Debate contributions by Dolors MONTSERRAT

Madam President, the fall of Maduro is the most anticipated news for those of us who defend freedom and democracy. But if we are here today, it is because the European People's Party has been leading the sanctions on the regime for years. We have led the Sakharov Prize for Edmundo and Maria Corina Machado, aid to the Venezuelan opposition and international pressure against the narco-dictatorship. The dictator has fallen, but our work is not finished. High Representative, international pressure must continue. All political prisoners must be released and exiles allowed to return; Edmundo and Maria Corina must rule and Maduro, Delcy and their lackeys must be judged. But explanations are lacking, don't you think? The Socialist Delegation remains silent and complicit for fear of knowing the connections of some of its own with the regime of former President Zapatero, the official lobbyist and dictator whitewasher; Sanchez, who now demands the lifting of European sanctions on the regime, but who was not able to recognize the winners in the elections or congratulate the Nobel to Maria Corina; Sanchez, the same one who authorized the sanctioned Delcy Rodriguez to land in Europe with suitcases whose contents nobody knows and extort Edmundo in a Spanish embassy to force his departure from Venezuela. Don't tamper with international law. You left Venezuela and do not ask for dialogue now. They did not ask for it when heinous murders and tortures were committed. You will not be arbiters of any democratic transition. His idea of democracy ends where the dignity of Venezuelans begins. And when the people of Venezuela rewrite their history of freedom and democracy, you will not be in it, because when it came to choosing freedom, you chose the jailers.

Madam President, in recent days we have seen a cascade of cases of harassment of women by Socialist Party politicians holding public office. We are before the me too of the Spanish socialists, and each case is more disgusting and disgusting than the previous one. Socialism has spent years handing out feminism cards and is now leading an endless trickle of harassment from power, even from the seat of the Presidency of the Government. And the most serious: They knew it and did nothing; the victims who reported it internally were dismissed, ignored, silenced and forced not to report. We therefore ask you today to vote in favour of this debate: Let's do it for the victims; Otherwise, they will be at the side of the executioners and the accomplices.

Madam President, Europe is at the same time facing a young housing problem, a defence challenge and a migration crisis. Without access to housing there is no life project for young people. We need more affordable housing, less taxes, more facilities to access a mortgage and fight squatting. Because young Europeans don't want speeches, they want real solutions and opportunities. At the same time, we support European leaders in their negotiation for the end of the war in Ukraine, despite Sánchez's sonorous absence. The majority of Spanish society supports a just and lasting peace, which guarantees the future of Ukraine and curbs Putin's imperialist plan against Europe. Citizens no longer see war as distant, and what they expect from Europe is a response to the height of the Russian threat: That is why we need unity and speed up the defence plan for 2030. And the third challenge: immigration, which we will not resolve with mass regularisations of the left or hate speech from the extremes, but with a firm policy, linked to employment and respectful of European values; with a return directive expelling the offender and agreements with third countries so that mafia boats do not leave ports. Only Europe – and not criminals – must decide who enters Europe. If we don't, Sanchez will continue to ignore Europe, polarize society and use minors and immigrants as electoral commodities to destabilize rival governments. What we need are strong laws and secure borders.

Mr President, Commissioner, when a policeman puts his own life on the line to defend everyone's freedom, he does not ask for privileges, he demands justice. Recognizing their work as a risk profession is not a privilege, it is a moral and political duty. Europe set up Frontex, Europol or CEPOL to respond to terrorism and organised crime. But it is no longer enough to react. Today the European People's Party is proposing something else: act before evil acts. The narcolancha that attacked the Civil Guard in Barbate not only murdered two policemen, it attacked the freedom of the entire Union, and in this regard there can only be firmness by response. We must shield the principle of authority, recognise the police as a profession of risk throughout the European Union and make attacks on police officers a Eurocrime so that criminals understand this message. Laws are obeyed and the policeman is respected in every corner of Europe, because when a policeman falls, our freedom falls. To defend them is to defend our democracy.

