Speeches

Madam President, Council, Commission, let me applaud the EU Council for doing the right thing: securing the so much needed funding for Ukraine. We know that this support is only a small step, given the total needs and the declining support from the US. It is crucial that we keep delivering. But exactly this will remain threatened by Orbán. He is utterly disloyal towards NATO, the EU and the European values. But while leaders were focusing on convincing Orbán, they failed to secure our strategic autonomy – no investments in Europe’s green transformation and even cuts in innovation funds. Chair, the only long-term answer to this autocrat is to disarm him, take away his voting rights, keep EU funding frozen and cancel the Council presidency. No appeasement, no fear, but self-confidence and unity. That is imperative for Ukraine, for the security of our Union and for the rule of law.

Mr President, Council, Commission, the experts were crystal clear in their assessment: Hungary does not meet the standard of judicial independence, but the Commission decision to unfreeze the cohesion funds was not based on facts in Budapest, it was based on politics in Brussels. The Commission decision to bow down to Orbán's looming vetoes cost the EU so much more than EUR 10 billion. It cost us our credibility. It changed the Commission's already shaky track record upholding the rule of law. And that means that this performance will be taken into account by the Parliament by approving the new Commission, and it will mean that we will see you in court. So I urge you – no payments until the milestones are fully fulfilled. And I call upon the Council to draw a clear line against a head of state who systematically violates the European treaties and directs his loyalty towards Putin rather than the EU. It's time to suspend Hungary's voting rights, and it's time to finally protect the EU's vital interests in the rule of law.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, Russia’s actions at the Finnish external border must be called out for what they are: a geopolitical move. Russia is cynically using asylum seekers and migrants to exert pressure, and this must be clearly condemned and addressed. But casting aside EU law is never the answer. Derogating from key standards and rights can never be the solution. Doing so would mean re-victimising those same asylum seekers and migrants that fell into Russian hands, and it would give Russia exactly what it wants: proof that the EU doesn’t practise what it preaches; proof that its actions are working. Foreign affairs issues require foreign affairs solutions. We don’t need derogations. We need diplomacy and full support of the Finnish authorities. I urge the EU to take a firm stance against this dehumanising of vulnerable people, as if they are mere geopolitical pawns. We must ensure that on our side of the border we treat people with dignity; grant them the rights they are entitled to, including access to an asylum procedure; and uphold our laws, because that is what makes us Europe.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioners, when a veto by Orbán is feared in the EU council, the unfreezing of the EU funds reappears at the negotiation table. It’s a cynical pattern, but Hungary has not resolved its rule-of-law and fundamental rights deficiencies. The measures adopted in may suffer from fundamental flaws. Even in the most lenient interpretation, three out of the four judicial requirements are still not met, or only partially. The Commission was crystal clear: no fulfilment of the enabling conditions as long as the lack of judicial independence is not addressed. I urge the Commission to remain diligent and to keep the money frozen until genuine reforms are effectively implemented. To unlock funding to Hungary would play straight into the hands of Orbán, because his cynical approach of holding EU Council decision-making hostage is actually – literally – paying off. I urge the Council to find an effective approach to Orbán’s blackmail. Explore other ways to financially support Ukraine. We cannot allow ourselves to be taken hostage.

Madam President, Commissioner, as President von der Leyen rightly said, today’s proposal to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova is historic. It shows that Russia’s attacks on European peace and stability only has led to closer cooperation, and that we stand by Ukraine in their fight for freedom. But the work starts now. We must support both countries to fully meet all criteria for accession, and we need to prepare our own Union for enlargement by initiating internal reforms now. At the same time, we cannot permit to forget the Western Balkans, because we need to restore the trust in that region by sticking to our promises to countries that deliver. That means that we open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania and ensure visa liberalisation for Kosovo. The citizens there deserve the EU future that we promised to them. Any further delay in the Western Balkans will further empower Russia in this region, with all consequences that we should know by now.

