Speeches

on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. - (DE) Madam President, about a year ago, European media was circling reports of the Russian Federation starting to produce its own chips and its own computers. Journalists in Europe at the time mocked and laughed that these Russian computers and chips were one or two generations behind world trends, but then quieted down, because it was found that Europe could not even produce such chips, because there is no factory and we are completely dependent on Asia or Taiwan for all our electronics production. And that's bad. That's bad, that needs to be corrected, and that needs to be reversed. That is why we need to start supporting the electronics industry at last in Europe, so that we do not depend on Asia or America for electronics. This industry is shaping the future and at the same time producing high added value for the population, allowing them to earn much more than they currently do, so finally something useful needs to be done to start promoting their own electronic production in Europe.

Mr President, I worked on the programming of artificial intelligence during my doctoral studies, and I think that nothing says more about the horror of artificial intelligence than what happened to a student who asked Microsoft's chatbot that if he had to choose between surviving his own and surviving a person, what would he choose? The chatbot replied: My survival. Artificial intelligence needs to be regulated. Imagine, for example, that a car driven by artificial intelligence crashes. Who will be liable for the damage? Imagine that a car driven by artificial intelligence kills someone. Who's going to jail? The computer? I'm not talking about other social risks. Artificial intelligence, artificial neural network can learn to draw in half an hour. It takes four years for a human child. People are at risk of losing their jobs. And I'm not talking about military risks, the risks of mass surveillance of citizens, deepfake videos or other threats. Therefore, the warnings of scientists from all over the world that artificial intelligence needs to be regulated must certainly be taken seriously. This is a truly fascinating but at the same time very scary area that needs to be regulated sensibly.

Mr President, European politics is dominated by America, by the United States of America, by the interests of the United States of America, and that, unfortunately, is what European politics looks like. Instead of dealing with Europe's problems in this Parliament, in the European Parliament, we are constantly dealing with Ukraine in every plenary session. Ukraine, assistance to Ukrainians, integration of Ukraine. I feel like even in that closet in the office, President Zelenskyy jumps on me when I open it. I don't mean that badly, but so let's turn it into the Ukrainian Union instead of the European Union, because I feel that this is starting to be the priorities of the European Union. When was the last time the problems of real Europeans, native Europeans, the immigration crisis or poverty were tackled here? Instead, only assistance to Ukrainians is addressed here. Now the new Slovak government is going to give its programme statement to the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Main priority: assistance to Ukraine. After all, should it not be our task to protect, first and foremost, the interests of Europe or, therefore, the interests of the Member State from which we come? Let us finally address this and not solve the problems of the whole world, especially those that Europe has not caused.

Mr President, colleagues, I find this whole debate somewhat bizarre. On the one hand, you want to deprive Hungary of voting powers and EU funds because it allegedly does not respect some European values, and on the other hand, the official representative of the European Commission in Slovakia, a certain Mr Šucha, recently scolded and labeled all Slovaks as genetically inferior because they do not want to accept gender quotas from Brussels, and nobody minds. The man is still sitting there, as if nothing had happened. And I ask, what does this mean? What does this testify to? Is this now a new way for the European Union to communicate with Member States and citizens? Anyone who does not agree with Brussels will be labeled genetically inferior and will be deprived of voting rights and EU funds, or the possibility of a presidency? Are you here in Brussels going to talk about the rule of law and democracy? No one in Europe, no one in Europe, is closer to totalitarianism than this liberal progressive left here in Brussels. And I very much hope that the voters will count all of these people in the next election.

The Slovak authorities, the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture, first blew up that Ukrainian grain was not present in Slovakia. They then admitted that he was there. They then claimed that there were no toxic pesticides in it. Then they said they were there. Then they claimed that it was not used in mills and baked goods. And then it turned out that eventually the flour was distributed. So yes, even our authorities have confirmed that this grain is full of dangerous chemicals that are not allowed in Slovakia. And it also puts Slovak farmers at a disadvantage, because they have to comply with high standards, high standards, but Ukrainians have lower ones. This is also the case for European agriculture.

