brave, and let’s move forward.

Madam President, the Pegasus spying scandal is the European Watergate and, Mr President, you understand this more than anyone else in this Chamber because you yourself were also targeted with the Pegasus software. So I call for your solidarity with the journalists, lawyers and politicians in Poland and Hungary who are being spied on by their own governments. Most targets in Hungary have one thing in common. They were all critics of the Orbán government. Clearly, this is their way to intimidate all of us who still dare to defy them. Mr President, this should never happen in Europe. We have to acknowledge that, and we ask the French Presidency to finally address democratic backsliding and to address the Pegasus spying scandal under Article 7 proceedings, because if governments in Europe can continue to use secret service weapons against political opponents, to go through family pictures and to listen in to private conversations, without any consequences, then we cannot speak of democracies anymore – and thus the very foundation of the European Union will fall apart. The EU has to take action, and the French Presidency now has the chance to do so. Mr President, we are counting on you... (The President cut off the speaker).

Mr President, Serbia is a country that wants to join the EU, and that’s great – as long as they fulfil the accession criteria. And the last time I checked, letting China export their harrowing labour standards to Europe was not among them. What’s happening at the Linglong tyre factory in Serbia is basically institutionalised human trafficking and organised slavery, with a front seat view for us to witness how China treats its so-called economic partners. The Serbian authorities must step up and ensure that the rights of all factory employees are respected. The only question is: why haven’t they done this already? And the answer is obvious: China’s creeping influence prevents them from doing so. This is what happens, dear colleagues, when we allow Beijing to dictate the terms of cooperation. And let this be a lesson for the Commission before negotiating another investment agreement with China. Let this be a lesson for all Member States who think that Chinese investment comes without any strings attached. And let this be a lesson for the EU as a whole. If we do not step up our efforts in our neighbourhood policy, other global powers will, with Europe picking up the pieces.

Madam President, suffering on tour, this is what wild animals in circuses experience. Is it a life worth living? Scientists, vets and NGOs don’t think so. And, colleagues, I’m on their side. There is overwhelming evidence that wild animals in circuses are destined to a life of physical abuse and mental torture. Undercover investigations reveal cruel practices, with training often relying on fear, to ensure the attention and compliance of animals in front of an audience. Many European countries started to implement bans on this cruel practice. However, some Member States have no legislation whatsoever addressing this issue. And, given the cross—border nature of circuses, we call on an EU-wide ban to finally put an end to this suffering and abuse. And don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against circuses. There are amazing animal—free performances out there, bringing fun and excitement without the heart—breaking acts of elephants and bears that have been caged for their entire lives, forced to perform tricks through fear and intimidation and denied the ability to express their natural instinct. It’s time to adopt legislation that addresses these serious ethical concerns and helps the transformation of circuses into magical places using creativity, gymnastics, art and technology, because animals deserve our respect and our protection.

Mr President, two weeks ago we travelled to the Polish-Belarus border with a group of MEP colleagues. We spent a day there talking to local communities to get first-hand information about the effects of this hybrid war, where innocent people are being used as weapons. The Belarusian dictator, Lukashenko, manufactured this crisis for his own sinister goals and, as a result, people are freezing to death on the EU’s doorstep; teenage children, pregnant women and so many more. The situation on the ground is dramatic. I was moved deeply by the kindness of the local residents in the small towns in the border area. They are collecting warm blankets and food and doing anything they can to help. It is a shame that they have to do it secretly and at night because their own government cordoned off the border area and does not let anyone in. These people understand that shoving problems under the rug and blocking journalists, blocking MEPs’ access, does not make the problems go away. Looking the other way might be more comfortable, sure, but it is inhumane and it is not a solution. This is a humanitarian emergency. This is an EU crisis, and we need a common EU response. This is not the time to turn down EU help for political reasons. We need forceful Frontex engagement. We need humanitarian help and solidarity, and we need to continue putting pressure on the Lukashenko regime because a democratic Belarus is the long-term guarantee of the EU’s safety.