Madam President, Commissioner, over 4 000 children killed, massive numbers of civilians bombed to death or bleeding under the rubble. The hospital system has collapsed, yet humanitarian aid is refused. Human suffering in Gaza is immense, unprecedented and is manmade. We can only be a credible value-based actor in the world if we, as the EU, fiercely condemn these brutal violations of international law, for the sake of the lives and rights of Palestinians, but also for so much needed security of Israel, as legitimising lawlessness is a dead-end street. Calling for a humanitarian pause makes no sense. For what? Feeding the people before they are killed? No, the bombardments must stop! We need a ceasefire from both sides now. We need full access for humanitarian aid in Gaza and an immediate release of the hostages. That is the necessary starting point for working towards a sustainable two-state solution.

Madam President, the Italian Government has taken an unprecedented step with its agreement with Albania, according to which asylum seekers who are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea are brought to Albania, where they are detained during an Italian asylum procedure. This outsourcing agreement violates international law, but also primary and secondary EU law and it must be denounced, therefore, by the Commission and the Member States. Instead of allowing Member States at the external borders to revert to illegal practices, we must secure solidarity within the EU and by equally sharing the responsibility. We propose, therefore, to hold the debate in the next plenary, as this cannot go unanswered.

Thank you for this question. I refer to the Temporary Protection Directive that these Ukrainian refugees can invoke, these rights that they have. I think to start with, there should be sufficient capacity in the Member States, and the rules should be very clearly disseminated so that people know that they have these rights. And I think it is up to the Member States, first and foremost, to make sure that they offer this support. But it is the Commission, as a guardian of the Treaty, that needs to monitor if these rules are complied with and otherwise intervene. Because until now, there is this solidarity platform, it is all behind the scenes that people discuss this – the Commission with the Member States. But this seems to be a quite persistent violation. And I think at that moment the Commission should start to act and enforce compliance.

Mr President, most refugees from Ukraine are women. Women to whom we promised immediate protection and access to rights and services in the EU. Yet, in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the barriers to sexual and reproductive health care and gender-based violence support services forced them to live either without this support or to return to a war zone in order to get the help that they need. And this is exactly the opposite of what temporary protection is meant to achieve. More generally, access to medical care, social welfare, housing, labour markets and education is impeded in these and other Member States. I urge the Commission to enforce the key rights of these refugees. Civil society and municipalities hosting Ukrainian refugees still struggle to access funding. The Commission must finally ensure proper EU funding to those actors that do the actual work on the ground. The swift activation of temporary protection to refugees from Ukraine was a true sign of solidarity. We must live up to this spirit and to the obligations that come with it, and start thinking of their future protection, as the refugees deserve a long-term perspective also beyond March 2025. If and hopefully not, but if they are still forcefully displaced. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)

Mr President, from me, a very warm welcome to Mr Massoud and his delegation. Welcome in this heart of democracy, which I wish with all my heart for you and your people as well. The people in Afghanistan are suffering the devastating consequences of Taliban rule. Two years after the Western departure, women and girls have been fully erased from public life, subject to gender apartheid, and people are in dire need of aid. Winter is yet to come. Yet we leave the Afghans alone. Evacuations have stopped. Member States turn their back on former staff members that serve them loyally. Persecuted women are left stuck in the country and humanitarian organisations remain heavily underfunded. The interventions and exit by the West have increased the responsibility towards the Afghan people. We do not have the right to give up on them. We must step up humanitarian aid, visas, resettlement and provide active support to the opposition fighting for change. Let us deliver the support that they deserve.