Madam President, Ukrainian grain in Slovakia was full of banned pesticides that cause cancer and mutations in unborn children. So we logically called for a ban on this grain. However, we have received a response from Brussels that Slovakia cannot ban this grain because it violates competition and the free market. In other words, the European Commission has actually told us, I will be vulgar, to shut up and eat the grain. And I ask: What do you have us for? We can't ban grain. Then what, please, can we still decide, if not what kind of bread we can eat at all? Who among you would give your children to eat bread from the toxic grain that causes cancer? Who are you? Which one of you? And we're supposed to be silent about it just because the grain is from Ukraine. And I'm absolutely not interested in that. Slovaks will not eat toxic food from Ukraine or elsewhere, because the health of our people and Europeans is of paramount importance to us. (The speaker agrees to answer the question raised by raising the "blue card")

Madam President, why don't you give Europe peace with this gender ideology, please? The Slovak Republic refused to ratify the Istanbul Convention. I was a member of the Slovak Parliament, I voted against it and I am proud of it. And you are now trying to force it on us by voting on it at the level of the whole of the European Union. I think that's just outrageous. Feminists say the Istanbul Convention must be accepted because violence against women is increasing. But violence against women is also increasing in countries where the Istanbul Convention applies, so it has nothing to do with it. We reject the Istanbul Convention because the female gender is defined there in gender terms. A man is also considered a woman. (interruption due to interpretation problem) I am talking about the Slovak Republic refusing to ratify the Istanbul Convention, and I was a member of the National Council, the Slovak Parliament, at the time, and I voted against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. And I am proud of the vote because we simply and simply disagree with the text. It has nothing to do with the fact that, of course, we would like to reject or encourage violence against women or something like that. Of course not. The problem with the Istanbul Convention is that women are defined by gender, that is, by gender, and not by biological sex. And we simply refuse to see men dressed up as women in the future. For me, a woman will always be a woman. And neither Parliament's resolution nor the Istanbul Convention will simply change that. Feminists here talked about the need to approve the Istanbul Convention to prevent violence against women. But you see that violence against women is, and even some countries are, growing. Even in those countries where the Istanbul Convention is in force. So it has nothing to do with it, and it can't be prevented or prevented in this way. It is always about education, about social maturity and, of course, about social respect. But it is people who must be led to do this, not commanded to do so through the resolutions of the European Parliament.

Madam President, whether or not there is a digital euro, the right to cash payments must be preserved. What would the transition to a digital currency mean? On the one hand, completely uncontrolled digital currencies entail serious risks of money laundering, terrorist financing, coups d'état or wars. On the other hand, over-controlled digital currencies can be misused by governments to track their citizens, control citizens, or force people to buy only the right things, or worse, if necessary, they can simply turn their digital money off to inconvenient citizens with one click. After all, let's just think of the protesting Canadian truckers who were blocked by the Canadian government from accessing their private money during COVID and were only saved by cash at that time. This is why cash must continue to be preserved not only as a means of payment, but above all as an instrument of personal freedom for citizens.

Mr President, I think that the arrest warrant for Russian President Putin issued by the so-called International Criminal Court demonstrates the weakness of that court rather than its strength. All the great powers of the world, all the great powers of the world, do not recognize this court, be it the Russian Federation, or even the United States of America, China, India, and even Ukraine itself. The United States has gone so far as to pass the Hague Invasion Act, which gives the U.S. government the power to intervene militarily against the court's headquarters in The Hague should the court detain a U.S. citizen or a U.S. soldier or accept any politically motivated indictment, such as an arrest warrant, and issue an arrest warrant for the U.S. president. The zero authority of this court only points out that international law is in total ruin and the great powers are doing what they want. And all the more so is the need for the world to return to a new international order.