Madam President, dear colleagues, let me be very clear, organisations such as the Wagner Group simply should not exist and not because the Kremlin does not acknowledge their existence, I mean they should not be able to operate at all, full stop. Because a paramilitary group profiting off chaos and violence is not only immoral, it is profoundly dangerous. Acting as an extended arm of Putin, the Wagner Group is a direct risk for Europe and a direct threat to our strategic interests. Their strategic goals are our foreign policy nightmares. Our failure is their success. A danger to our societies, to our democracy and indeed to our sovereignty. The Wagner Group has ignored international agreements and committed grave human rights violations across the globe. It is deeply concerning that they could do this undisturbed for so long. But the era of impunity has to be over. With the Council’s belated decision to target a group of sanctions there is finally some hope for accountability. So I urge the Council to extend measures to the Kremlin’s decision-makers responsible for Wagner’s operations. We finally have a working sanctions regime colleagues, so let’s use it efficiently.

Mr President, Bernadett Orosz, a mother of six from Hungary, was brutally and repeatedly beaten by her partner. Her nose got fractured, her eardrum exploded and her face was disfigured. When she asked for a restraining order, she couldn’t get one. Out of desperation, she took pictures of her injuries and posted them on social media, and then she was sued for invasion of privacy. Colleagues, Bernadett is an EU citizen. Her story clearly shows that our system is broken. Our system is failing victims, and the Istanbul Convention is our most powerful tool to repair it. There is clear evidence of that from countries that have ratified it. There is a clear positive change from prevention to prosecution. Let me just say that the populist right’s shameful attacks and the smear campaign against the Convention is absolutely horrendous. We have also already heard in this Chamber that this is against their values – as if violence could ever be a value. Hungarian Minister Judit Varga talks about political hysteria as if the victim’s cry for help could ever be mistaken for hysteria. It’s time for the EU to step up. It’s time for an EU-level ratification of the Istanbul Convention. We call on the incoming French Presidency to put it on the Council agenda, because women in the EU deserve much better.

Mr President, the Lukashenko regime is a shame to Europe. On the EU’s doorstep, civilians are brutally tortured and terrorised. Courageous democrats like Maria Kolesnikova, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and so many others are serving decades-long prison sentences. And what we see right now on the EU-Belarus border makes it crystal clear that terror and aggression never stays within a country’s borders. Lukashenko’s terror against the Belarusians is morphing into a hybrid war against the EU. First, he hijacked a civilian aircraft, and what we see now is state-sponsored human trafficking, weaponised migration – a truly despicable exploitation of human suffering. We need urgent sanctions. We need a common EU response, a forceful Frontex engagement in Poland. This is not the time to bicker about EU competences. Let’s not delude ourselves, nothing in Minsk happens without the approval of Moscow, and the EU’s far right cosying up to Putin is a threat to our security, so are the Trojan horses, like Viktor Orbán, who are vetoing common positions. Let’s stand up for democracy in Belarus, because a democratic Belarus is the long-term guarantee of the EU’s safety.

Mr President, I said this before and I will say it again: China is a bully state. Millions of brutally oppressed people in Xinjiang and Tibet stand as clear proof of this. And yet more and more in Hong Kong and Taiwan live in constant fear of China, a country with zero regard for the concept of democratic self—determination. They’re all looking at us for solutions. We must deliver and we must deliver fast. There is absolutely no time to wait until the US comes up with a strategy. Europe must lead a global coalition to ensure Taiwan’s representation in multilateral organisations while calling on China to immediately end the military show of force in the Taiwan Strait. You might think that this issue is too far away, but Beijing’s increasing aggression is very much our business, and China knows this very much. This is why they cultivate Trojan horses like the Orbán government. Orbán’s decision to veto an EU statement criticising China’s crackdown on pro—democracy protesters in Hong Kong was not a one off. But we can also turn their weapons against them. So, let’s use this as motivation to call for the abolishment of unanimous voting on foreign policy decisions in the Council. Because let’s not forget, China is our strategic rival. If Taiwan is destabilised, we risk losing one of our closest allies in the region and if we are to improve our geopolitical might, this is just about the biggest mistake we can make.