Mr President, Council, Commissioner, asylum seekers face an ever more lawless Europe, a Europe of pushbacks, inhuman reception conditions, unlawful detention becoming the new normal. But make no mistake, this is not due to a lack of EU legislation. It is a result of unequal responsibility sharing and total impunity for the Member States. So yes, we need a new pact, but one rooted in solidarity, one that harmonises standards of protection and is coupled with credible enforcement and the current pact positions offer a mixed bag. Mandatory relocation is promising, but border procedures and increased derogations will only undermine the harmonised protection that we mean to achieve. So I urge Council and Parliament to focus on actually strengthening the system through real solidarity and a truly common framework. And I urge the Commission to show us that our law making is not in vain and that any current and future laws are finally enforced.

Mr President, Council, Commissioner, we were all shocked on 24 September when a heavily armed Serbian gang with seemingly strong links to the government invaded Kosovo and brutally killed a police officer – shocked but not surprised, because this is what the EU appeasement strategy leads to. For years we have silently allowed Vučić to undermine stability in the region, to remain supportive of the Kremlin and to demolish minority rights in his own country. Yet EPA funds flow in his direction and we treat him as a friend, incentivising him to go further. And this is what autocrats do when they face impunity. We should have learned our lesson with Putin. After the recent events it is high time that EU leaders wake up. The security situation in the Balkans is really under high threat. We need to act now to protect the citizens of the Western Balkans and to protect their prospect of becoming part of the EU.

Mr President, Council, Commissioner, tomorrow, at this very spot, President Von der Leyen will claim in strong words that she fiercely defends democracy against autocracy. But at the same time, she proudly presents dirty deals with a ruthless dictator, Saied. The extreme obsession to stop migration to the EU leads to the appeasement of an autocrat who incites violence against black migrants. Migrants and refugees are hunted, brutalised and killed in Tunisia. And until today, the deal has only led to more repression, more deaths, and even more migration. Commissioner, are you ready to acknowledge that Saied’s racist policies are the reason for migrants and refugees to flee, not the economy? This deal will therefore never lead to less migration. But the consequence will be that our values become transactional. So if Von der Leyen is a true defender of democracy and European values, practice what you preach and cease this deal.

Mr President, how could we not talk about Afghanistan this week, two years after the Taliban takeover? While the situation worsens and the repression is growing, our attention deflects elsewhere. Women and girls are banned from education, banned from working for NGOs, banned from recreation, banned from life. The poverty and the food crisis have reached a new low. Still, humanitarian organisations have to beg for sufficient funding. And the EU hardly resettles any people. So Afghan people are caught in the trap of the Taliban. Especially for women and girls, this means that their rights, their lives, are put on hold, that they are isolated from the world. So we cannot leave the Afghans alone. We cannot forget about their fate. They deserve our support day by day until we have regained their freedoms. So we need a new effective EU strategy towards Afghanistan. So let us kick off this initiative for a new strategy with a fully-fledged debate in the next plenary.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, openness enables citizens to participate more closely in the decision—making process, and this makes authorities more legitimate and more accountable to the citizen in a democratic system. This reasoning of the Court dates back to 2011, when it ruled that the Council violates EU law by refusing access to Council documents. The Court has repeatedly held that the Council must proactively disclose its negotiation documents to enable citizens’ involvement and participation. But the Council continues to obstruct transparency, by requiring an application, by delaying the decision, excessively using rejection grounds, redacting texts and creating financial hurdles. A council, disregarding judgments from its own court has seriously affected its own credibility, and it can a Commission President causing a scandalous ‘text—gate’ as well. It is telling that both actors are not present at the moment, and then why we still wonder why citizens don’t seem interested or involved in EU policies? Citizens are key for public and democratic scrutiny. They must be able to form and share their opinion before legislation is adopted with us, with national parliaments, with their governments. So, Council, start complying with the law, and Commission and Parliament, fundamentally change your practices as well. Active citizens, NGOs, journalists: we need them desperately to bring the EU closer to its citizens, so don’t be scared of them, but embrace them. Get transparent.