Madam President, the question is not whether Russia is attacking Europe, the question is when we are going to defend ourselves as the European Union. What began as the invasion of Ukraine is already today a covert war against Europe. Putin is measuring our patience with drones and disinformation, pushing the boundaries to provoke and divide us. It is urgent that we shield our security with a defense shield against enemy drones and hackers. We must demand that all members fulfil their commitment to common defence in cooperation with NATO, because I set an example: In Spain, Pedro Sanchez is weighing on the European defense to please his partners and stay one more day in power. This irresponsibility must end. Europe's response must be blunt, because appeasement and neglect do not hold back imperialist dictators. We will not beg for peace, we will protect freedom today so as not to live tomorrow under the rules of those who trample on it.

Madam President, thank you, President von der Leyen, for your proposals. We must take action, because our greatest ally raises our tariffs and China continues to move forward to be the new geopolitical center of the world. Europe cannot hesitate. The war of freedom against tyranny is being waged in Ukraine. We need a just and lasting peace, because the fall of Ukraine would be the beginning of the fall of Europe. And within our borders, the challenge is huge: Competitiveness versus irrelevance? Sovereignty or dependency? Security or vulnerability? Farmer defense or depopulation? But the most serious threat is within: the temptation to get used to the unacceptable. Europe cannot tolerate governments such as Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary or Spain violating freedom and the rule of law, attacking the judiciary or censoring the press; He can't look any further after Spain's Supreme Court ruled yesterday to open a trial against the attorney general for working in the service of the government and revealing secrets to destroy a political rival. This is unprecedented. Europe must definitively stop the autocratic drift, also of Sanchez. Call Sanchez chapter too! What defines Europe is not its values, it is the way it protects them. The rule of law is not proclaimed, it is shielded with the same determination with which we defend our borders. And if we allow our basic principles to be trampled on, Europe will have failed.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, Mr President of the European Council, the European Council and this Parliament have agreed on Bulgaria joining the euro area in 2026 and we therefore send our congratulations to all the Bulgarian people. The Council also reaffirmed our support for Ukraine, which continues to fight for its freedom, reminding us that security is not improvised, it is built. Today, the allies are more united and more convinced than ever that defense is the best guarantee of peace against criminals like Putin. Europe is moving towards a more competitive, more innovative economy, but we need to continue to make progress in reducing this tangle of bureaucracy that suffocates small businesses, industry and our families; We also need the best budget to make it happen. We need the budget to have a robust economy, because that way we will have the best social policy we can leave to our young people, which are quality jobs. And, of course, we have to continue to accelerate, to open markets, with this very successful policy of trade agreements. But, above all, we cannot forget in this budget our farmers and our fishermen, who are essential to our economy. Internal security and immigration policies were also reviewed. Only Europe must decide who enters Europe. And we must fight firmly against the mafias that use the human drama of immigration and turn our seas into a cemetery. We also need resources against hybrid threats, terrorism and organised crime. The Council also marked the 40th anniversary of the accession of two sister countries to the European Union: Portugal and Spain. Two large economies, two loyal partners and a strategic bridge with Latin America and Africa, but above all two examples of commitment to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Values that are threatened today in Spain. Yesterday, the European Commission published the annual rule of law report for all EU countries and, as for Spain's report, it was devastating: determines that Spain is at democratic risk. I tell them that the only person responsible has a name: His name is Pedro Sanchez. Europe was also born as a promise against impunity and corruption, but that promise is broken when one of its member states is led by a president who does not govern, but resists in power because he maneuvers and attacks democracy. Pedro Sánchez violates European values every day, he is responsible for a corrupt criminal organization, whose leaders were his two most trusted men: one paid prostitutes with public money and the other is in jail for collecting million-dollar bites. Moreover, this rule of law report also denounces the unstoppable increase in corruption under his mandate, especially in public procurement and party financing. Therefore, the time has come when, from here in Europe, we demand to stop all this corruption in Spain, because Sanchez is not going to stop corruption, because he is corruption. We therefore defend from here the rule of law and the fight against corruption in every corner of Europe.