Mr President, in July the Commission decided to demand extra guarantees from Hungary and Poland in the fields of judicial independence and anti-corruption, and the tools and the leverage were given to us finally by the recovery fund’s clear regulation. But then several months passed, and frankly, we should be seeing results by now, particularly because both sides are very happily reporting that a deal is very close. So my question to all of you is: did we all miss something? Did we miss the major reforms, did we miss the breakthroughs? Did the Hungarian top prosecutor stop being a party loyalist in the meantime? Or did the Polish government stop the blatant attacks on the judiciary? Well, of course we do not see these results. All we see is flip-flopping and the Commission’s credibility taking yet another hit. And frankly, by this time, I think the autocrats in Poland and Hungary do not even take all of this seriously. Because what Mr Orbán and Mr Kaczyński see – and all other aspiring autocrats – is that they can build a kleptocracy. They can destroy judicial independence. They can cross red line after red line, and after a few months of untransparent deal-making, money will start flowing eventually. And this is not President von der Leyen’s credibility problem. This is a problem for all of us, because the Commission is the Guardian of our Treaties and if the Guardian is not credible, our Treaties are not credible either. The rule of law crisis is an existential threat for our whole Union. It’s time for us to realise this – and appeasement is not the answer. And this House will not let up until the Commission finally understands this.

Madam President, thank you, Commissioner, dear colleagues, one of the most widespread stereotypes about our beloved Union, unfortunately, concerns our inability to be an efficient foreign policy actor on the global stage. But this should not be a given. And yes it’s true that our foreign policy toolbox is imperfect. We should not delude ourselves but, colleagues, it’s there. It exists, and it is up to us to use it to its full potential. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of the EU not being taken seriously as a geopolitical player. Projects such as the EU trust funds should finally fill that purpose and meaning. Quantifiable results should be determined. Implementation has to be monitored rigorously. And above all, this House has to be front and centre in all of these efforts. And this is exactly what I have been calling for in this report. From inception to implementation we shall be at the forefront of planning and scrutinising EU funds and Commissioner informing and involving the Parliament are two very different things in my opinion and involvement should never be retroactive. The EP has to be an integral part of the whole process from the beginning to the end – no ifs, and no buts. Because if we do not take ourselves seriously, then nobody else will. And I am convinced that through changing our approach, we will indeed be able to deliver better results on the ground by advancing our foreign policy interests, and this is for the benefit of our entire Union.

Madam President, Nelson Mandela once famously said that courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it, and Ahmed Mansoor and the handful of human rights defenders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found a way, every single day, to conquer fear, knowing full well that retaliation could be imminent. Every day they devoted their lives to ensuring that fundamental rights and democratic freedoms take precedence in the UAE. But the Emirate regime could not conquer its own fear of Mr Mansoor, sentencing him to a decade of solitary confinement. His appalling treatment must not go unanswered. His tragic story can be an inspiration for all of us. Universal values that we all take for granted remain such a distant dream for far too many societies. This House will never be silent in the face of such grave injustices. Let me be very clear: those responsible for the atrocities against Emirati activists will be included on our own human rights sanctions list – not even the army of paid UAE lobbyists will stop us from doing that. This is what Europe needs to do. We must start using the instruments we have in our foreign policy toolkit in order to shape the world we live in much more efficiently, because we can do that. We have the power to do that. And sanctions are only one part of the equation. We need to ensure that EU Member States will never supply authoritarian regimes with surveillance technology that can be used to oppress their own citizens. Because, colleagues, our duty to step up for those who fight for freedom cannot be confined to our internal borders.