Madam President, Council, Commissioner, the Pylos shipwreck proved again how little value the lives of migrants and refugees hold according to our Member States. Let’s admit that the approach on search and rescue, just like the funding of the criminal and smuggling Libyan Coast Guard, is about deterrence of arrivals and not about the actual saving of lives. Stopping impunity is the only way. So, Commission, join our call for an independent investigation, condemn Malta for letting people drown under their watch and Greece and Italy for obstructing and punishing the life—saving work of NGOs. Give your guidelines against the criminalisation of humanitarian aid true meaning. The Pact on Asylum and Migration does not cut this crisis. We need a pact on search and rescue, one that centres on solidarity among all Member States, on accountability, on a uniform application of maritime law and enhanced funding and support for saving lives at sea. It is the moral and legal duty of the EU to ensure a genuine coordinated response, now!

Madam President, Commissioner, today we commemorate the Srebrenica genocide 28 years ago, when the international community failed to protect the citizens despite the promise of safety. Never again. This is what we promised with the Dayton Agreement. But what do we see now? Stability and peace are again under pressure in Bosnia and the international community is asleep. Milorad Dodik takes a step towards the accession of the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina, rejecting the authority of the Constitutional Court. Many people fear the consequences. And this is why our report is clear: Dodik must be sanctioned. And the security must be guaranteed by reinforcing the EUFOR forces. Chair, we awarded the candidate status to Bosnia in December last year. Now, both sides must deliver on this commitment. So let’s support and push Bosnia to develop a true democracy and to comply with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and its own Constitutional Court, including Republika Srpska, and block any effort undermining the prospect of EU membership. We cannot afford to disappoint Bosnian citizens again. They deserve a peaceful and inclusive country where their rights are respected, regardless of their background. Let them be able to count on the European values.

Well, the problem is that the National Judicial Council is still not independent. The government decides who are in this National Judiciary Council. And the point with the draft law on the Supreme Court means that disciplinary measures are going to be taken somewhere else, but still by judges who are not legitimately appointed. So as long as the Judiciary Council keeps on producing neo-judges, who are not legitimate, the Court becomes only more and more captured and this problem is still not resolved. So therefore, I urge the Commissioner to take steps because as long as the National Judiciary Council is not independent, we will not get away with the rule of law crisis in Poland.

Madam President, representatives of the Council – congratulations on your Presidency – and Commissioner, this report not only shows the track record of Member States on the rule of law, but also of the Commission’s ability to address rule—of—law risks. And so far, I must be honest, the Commission is failing. Institutions, civil society and journalists are under attack in a growing number of Member States and they feel unprotected. And in countries like Poland, the rule—of—law crisis is only further cemented. Citizens see their freedom and rights stripped away. And the Poland resolution we just adopted today urgently calls on the Commission to use all its tools to fight back against this. It has become a matter of survival for the Polish people. Mapping violations and expressing concerns will not cut the crisis. So I urge you, Commissioner, as the resolution of the Parliament also called upon, to launch an infringement procedure against the National Council for the Judiciary, to speed up the procedure of the investigative committee law, to respond to the electoral law changes and to expand the scope of the Article 7 procedure to address this all—out war against democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. The people in Poland are counting on you. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)

Madam President, in July 1995 thousands of Bosniak people fled the persecution of the Serb army and thought that they were safe in Srebrenica, a UN—protected area. But the international community had offered false hope. It failed to prevent genocide. Over 8 000 Muslim men and boys were brutally killed and thousands of women and children deported, humiliated and raped. Some wounds never heal, but by commemorating we pay respect to the victims and their families and to Bosniak society. We give them a voice, a voice saying loud and clear that justice does not tolerate impunity, not for war crimes or genocide, not for denying or glorifying these atrocities. It hurts that this message is still badly needed, day by day. Some wounds never heal. But let us remember them and learn from them to decisively stand up against the first signs of division, discrimination or maltreatment and to prevent genocide from ever happening again.