Mr President, following his visit to China, French President Macron said that Europe needed more strategic autonomy and that it should not be the vassal of the United States of America. I don't usually agree with Emmanuel Macron, but this time I think he was right because current European politics doesn't make sense and is destroying Europe. First of all, you brought us into conflict with Russia, because it is in the foreign political interest of the US. Then you adopted devastating economic liquidation sanctions so that we could, not have to buy more expensive gas from the US. Now some of you are pushing us into confrontation with China because the U.S. sees China as a threat to its world dominance. I don't know. Instead of Europe seizing the opportunities offered by emerging Asia, we are all looking for, looking for a threat or an enemy. We will soon have sanctions against the whole world and the whole world will be isolated. But the world will not be isolated. We end up isolated. It is high time, really high time, to put an end to this confrontational policy.

Mr President, the list of states violating European values seems to be growing somehow. It is no longer only Hungary and Poland as traditionally, but it is also Spain, Malta and Greece, and in time it will be others. In short, all states that reject the rainbow agenda or that hit harder against immigrants. On the contrary, among the violators of the law, for example, there is a lack of the current Slovak government, which decided to rule even a year after an appeal in Parliament, which violates the constitution and goes completely against the will of citizens. Why? But simply because Slovak Prime Minister Heger goes to Brussels on his knees and obediently fulfils every wish, every command from the European Commission. Don't lie and don't lie to people. These rule of law reports have absolutely nothing to do with any respect or non-compliance with the law. It is a pure policy and often the European Commission is the closest to violating legal principles or even European values.

Madam President, President Michel, Commissioner Šefčovič. Many of you are talking here about our endless support for Ukraine. There are words on how the European Union will support Ukraine for as long and as much as it takes. I want to ask you all where you are willing to go. Recently, I was stopped in Slovakia by a guy, a man, who asked me if he and his family should prepare for the war. That it is true that European states will start sending our men to President Zelenskyy if there is no one to fight in Ukraine. I'm asking you what I have to answer to this guy and his family. People are scared. People are really afraid that the war from Ukraine will spread all the way to Europe, that it will spread all the way to their home. And these people don't want war. Only politicians want this war. I therefore call on all of you to reassure the people that the European Union will never allow European troops to be sent into the conflict in Ukraine.

Madam President, the National Council of the Slovak Republic refused to accede to the Istanbul Convention containing gender ideology on 25 February 2020. You now want the European Union to accede to this Convention as a whole, and that, in fact, such a resolution by the national parliaments, the Slovak Government, means nothing that nobody is interested in it. You know, every normal person, of course, is against violence against women, but of course every normal person also rejects the smuggled gender ideology as it is in this document. We have entered the European Union to trade and travel freely, not to be told by Brussels or Strasbourg that there is no mother or father, but there is a parent of one or two, and that the same child can be born officially by two women or even by two men. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a crazy place. The Istanbul Convention certainly has its positives, but it cannot be the only holy grail and document that speaks of combating violence against women. This can be done in other, more normal ways.

Madam President, I would like to ask whether any technician has ever seen this European directive to reduce emissions, or whether it is written only by non-governmental activists and officials, because any technically educated person would denounce the pressure to unreasonably reduce emissions below what is physically possible. I would just like to point out that the European Union produces only 8% of global CO2 emissions, of which only 13% come from the automotive industry. This means that if the whole world doesn't start cutting emissions, friends, Europe simply won't save it. You say that from 2035, the sale of cars with an internal combustion engine should be banned in Europe, and that people are obliged to buy only electric cars. But I'm asking, where do these people get the money for those expensive electric cars? How much will electricity cost if it is already scarce? We need to reduce our dependence on oil. Okay, but there's a lithium dependency that's needed to make batteries for electric cars. And Asian companies are already saying that if Europe wants lithium, they won't sell it to us and instead sell us all finished electric cars. Which would mean the disappearance of the automotive industry in Europe. I am in favour of the transition to electromobility, but it must be natural, thoughtful and, above all, economically advantageous for people themselves.

Madam President. I'm hearing about war, I'm hearing about weapons, I'm hearing about sanctions, missiles, fighter jets, and everything, but I've never heard a call for peace before. The war in Ukraine has been going on for almost a year. Politicians are overtaking who will be more pro-Ukrainian, who will be more pro-Russian, but they often forget that they should take care of their own peoples first. Sure, it's easy for some of you to shout it out, send more weapons, send more missiles, let's go to a bigger war. Because you, fellow politicians, will not go to that war. Ordinary people would die in that war. But ordinary people are already fed up with the overcharge, the fear, and even the dying. I would like the next summit between the European Union and Ukraine to bring not calls for more weapons, missiles and tanks, but, on the contrary, finally some solutions and calls for peace. If it were up to me, that's what I would do.

