Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, even though I had the feeling that you were wrong, the subject was not Ukraine, but Romania's treasure. In the last hundred years, Russia has deprived Romanians of three dear things and these are: freedom, by imposing a regime of communist dictatorship after the Second World War, the Romanian treasury stored in Moscow for storage and return and never returned and the third thing: Bessarabia land, torn from the body of Romania by the criminal pact Ribbentrop-Molotov. Things have evolved. In connection with the three thefts, the Romanians are fighting a continuous battle to regain what is theirs. Thus, the Romanians regained their freedom through the December Revolution ’89. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact fades its effects by starting the process of Moldova's accession to the European Union, and by what we do today it means that the European Parliament becomes part of Romania's struggle to recover the treasure. Thank you to Parliament, thank you to the institutions of the European Union, to which today's resolution assigns tasks of involvement in the resolution of the dispute.

Madam President, Ukraine's civilian and military critical infrastructure is daily hit by air-launched missiles, ships, from land-based sites, severely affecting the population and capacity of the Ukrainian army. In order to give Ukraine opportunities to defend its national territory, it is necessary to provide the Ukrainian army with the means to neutralize military logistics, air bases, ships and missile sites located on the territory of the Russian Federation. Regarding Ukraine's European aspirations, from this point of view, Ukraine must understand that the new law on minorities must be brought to the form recommended by the Venice Commission in order to guarantee the rights of minorities.

Mr President, Commissioner, surely Russian propaganda is extremely effective. On the other hand, we must note that lately the fight against this false propaganda has become more and more powerful in the Member States of the European Union and it is done even by many politicians and simple people, politicians not of first rank, but who are involved, and simple citizens, young people, NGOs. I think from this point of view we are on a good path. But we have another big problem, the problem of Putin's consolidation by the dignitaries of the European Union. And here I will give you, I will list some prime ministers of the European Union who put themselves in Putin's service after the end of their mandates: Schroeder is on everyone's lips, Matteo Renzi, former Italian prime minister, employed at the Russian firm, Christian Kern, former Austrian chancellor, François Fillon, former French prime minister, Esko Aho, former Finnish prime minister, Paavo Lipponen, former Finnish prime minister, Karin Kneissl, former Austrian foreign minister, Hans Schelling, former Austrian finance minister and certainly, could not miss, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. With people like that around him and... (The Chair withdrew the floor of the speaker).

Mr President, Commissioner, Europe is going through a major security crisis and a major energy crisis. Why did we get here? Because in exchange for Russian gas, crude oil and coal we accepted the situation in Transnistria, the Grozny massacre, the annexation of Ossetia and Abkhazia provinces in Georgia, the annexation of Crimea. We have limited ourselves to sanctions with no effect for Russia. Moreover, in 2008, a European state blocked Ukraine's access to NATO. Today, Putin threatens Ukraine and Europe with nuclear weapons, arguing that the United States also used them in '45. Yes, in 1945 the Second World War ended, while the use of nuclear weapons today in Ukraine means the beginning of a nuclear war. Ukraine must be supported with weapons to liberate its own territory. Only then can negotiations begin.

Mr President, Commissioner, the place of the Republic of Moldova is in the European Union. The impeccable response given by Chisinau in the context of the crisis in Ukraine, including the reception of refugees, is a clear proof that we share the same values and principles. The Republic of Moldova has demonstrated through attitude and action that it is a more European state than even some Member States or candidate countries. Partner status does not give any certainty about the future of this country as a state, nor can it give certainty to its citizens. Crushed, together with its citizens, between the interests of two giant blocs, the European Union and the Russian Federation, the small pro-European republic has on the eastern border the Russian army, and on the western border a European Union that seems hesitant to open its doors for entry into the European Union. The policy of concessions made to Russia at the expense of and at the expense of the states of Eastern Europe must cease. What have the repeated concessions made to Moscow in the last 30 years led to? To an aggressive Russia that unprovokedly invaded Ukraine and triggered a war and humanitarian disaster that threatens the peace and stability of Europe and the world. Therefore, I ask that the European Union grant the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate country for accession to the European Union in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union.