Mr. President, Pedro Sánchez is the first and last person responsible for a corrupt criminal organization in Spain. He is the head of a network of power, money and silences involving public officials, ministers and even his own family. This is the biggest political scandal this Parliament has ever seen. Sanchez assaulted his own party by rigging internal elections. Its number two distributed contracts – and European funds – in exchange for million-dollar commissions. His transport minister selected prostitutes, placed them in public companies, denigrated them... and all paid for with public money. Sánchez's wife is under investigation for influence peddling and corruption. His brother is being prosecuted for embezzlement, prevarication and influence peddling. A socialist affiliate, the so-called "fontanera", held clandestine meetings to dismantle the police unit that investigates Sánchez's corruption. And the most serious: The attorney general, handpicked by Sanchez, is being prosecuted by the Supreme Court for leaking secret information to destroy political rivals. This is called state corruption and in any European democracy it would be paid for with resignation and elections. Socialist ladies and gentlemen and all your partners: They can no longer whiten this unprincipled coward. You have a great opportunity today to reproach him in this Parliament for so much indecency. Do not be complicit in this infamy. No one, neither the Spaniards nor the Europeans, deserves it.

Madam President, I come to tell you what this report on the rule of law is silent about: Spain is kidnapped by an autocrat. Pedro Sánchez is the first and last responsible for a corrupt criminal organization, pointed out by the Civil Guard for rigging public contracts and distributing millionaire commissions. We have been denouncing every abuse of justice and the rule of law in this House for seven years. It is a state operation designed and executed by Pedro Sánchez to subdue the institutions and annihilate all counter-powers. It began in 2018, when he bought his investiture, pardoning criminals, eliminating the crime of sedition from the Criminal Code and lowering the crime of corruption, and amnestiing a coup plotter in exchange for parliamentary support. And he has continued with censorship of the press and with the assault on public television, with accusations against judges investigating the corruption of his family, his party and his government. Also blocking the control of Parliament and dragging the Attorney General of the State to a judicial prosecution for revealing secrets to destroy political rivals. Commissioner, this is Sanchez's government, which is against democracy. Sanchez is dragging Spain into a Chavista regime as the European Commission looks the other way. The Rule of Law Report cannot be a collection of good intentions: It must be a courageous document that calls crime a crime and corrupt the corrupt, that points out with names and surnames the enemies who trample on the rule of law in Europe to perpetuate themselves in power. Commissioner, act before democracy is stolen from our faces.

Madam President, Commissioner, five seconds: That's what Sanchez's green transition lasted before the whole country went black. Sanchez boasted that Spain was a world leader in energy transition. The president of Red Eléctrica - by the way, finger-placed and whose only technical endorsement is her socialist card - said that Spain would never suffer a blackout. And the Minister of Ecological Transition, a week before the disaster, said that Spain will be green or it will not be. And, indeed, it was not. It was neither green nor stable nor safe. Ladies and gentlemen, Spain's blackout confirms that, when climate fanaticism is imposed on science, the result is not progress, it is darkness. And it is paid for with economic damages, with credibility and, unfortunately, with human lives. But this collapse was no accident: It was an announced negligence. Last year, Red Eléctrica, the national operator, warned in its report that closing nuclear plants and betting everything on renewables, and above all without interconnections or prevention and storage systems, would weaken the network, multiply incidents and put supply and citizens at risk. Everything was written, everything was ignored and everything failed. Now, neither Sanchez nor anyone else wants to take responsibility. But Europe knows that its incompetence has jeopardised the energy security not only of Spain, but also of Portugal, France and the Union as a whole. Therefore, we call on the Commission to lead a thorough investigation by ACER to clarify what Sanchez is hiding from us: what happened, why and if it can happen again. And I ask you, Commissioner, for an investigation led by external independent experts and of proven and extensive experience, because the brain of the disaster that almost collapses Spain is no longer in Madrid, it is in Brussels and it is called Teresa Ribera - yes, the Commissioner who has just fled this plenary because she does not want to talk about her bad heritage. She and Sanchez are responsible for the demonization of nuclear power, the lack of energy protection and the delay in interconnections with Europe. Comrades, this is not about ideology, but about science, because a green transition that ignores reality is not an advance, it is a threat. We won't allow it.