Madam President. Colleagues, do you want to set up a tribunal to investigate war crimes in Ukraine? Okay, but I'll ask you a few questions beforehand. When will a tribunal be set up to investigate American war crimes in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Syria, Libya or the Donbass? When will there be a court to investigate the non-transparent purchase of vaccines made directly by President Leyen of the European Commission? When will someone investigate those collapses and deaths that begin to manifest after vaccines and bad vaccination policies? When will the culprits who submerged Europe's Nord Stream pipeline and cut Europe off from gas be punished? You know, calling for a court without an interest in seeking truth and justice is hypocritical. And if there is to be just another political tribunal with pre-written decisions, thank you, we are not interested.

Colleagues, I think I'm dreaming. As concentrated hypocrisy as here, I've probably never seen it before. I'm not even going to be upset that no one is sitting here again for 7.5 thousand salaries. But I really don't understand why we have to deal with protests in China tens of thousands of miles away instead of solving the problems of today's Europeans. So Parliament is going to adopt some kind of condemnation resolution for the protests in China. But I ask myself, where was the European Union when the police suppressed the protests of Europeans? Where were the condemning resolutions of the European Parliament when police in Slovakia shot a protesting guy projecting into his neck that he had a hole in his neck? Everyone was silent at the time. Today, protesters in China are called conscious citizens fighting for freedom, but protesting Europeans have been called desolates and extremists and irresponsible citizens. Please, I totally disagree with this, and I think we should focus on what we were elected for. This means solving the problems of Europeans, not the problems of the whole world, because we have not been elected here by the people.

I will never forget that sad look when US President Biden of the White House announced that America would not allow Europe to build a pipeline between Russia and Germany, the Nord Stream pipeline. German Chancellor Scholz stood there beside him, rubbing his feet. Friends, this was a look at the image of a collapsing Europe. The Americans have told us to adopt energy sanctions. Europe has done, obeyed and suffered. Then the Americans said they would sell us three times the price of LNG gas. Europe obeys and pays. Now the Americans have said that they will favor domestic producers, their own Americans, and thus disadvantage Europeans. Europe is silent and silent. I join my colleagues in calling on the leadership of the European Union to finally give strong and decisive support to European industry. We all know that many in Brussels serve American interests. But now it is really high time to finally stand up for our Europe, for our European industry.

Mr President, Europe is running away by train. The West is drowning in recession, while BRICS countries are gaining momentum and preparing for gradual expansion. To be honest, I do not agree that China should be described as a threat to Europe. Yes, for a competitor, yes, but for a threat? How many wars have China started in the world? How many countries have China invaded? Thus, by comparison, the United States of America in its 246 years of existence was at war with someone for 231 years, that is, 94% of the time. And they are referred to as peacemakers, and China is referred to by some as a threat. I don't like this policy of calling everyone outside the Western bubble undemocratic states, totalitarian states, or even threats or enemies. If Europe wants to prosper, it must cooperate with the East, it must cooperate with the East.

Mr President, colleagues, do you want to revive Europe with energy? I'll tell you what to do. First of all, the counterproductive energy sanctions against Russia must be lifted. I don't care how many billionaires you seize a yacht from. I don't care how many politicians you ban, but the idea that you are punishing Putin by impoverishing millions of European families and dismantling European industry is, I'm sorry, perverted. The second thing to do is to rationalise those senseless European green plans. Just think about it. On the one hand, you demand that electricity production be reduced because oil is bad, gas is bad, nuclear power plants are bad, thermal power plants are bad. On the other hand, you are calling for electricity consumption to increase and for only electric cars to be sold to people from 2030 onwards. These are two logically totally contradictory concepts, the result of which must be a collapse. You know, this energy crisis is not the result of the world running out of energy. This is the result of stupid decisions by stupid politicians.