Mr President, animals are not disposable equipment. Inflicting pain and suffering on them has no place in 21st century science. For many of us, this is an ethical and moral imperative. And we see that despite minimum standards, cruel practices still take place within the Union. Just a couple of months ago, we witnessed video footage revealing shocking levels of cruelty and animal suffering that breached European animal-testing laws. Findings from a major investigation in Spanish contract-testing laboratory Vivotecnia showed deliberate acts of cruelty and repeated bad practice. And all of this happens only 18 months after similar findings were revealed in a German laboratory. And even health scientists are questioning the reliability of animal studies. Let me quote the British Medical Journal, which says that the claim that animal experimentation is essential to medical development... (... inaudible ...) So science and morality point into the very same conclusion: there are cruelty-free alternatives like computational biology that can enable us to get rid of animal testing once and for all. But ever since I started looking into these issues, I kept on hearing that complete change is impossible, and I get it – old habits die hard, and I even accept that this won’t happen by the... (... inaudible ...) ... is doing better than the rest of the world, but even here, progress is way too slow. We need a credible plan, a plan that measures, targets, and a binding, ambitious timeline. We need to promote and fund cruelty-free alternatives. We want to see increased funding for animal-free research methods and new, advanced non-animal models under Horizon Europe, and then we have to start creating... (... inaudible ...) ... testing bans. This is what our citizens demand, 7 in 10 adults in EU Member States believe that enabling the full replacement of all forms of animal testing with non-animal testing methods should be a priority for the EU. And this is what we are asking from the Commission.

Mr President, imagine that your child disappears on the way back from school and all your calls for help are ignored by authorities, and then you open the newspaper to see that your child was executed, and you will never see him again. And this is not some poorly written movie plot. This is the unfathomable reality families still face across Saudi Arabia. Kids are routinely arrested, held incommunicado, tortured into admission, denied access to lawyers and family members while they languish on death row. Executions are outrageous by themselves, but executing minors is really a practice that never should have existed. Let me be very clear. It must be abolished from the face of the earth and Saudi Arabia pledged to do just that. And yet it continues to execute children up until this very day. We are way past the point of strongly worded resolutions. We need to stop supplying the Saudi regime with technology that could be used to oppress their own citizens, we could never be complicit in this crime. So let’s turn up the heat on Council colleagues and let’s make this happen.

Mr President, in 2014, Hungarian gay rights activist, Milan Rozsa, climbed into the fortified Russian embassy in Budapest. He held up a rainbow flag and called out Putin’s anti-gay law and the violence unleashed by it. Milan was a friend of mine, one of the most passionate and brave people I ever knew, and a few months later, he took his own life. His tragedy sheds light on all the mental pain that LGBTI people very often suffer from. And this is beyond tragic that we are here today to witness the exact replica of Putin’s law being adopted in the EU. Right now, in Hungary, it’s illegal for teachers to talk to high-schoolers about diversity and acceptance, or for kids to watch cartoons with queer characters in it. This law conflates gay people with paedophiles, and it incites violence and hatred – and we already see that. If this is not enough for the EU to take action, then nothing else will be. So I tell you what to do: stop funding Viktor Orbán’s corruption. Apply the rule of law mechanism. Because human rights abuses are only a means for him, and kleptocracy is the ultimate end.

Madam President, the EU Magnitsky Act was a major step, but it’s a job half—done ‒ until corruption is included as a punishable offence. All major democracies sanction corruption ‒ the US, Canada, recently the UK ‒ and only the EU is missing. This is not just a minor policy detail. We risk becoming a safe haven for dirty money. The corrupt autocrats who are fretting over the recent sanctions in the City of London basically see a billboard here saying, ‘Bring your money here, it’s safe here, it’s the only place in the West where you won’t be sanctioned’. This is absurd. The reason behind this is, again, the unanimity rule – because our own kleptocrats, like Mr Orbán, still have a veto over our foreign affairs. Remember what Alexei Navalny told us last November: until Putin’s oligarchs park their yachts in European ports, no one in the Kremlin will take EU sanctions seriously. This is about our credibility ‒ and our credibility is the key to our safety because authoritarians read the news as well. They know when we are divided, and they will weaponise it. So it’s time to take this weapon away.