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, Mr Costa, the world demands leadership, Europe responds with courage and one government, the Spanish government, hides. This sums up a critical moment in the European Union: a continent facing Putin's tyranny by raising awhatever it takes’ for defense and an autocrat, like Sanchez, whose government qualifies our survival as a futile concern. Don't expect anything from Sanchez's government. I know that some have already seen the true nature of this president who has made lying his way of life. Sanchez lies to the Spaniards in Spain, to NATO in Warsaw and to the Europeans in Brussels. He lies to everyone all the time because his only goal is to survive. That's why he won't live up to his security and defense investment commitments, because he doesn't know loyalty. Spain will not reach with Sanchez the minimum target of 2% in defense, because it has resigned for the fourth time in seven years to approve the national budgets, in breach of a constitutional mandate, which confirms that Sanchez is not a statesman: He is the straw man of a fugitive from justice, from filoetarras and from a decaying government. Sanchez flies next week to China in the midst of a trade crisis, but not precisely to mediate for Europe or defend our interests, as Vice-President Šefčovič has done. Behind that trip is former socialist president Zapatero, Maduro's whitewasher in Europe, defender of the lifting of Europe's embargo on China over the Tiananmen massacre and president of a think tank Perhaps with connections to the Chinese regime in Europe and Latin America. The European People's Party will always defend the European project and denounce whoever attacks it. That is why the Commission must demand that Sanchez live up to this political moment, because the battle we are fighting will not be won with rhetoric or mediocre presidents, but with firm principles, strong leaders and courage to point out those who do not comply, especially if they sit with us in the European Council.

Madam President, the new world order has put Europe in front of the mirror, forcing us to choose which side of history we want to be on. Three years after the invasion, Putin no longer seeks only a humiliating capitulation for Zelenskyy and his people, he wants to erase the European values of freedom, democracy and peace and advance his imperialist dream. Europe is clear: in the face of submission, leadership, action and firmness. And this is the worst news for Putin. We will not give up freedom, we will not rest until a just and lasting peace. Our support for Ukraine has been clear and firm from the first minute, something that not everyone can say here. While Member States such as Poland and Germany double their investment in security and defence, Spain has the government that invests the least in defence in Europe, only 1.2%. Spain is one of the countries that buys the most gas from Putin since the war began: €9 billion. Sanchez is the balancer of a coalition government without budgets or parliamentary backing that demands the exit of NATO and whitewashes dictators. All with the same objective: weaken Spain and Europe from within. Europe must ensure that every European euro for defence is dedicated to this and that what Sanchez has done with Next Generation EU funds is not repeated: use them as if they were the property of him and his Socialist Party. The European People's Party says it very clearly and very strongly: Yes to the European Defence Union and yes to real strategic sovereignty. History has already taught us the price of inaction and this time we cannot fail.

Madam President, Europe never gives up. We didn't do it when the war razed us. Not even when communism divided us with walls. We do not give up on the worst economic crisis. Not even when we were confined by the pandemic. Nor will we give up now that our security and our competitiveness and our global leadership are at stake. It is true that the rules that shaped the world have changed and that the future is written with artificial intelligence, with innovation, with energy, with less bureaucracy. But there are principles that we will never give up. Now that power is exercised as an economic, technological and military force over other nations, Europe more than ever must react with intelligence and diplomacy. Intelligence to remain free against third parties and Eurosceptics who want to destroy us. And diplomacy because the problems are not fixed by breaking with our Atlantic partners, as Pedro Sánchez wants, but also not being complicit in those who use tariffs to suffocate our agriculture and our industry, as they do from the other end. Europe built its leadership with trade and cooperation, not conflict and isolation. We must once again be a competitive continent, but we must also be a secure continent and that means the rule of law, defence and borders. Sanchez has turned Spain into a flawed democracy where the separation of powers is not respected, the press is attacked, it is submitted to justice and the rule of law is dynamite from within with a clear objective: perpetuate themselves in power and shield the corruption of their own. And this has to end. And Europe cannot allow 26 Member States to work in line against the drama of immigration and Sanchez in Spain is the butler who opens the door to the southern border, where the mafias are at large trafficking people. Europe has will, talent and experience. We were the shield of Europe in the crisis of the pandemic and in the face of populism. And we will be now, in this new era of competitiveness, innovation and security. Let's do it again.

Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, your leadership of the institutions is very good news, because it means that European values are brought back into line with the needs and future of millions of citizens. Poland and Spain share major challenges: more defence of the rule of law – you have suffered from previous governments that have put it at risk, as we Spaniards suffer from the Sánchez government, which assaults justice and institutions in Spain – an investment in security at the height of the challenges we face – such as the fight against mafias, which use the human drama of migration that is hitting the Canary Islands – and more firm support for freedom and democracy, so that no European government whitewashes dictatorships like Maduro’s for dark interests. Now, with you in the Council, we have a great opportunity to defend democracy, within Europe, in Venezuela and in every corner of the world. Mr Tusk, the European People's Party will be at your side to combat the autocratic drift of some and rebuild the soul of Europe. Democracy, freedom, opportunity and security.

Mr President, Mr Commissioner, Mr Council representative, ladies and gentlemen, the coronation of dictator Maduro is the worst news for all democrats. Shutting up to his coup is his dream, but protecting Venezuelans now, in the darkest moment, is our moral duty as Europeans. Maduro is the tyrant who lost the elections and kidnapped democracy with weapons to all the people of Venezuela. He is the criminal who threatens, tortures and kidnaps to silence the voice of those who demand freedom. And it is the lackey of enemies like Putin who uses power to enrich himself while his country dies in misery. This Parliament – led by the European People’s Party – did its job by recognising Edmund as legitimate president and awarding the Sakharov Prize to Edmund and Maria Corina, but we need the Council to react to a Maduro who tramples on democracy and to European governments such as Pedro Sanchez, who whitewash the dictator for dark interests that must be investigated. Delcy Rodriguez, sanctioned by Brussels, landed clandestinely in Madrid and Europe said nothing. Former President Zapatero, an observer of the Puebla Group, endorsed the electoral fraud with his silence and Europe said nothing. Two Maduro hitmen extorted President Edmundo González at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas and Europe said nothing. In the name of democracy, the Council must lead a resolution as we have done in Parliament, demanding a public rejection of Maduro, tougher sanctions and a trial before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Europe cannot lose this battle for democracy, because history will not forgive those who whitewash dictators and, much less, those who are complicit in the face of injustice.

Mr President, Commissioner, Pedro Sánchez has been assaulting the institutions and violating the rule of law in Spain for six years in order to assume absolute control of the State: It has amnestied coup plotters, reformed the Criminal Code to erase corruption offences, put the Attorney General's Office at its service, promoted censorship of the critical press, stormed public television and subjected the legislature to circumvent parliamentary control. If this were to happen in any other country, this Parliament would explode. Commissioner, Europe's voice must be heard loud and clear. This week Sanchez has publicly attacked the judges to cover up the corruption that suffocates his government, his party and his family coinciding with the parade by the courts, first, of his former number two and former Minister of Transport for commissions of 600 000 euros and villas on the beach; secondly, from the chief of staff of this former minister for bites of EUR 200 000; third, of the wife of the president of the Government for influence trafficking, corruption, intrusiveness and misappropriation, and fourth, of the frontman businessman distributing black money and origin of the whole plot. They will not be the last: within a few weeks they will be called the Head of Cabinet of the Vice-President of the Government; some ministers, for demanding 50 000 euros in commissions, and the president's brother for prevarication and embezzlement. Also the secretary of organization of the Socialist Party for taking 15 000 euros in envelopes and, who knows!, perhaps Commissioner Teresa Ribera for granting a license to the frontman who has defrauded 182 million euros selling Venezuelan oil. Commissioner, this is an unprecedented scandal: Sanchez’s government is a hotbed of corruption that threatens to dynamite the state; We cannot demand exemplary action in Europe while ignoring corruption in Spain. Commissioner, be firm: punish its corruption, defend judicial independence and demand respect for the rule of law. Sánchez's authoritarian drift is putting Spanish democracy and the soul of the European Union at risk.