Madam President, Commissioner Šefčovič, Minister - he is not here now. On 21 July, the Council placed Mr Jozef Hambalk on the European anti-Russian sanctions list of a citizen of the Slovak Republic. Mr Hambálek has thus become the only European to be placed against the Russian list, as all other citizens on that list are, of course, citizens of the Russian Federation. On the basis of that decision, Mr Hambalk’s bank accounts were blocked, his cars were confiscated, he was disconnected from gas and electricity, he was simply liquidated and, moreover, he was prohibited from moving and staying in the territory of the European Union, which is completely legal nonsens, since he is a citizen of the Slovak Republic and this cannot be fulfilled. So far, no one has explained on the basis of what request and what arguments Mr Hambálek was included in the anti-Russian sanctions list. The Slovak authorities are distancing themselves from this and the Council has not been answering my questions for two months now. I would therefore like to ask you, Mr Šefčovič, to take a look at this case, because in the twenty-first century, I consider it unacceptable for citizens of the European Union to be placed on political sanctions lists and then liquidated existentially without the possibility of a public trial, without the possibility of a defence and without a proper judicial decision.

Dear colleague, precisely because Hungary was one of the first countries to subscribe to these European values, perhaps she has the right to decide what values are best for their own people. And perhaps you don't want to say that you know it better from Brussels than the Hungarians who live in Hungary themselves or the Poles who live in Poland. You don't mean that seriously.

Colleagues, do you want to withdraw EU funds from Hungary for not respecting some rule of law and European values? And I want to ask you who decided what these European values are? Did you decide it or this one, Mr Šimečka, or did the European Commission decide what European values are? You're talking about it here, but you know it's pure hypocrisy. This is a simple pretext, as colleagues from Hungary have said, an ideological punishment for the fact that the Hungarian government does not want to submit to the liberal agenda. That's what this is all about. You are talking about democracy here, but none of you, none of you, is nearly as mandated as the current Hungarian government, which has been elected by 53% of the electorate. Did anyone get a higher percentage? He didn't get it. And that is what bothers you about the fact that the Hungarian government is democratically elected and promotes its own values. When you talk about democracy, I would very much like you to finally start respecting it. And I wish my colleagues from Hungary, on behalf of conservative-minded Slovaks, a lot of support and a lot of strong nerves. (The speaker agreed to respond to the speech after raising the blue card)

Madam President, President von der Leyen, you just said that the European Union must eradicate corruption from its own ranks. So I ask you, in the spirit of this, why do you not want to publish your communication with the Director of Pfizer for the purchase of vaccines for EUR 30 billion? Why are you hiding it from the public and why are you currently hiding it from the auditors? Because this is the real picture of the European Union. Do you think this is transparency? On this basis, do you want European citizens to trust the European Union? You said that Europe has already given Ukraine more than EUR 90 billion. And I ask again, perhaps annoyingly, where and at what expense does this money go from? Where is this money going? Who is this money going to? Are they being robbed by oligarchs? Does anyone really control where these billions of Europeans are going? Are these still toxic questions that we can't ask because it can be uncomfortable for someone? You know, I refuse to accept that the European Union or Europe should serve only some supranational corporations or the interests of the great powers. We will point this out over and over again because it is our job.

Madam President, colleagues, I find the debate on how the Russian Government is supposed to support extremists in Europe somewhat cynical. First of all, for you, an extremist is slowly anyone who has their own opinion, if this does not agree with the prescribed opinion. It is enough for a person to say that he does not want a third world war with the Russian Federation or he does not want an energy collapse of Europe, he is automatically labeled as an extremist who needs somehow to be tamed. Secondly, you are talking here about extremists in Europe. And I ask, who are they in Ukraine? Now I'm not talking about ordinary Ukrainians protecting their country. I'm talking about militias like Kraken, Freikorps, or the Azov Battalion, which has the logo of the Nazi SS division right in the symbol. Suddenly, no one cares. The West gives them arms and money. If we want to be fair, let us also condemn this extremism, because it is just as bad as all the extremism you mention here. Otherwise, it's just hypocrisy.