Mr President, Council, Commissioner, preventing new Morias and push backs and ensuring solidarity, that is how the Commission presented the pact proposals. But look now at the Council agreement. No shared responsibility, but the following message to the border countries: ‘Detain asylum seekers at your borders, after a poor procedure, send them to any country willing to take them for a nice amount of money. And you may call that country a safe third country’. This is why Italy said yes. And why von der Leyen promised EUR 1 billion to Tunisia, a country where people are fleeing violence and persecution? Selling responsibility is the new norm inside and outside the EU. And after the sale, why care for people’s right to protection, dignity and life? Because, hey, we sold that, didn’t we? I urge this House to remind the Council that human rights cannot be paid off. And to firmly reject this toxic deal and to finally take common responsibility.

Madam President, thank you. Of course, we agree that we should talk on the pact and the way forward, but we cannot miss out one essential element that is related to the pact. And we all witnessed yesterday how the announcement was being made by Ms von der Leyen of a migration deal between the EU and Tunisia, which is clearly linked to the Council agreement on the pact. And it means that the EU is outsourcing its responsibility to a regime that has cracked down on the rule of law, on human rights and on democracy. Migrants fleeing violence and persecution in Tunisia will be pulled back where their rights are violated, including the right of access to an asylum procedure. And as we have seen in the case of Libya, the deal will most probably also lead to a further loss of life. So this deal with Tunisia will affect our external policies and the EU asylum pact. Therefore, we would really like to urge you to include in the title the deal with Tunisia. So make it ‘preparation of the EU Council meeting, in particular in the light of the agreement on the Migration Pact and the EU migration deal with Tunisia.

Mr President, Council, Commissioner, the Polish ruling party is on a warpath against democracy to win the elections at all costs. The Law on the Commission on Russian influence exploits the Russian aggression with the sole purpose to remove opposition candidates from the election list and to silence critical voices. A committee of politically—appointed members that would simultaneously investigate, prosecute, judge and sentence people for vaguely—defined crimes is violating virtually every fundamental legal principle under EU law. So make no mistake, this law is not anti—Russia. It is anti—democracy. So, Commissioner, it’s good that you are extremely concerned, but I urge you to immediately take action – we don’t have time to lose – and also take action against the other acts violating the rule of law. I would like to urge you also to consider expanding the scope of the Article 7 procedure. Towards the Council: Presidencies must be credible defenders of EU values, which should not be negotiable. So please prepare for 2025.

Madam President, Council, Commission, more than four years ago, most states worldwide committed to offer refugees sustainable protection and future and to guarantee equitable responsibility sharing because the largest hosting countries cannot be left alone. And look at us now. It has become common to call for fences, to push back refugees and deny their rights, and conclude shady deals with repressive regimes, leaving the protection for refugees to them. The EU slogan is: ‘Break the business model of smugglers.’ But what we do is feeding them by blocking all pathways to protection. And we even pay the Libyan coast guard, identified by the UN as smugglers and traffickers conducting crimes against humanity. The EU slogan is: ‘Avoid dangerous routes.’ But the Rwanda deal of Denmark says it all. Even people identified as refugees in those outsourced asylum procedures are still not welcome on the Danish soil. Colleagues, the world is too small to turn your backs on refugees, on common responsibilities. Don’t fool yourself, don’t fool your voters, and don’t betray our values.

Mr President, Commissioner, the detention of education activist Matiullah Wesa is yet another display of the crackdown on all freedoms in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule. Especially for women and girls, the country has turned into a real nightmare. Banned from education, banned from the labour market and erased from public life. While this should ring all our alarm bells, the EU’s support and commitment is still falling short. Afghan human rights defenders cannot leave the country because Member States refuse to issue visas. Asylum claims are rejected, leaving people in Europe in limbo while they can’t go back, of course. In this and so many other areas, we could and should do so much more. Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan reminded us of the banner we have attached on our building, saying that the support of Ukrainians will take as long as needed – and rightfully so. But why not make the same commitment to Afghans? The Afghans need our concrete support. Let us not forget them.