Madam President, High Representative, Commissioner, the Kremlin's claim to negotiate with NATO and the US a new security architecture in Europe by establishing areas of influence during the USSR shows Russia's denial of the sovereign right of independent states to decide for themselves their alliance systems and how to ensure their security. The long list of excessive concessions and compromises made in favor of Russia for the sake of the business of large European companies, but also for the supply of gas under preferential conditions, financed the army with which Putin today threatens the peace of some European states. In other words, the much-loved "business as usual“with Russia was done at the expense of the security of Ukraine, the Baltic countries, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria. These days, the United States and the United Kingdom have reacted quickly and massively, militarily strengthening Ukraine and the eastern flank. NATO is the only real shield for European security. At least for now, the solutions for European security are: accelerating the process of achieving energy independence from Russia, Russia’s military and economic deterrence and ending political compromises in favour of Russia.

Mr President, Commissioner, since taking office in 2019, President Tokaev has tried to open the country to democracy by initiating a series of reforms. Initially, the demonstrations were massive but peaceful, their trigger being the explosive increase in fuel prices, amid the accumulated dissatisfaction of the population, both in terms of living standards and respect for fundamental rights. Subsequently, administrative buildings were attacked by violent groups, and the intervention of the police forces, lacking the necessary training to face the events, generated an escalation of violence. The lack of confidence in the security structures led by former President Nazarbayev and his camarilla was likely to generate distrust in the will of these forces to restore the constitutional order, which prompted the call for the intervention of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. It is premature to draw definitive conclusions on the events in Kazakhstan. President Tokaev announced a list of economic and social reforms that will be implemented in the coming period by the new government. Even if Russia withdrew its troops, it will demand maximum benefit from saving the regime. The Russian Federation is in the situation of finding that after Belarus, in Kazakhstan, another former component of the USSR on its border, the intervention of the army was necessary to put down the revolt of the population. Russia risks paying a heavy price for the games it makes on account of reduced extraction and rising fossil fuel prices, and the price could even be its own internal stability. China needs a stable Kazakhstan that continues to supply cheap raw materials, and Kazakhstan now needs to strengthen its economic and political relationship with the European Union.

Madam President, Moscow calls for security guarantees from the US and NATO that the North Atlantic Alliance will not expand to the east, as independent and sovereign states, Ukraine and Georgia, so wish. The statement by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov is enlightening, I quote: "The lack of progress in the political-diplomatic resolution of this issue will make our response military and technical-military", I concluded the quote. The troops of the Russian army deployed on the eastern border of Ukraine have the significance of preparing for the invasion, as a military response of Russia. The objective is the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine, up to the mouths of the Danube, thus achieving the territorial connection with the occupied Crimea, but also direct access to the Danube. The EU is threatening Russia with sanctions, and Putin could shut down Gazprom's tap. Instead of looking for alternative sources of energy supply, we bought increasing amounts of gas from Gazprom, money with which Putin modernized the army that is today on Ukraine's borders. We need to send defensive military equipment to Ukraine. We need to strengthen the eastern flank of the European Union and NATO militarily. We need to gradually find alternatives to Gazprom. We must not put into operation Nord Stream 2.

Mr President, Commissioner, Foreign Minister, in order to speed up the transition to the green economy, the Commission is proposing 14 areas that can benefit from State aid. It is commendable, but the impact on competition and trade change will be major, because states do not have the same potential to provide state aid to their own economies in order to guarantee a just transition. I ask the Commission and I want the answer. For example: What possibilities for granting state aid for the closure of coal-fired activities does Romania have compared to Germany? What possibilities for granting state aid for rail transport does Romania have compared to France and Germany? Ensuring a fair transition through the correct allocation of financial resources is mandatory.