Ladies and gentlemen, this new Commission will have to lead the defence of our values, our security and our rule of law, boost competitiveness and innovation, give opportunities to young people, comply with the migration pact and protect farmers, ranchers, fishermen and the self-employed, so that no family is left behind. The European People's Party has been the decisive driver of Europe's great progress and, as loyal members of the European popular family, we strongly support this Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. We are deeply pro-European because we are Spaniards. You know that Spain hurts us. We will not be silent when the worst government in Spain of our democracy is mired in a drift of corruption, populism and violation of the rule of law that also affects us as Europeans. Teresa Ribera has disappeared from Spain in the worst of a tragedy that took the lives of 220 Europeans. Teresa Ribera has been the vice president of a government that points to judges, tries to silence the critical press, uses the attorney general, accused by the Supreme Court for politically maneuvering against a regional president, and is involved in a corruption scandal that can affect eleven ministries, including that of Teresa Ribera. Ribera arrives in Brussels with too many outstanding accounts in Spain and too little credit in Europe. So we - the Spanish delegation of the Partido Popular - stand firm, we say yes to the Commission and no to Teresa Ribera, out of principles, loyalty and justice. (She refused to be asked questions by Petras Gražulis and Cristophe Clergeau under the ‘blue card’ procedure.)

Madam President, "If you need help, ask for it" was the phrase that the president of my country, Pedro Sánchez, told Valencians seven days after suffering the worst climate and humanitarian catastrophe that is remembered in Spain. "If you need help, ask for it" were the words of the same president who, out of sheer arrogance, has despised for fifteen days all the help that Europe put at his disposal from minute one. "If you need help, ask for it" was the macabre response of the Government that vice-presides Teresa Ribera, who today aspires to be European Commissioner, but who, in Spain, while still minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has abdicated all her powers and responsibilities, because she is responsible for the preparation, prevention and response of a climate disaster. Not only did she not take charge of the disaster, but, without yet showing her face before the Spanish Congress, she lied yesterday in this Parliament by denying that she and her ministry had the competences of the alert and emergency systems, of preparing the channels and of all the investments in flood zones. Dear comrades, this totally invalidates your future in Europe. Europe cannot be Mrs Ribera's hiding place so that she does not assume any kind of political, and perhaps judicial, responsibility in Spain. Teresa Ribera cannot be European Commissioner. What citizens expect of Europe is that it will be the umbrella that protects them, even from their own rulers when they omit their duty to help and help. But we must create automatic response mechanisms that provide vital resources to start saving lives from the first minute, so that what happened in Valencia never happens again, anywhere in Europe, and help comes without depending on leaders who play gods in the middle of the catastrophe.

Madam President, Europe’s southern border – the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla – is at serious risk of collapse due to the constant influx of irregular migrants. Mafias that traffic in people do not randomly choose where they send their boats. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are the three areas that receive the most irregular immigration today in all of Europe. And it's not by chance. They are because the Government of Spain does not defend our borders or our security forces, evades international cooperation, ignores Europe and despises Frontex's help. Socialist gentlemen, the most inhumane immigration policy is the one that does not exist, the one that allows the mafias to roam freely and thousands of people to die in the ocean. The inaction and irresponsibility of the Sánchez government are not only endangering the security of the European Union, but that of the thousands of migrants used by the mafias. And you know why? Because President Sánchez is only concerned about clinging to power and not resigning in the face of corruption cases that lurk in his government, in his party and in his personal environment. It is unacceptable that the same President Sánchez who takes a minute to deliver an amnesty to a fugitive from justice, who does not hesitate to release ETA prisoners, who assaults every day the institutions, as yesterday the Spanish public television, has the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla dying, without help to care for unaccompanied minors or resources to face this serious migration crisis. The real effect called European is called Pedro Sanchez. Europe must act now. And force Sanchez to implement the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, defending Ukraine against dictator Putin, Israel's fight against terrorism in the Middle East and Europe's existential challenge, which is competitiveness, will be three of the four key issues of the European Council on 17 and 18 October. But the fourth, and no less important, has to be the migration crisis. Ladies and gentlemen, irregular immigration is the human and political drama that most urges us as Europeans. It is not a new problem, but the figures in countries like Spain are getting worse every year due to the inaction, incompetence and lack of leadership of politicians like Pedro Sánchez. As we speak here in this Parliament, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, which are Europe's southern border, are on the brink of the neglect of a president like Sánchez, who thinks that the mafias are holding back by promising roles for everyone in Europe, to more than 250 000 people in Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal, and who refuses to ask Europe for more help to prevent so many deaths in the ocean and to find a solution to the unsustainable situation of unaccompanied minors. Ladies and gentlemen, the real effect called for is irresponsibility. The real effect called Pedro Sánchez and example of this are the more than 42,000 irregular arrivals of adults and especially minors to Spain in these nine months. The Pact on Migration must be implemented and is clear. Our borders are weak and returns ineffective. The responsibility of the Member States for this problem is uneven and the legal mechanisms for entry into Europe are insufficient. If we think this crisis will be solved with empty rhetoric, I announce to you that the problems of the south today will be the problems of the north tomorrow. And the People's Party will continue to demand more resources and protection for our security forces and bodies, more deployment of Frontex and more coordination between countries, because that is how crises are dealt with loyally. Europe must not allow Sanchez to open the doors of irregular immigration from across the continent. Either Europe takes control of its borders or the border crisis will take control of Europe.

Madam President, on 28 July, in the eyes of the world, a tyrant once again stole democracy from the people of Venezuela. It was the last crime of a cowardly man who uses violence, repression, kidnapping and persecution to silence what the polls shout, a dictator recognized only by other dictators like Putin who, even with all his weapons, lives terrified because the voice of the people, represented by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, resonates more strongly than all his threats. Ladies and gentlemen, Venezuela does not need more silence in the face of exile and death or the double standards of governments such as Pedro Sánchez, who one day calls Edmundo González a hero and twenty-four hours later denies him his status as president-elect, much less the complicity of observers such as Zapatero: Democrat in theory, whitewasher of the dictator in practice, quiet and hidden before the biggest fraud in Venezuelan history who knows why dark interests. Today, our duty as members of the European Union is to recognize the figure of Edmundo González as president-elect of Venezuela. Europe must be on the right side of history: for the eight million Venezuelans who fled tyranny, for the lives taken from innocent Venezuelans who defended freedom, for the opposition, persecuted and imprisoned for defending democracy, for all those mothers and fathers who all they want is for their children to know a Venezuela without the yoke of Chavismo. Europe, this is our cause, this is not about ideologies, it is about leading together the unequivocal defense of democracy: Either you're with her or you're against her. And, to the people of Venezuela, I tell you that you will never be alone: Europe, today a refuge for so many Venezuelans, will remain at your side until democracy triumphs and freedom finally makes its way. For truth and justice, your struggle is our struggle.

Madam President, Madam President von der Leyen, ladies and gentlemen, the European People's Party has won the elections and that is why it is up to us to lead the European institutions with President Ursula von der Leyen. The challenges are getting bigger. There are citizens who simply no longer trust the European Union. If we ignore this, we'll be making a fatal mistake. That is why Europe must move forward and we must be the ones driving that change. We need to complete the single market. We need a European competitiveness strategy that cuts red tape for businesses and, in particular, for SMEs and the self-employed. We must improve technological innovation, focusing on the creation of quality jobs, and we must take care of key strategic sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and livestock. And, of course, we must strengthen our health systems. Ultimately, we must put individuals and families at the centre of our efforts. But it is just as important to strengthen our economy as it is to step up the defence of European values, freedom and the rule of law. That is why it is unacceptable for national governments to amnesty corrupt fugitives in exchange for remaining in power. That is why it is worrying – it is intolerable – that national governments point to judges for investigating their alleged corruption and threaten to silence the critical press reporting on it. That all this is happening today is a democratic anomaly that Europe cannot afford. The future of Europe, the success of the European Union, will depend on what we do with the economy, but above all on how we defend our democracy. Let's do it together. It is our duty as European democrats. That is why you have our confidence.