Madam President, Commissioner, we are witnessing an increase in energy prices caused by market instability. Why did we get here? The answer must be sought in our own decisions, objectives and proposals transmitted to the market, industry and the public, without an analysis of the effects, such as: emission allowances are traded on a free but speculative market, which the Commission refuses to regulate. The Commission's refusal to accept nuclear energy as clean energy is also hard to understand and hard to accept. We are in a hurry to announce possible emission certificates for transport, without knowing if we have what to replace the heavy fuel propulsion of seagoing ships and the diesel fuel of heavy trucks. We therefore need realistic targets and we need to maintain gas and nuclear energy until we have green energy to replace them with. Renewable energy is a necessary objective, but if we simply declare it without having it, it will result in market instability, an increase in energy poverty and, implicitly, a rejection of the Green Deal programme by the population, and perhaps a highly effective measure would be for Mr Timmermans to deal with something other than the Green Deal.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, the report and the resolution that we are going to adopt create the conditions for a true strategic partnership for the 21st century between the Union and the United States, generating a strong integration of the economies on both sides of the Atlantic. Within this partnership, the European Union has the obligation to increase its contribution to NATO's defence capacity. The Union comes in partnership with the United States with a strong energy dependence on the Russian Federation, which entails economic, social and political risks. To mitigate these risks, we need to develop alternative energy raw material supply systems, such as: investments in the development of the Southern Gas Supply Corridor in the Caspian and Middle East, the recognition of nuclear energy as clean energy, massive investments in renewable electricity generation and, last but not least, the massive import of liquefied gas.

Mr President, I agree with the need for cooperation with Russia, highlighted in the report. But until we cooperate, we must note that Russia has forcibly occupied the territories of three states associated with the European Union. Russia is conducting virulent disinformation campaigns in all Eastern Partnership countries, but also in EU Member States. From the territory of Russia, cyber attacks are frequently launched against targets in EU and NATO member states. By concentrating military resources in Crimea and Kaliningrad, Russia is a direct and explicit threat to the security of the Union. Russia often uses gas exported to the Union as leverage to influence political decision-making. Our strategy to reduce energy dependence on Russia is worthless paper, as long as North Stream becomes a reality. The result of our dependence on Russian gas imports is that Russia does what it wants on the eastern border of the Union, and then what are the pillars of our unified foreign policy towards Russia? I don't know.

Madam President, High Representative, many are looking for the culprits for the failure of Western countries in Afghanistan. We all have to face this failure. One important thing is to understand to learn for the future that democracy and Western values are not easy to export anywhere in the world. Afghanistan belongs to Islam and Islamic culture is not a culture of democracy. The Arab Spring showed us the same thing. The priorities of the moment are to ensure that humanitarian aid is as well distributed as possible to the people in need. The Union's efforts must be coordinated with the UN, NATO and the US and must be geared towards supporting stability and good governance in order to be able to respond to humanitarian and security challenges.

Mr President, Commissioner, "carbon must have its price, because nature can no longer pay the price," said Ursula von der Leyen. A correct but incomplete statement. The big problem is how much of the carbon price can be borne by vulnerable categories of citizens. As part of the package Fit for 55, through the reform of the emission allowance system and the application of the new measures in the buildings and transport sector, citizens are the main payers. We will see an increase in prices that will lead to a deepening of energy poverty, unprecedented gaps between rural and urban areas, an increased vulnerability of the population from the poor social categories. My belief is that without fair subsidies, directly addressed to vulnerable citizens and SMEs, we will only impoverish and hostilize a large part of the people, and the programme Green DealIn order to succeed, it needs widespread acceptance and support from the population. For this reason, I call on the Commission to carry out a specific impact assessment of this fund, estimating how and by how much prices will rise, to what extent this social fund will be able to mitigate the effects of energy poverty, which is looming, and to provide aid-subsidies to truly support vulnerable consumers.