Debate contributions by Susanna CECCARDI

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, good morning left and thank you, thank you very much for this latest waste of time, because we really lacked a good anti-discrimination directive that has stood firm for 17 years in Europe, ask yourself why. Because who is really discriminated against, today, in Europe, with all the problems we have? It is we, the European citizens, who see our culture and traditions increasingly silenced; we are forced to suffer uncontrolled mass immigration that puts our safety and our work at risk; It is we who defend the traditional family, freedom of thought, our roots and for this reason we are accused of hatred, of propagating hatred, by you, but it is us. Brussels dusts off this anti-discrimination directive after 17 years, but ignores the real discrimination, which is that against its own citizens, who demand respect for their own history. Defending identity is not discrimination, it is patriotism and freedom. And we will not stop defending our homelands, our freedom, because you are inventing these anti-discrimination directives that waste this House's time.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, let us be clear: the visa mechanism has major problems and today we are here to strengthen an instrument that has so far worked poorly, because too many times the visa exemption has become yet another tool to open Europe to illegal immigration. And the data says so: around one in four asylum applications is made by citizens benefiting from visa liberalisation in their country. On the defence of the external borders, Europe remains weak and too many third countries take advantage of this weakness, not cooperating on returns, selling passports in exchange for money, tolerating abuses. With the lowering of the thresholds we could react immediately, avoiding unmanageable emergencies. Yes, therefore, to the revision of the visa mechanism as a necessary deterrent to stop even irregular flows. But be careful: If anyone in the Commission thinks of turning this instrument into a political weapon against unwelcome governments, he is very much mistaken. We Patriots will continue to watch. Security and sovereignty must go hand in hand in the exclusive interest of citizens.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, after ten years of uncontrolled migration flows, official figures show us an incontrovertible picture. For example, in Italy immigrants represent 9% of the population, but they commit more than 40% of sexual violence. A few days ago, near Catania, two Hungarian tourists were raped by three North African citizens and these numbers oblige us to recognize the reality: Uncontrolled immigration puts the most vulnerable people at risk, especially women and children. These truths are often ignored by the national media. Go around our cities and look at the stations and the degraded places, it is full of immigrants who sell, get drunk, delinquent, and this is the reception of the left. That is why today we must firmly say that Europe can no longer be subjected to mass immigration: We need to change the rules, the conventions, the regulations, because this is the real emergency! We spent €88 billion on the war in Ukraine, a tenth would be enough to make mass returns of irregular immigrants to Europe.

You see, in Italy there is a part of the left that always advocates European federalism, which in reality is not the federalism that the League means, because it is the new centralism. I really believe in federalism, I really believe in communities, I really believe in territories, I really believe in the self-determination of the peoples, of the peoples of Europe. And it is here that the Patriots, in this House, defend the self-determination of peoples. And look that in self-determination, and therefore in the closeness of institutions to territories, there is also closeness precisely to the most fragile people, to the weakest people. Today we are talking about disability: We are really close, with the institutions, to the most fragile, listening to the territories and not imposing from above.

In the meantime, just one piece of information on Italian politics: In Emilia-Romagna they have ruled the Democratic Party and the left for 70 years, it has never ruled the centre-right. But, beyond that, it is funny how, even on a debate that concerns people with disabilities – and therefore everyone, including migrants – you want to make the usual confrontation with migrants and talk once again about migrants, who have absolutely nothing to do with this specific debate. For once – and I say: For once, please – can the European left show that it is on the side of all European citizens and not just migrants?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, just under two months ago, in pouring rain, the Independent Life Association protested in front of the Tuscany Region, protesting against the new guidelines of the Region to adapt to the criteria of the European Union. Today we are called upon to discuss yet another action plan of the European Union, but the truth is that the Italian regions are struggling to apply directives designed elsewhere, often lowered from above, which risk stiffening, rather than freeing. Meanwhile, in Italy, the Minister for Disabilities Alessandra Locatelli has started a concrete path, presenting the three-year operational plan for people with disabilities and carrying out the Disability decree, with the experimentation of the personalized independent life project, a real integration between health, social and rights. It is a reform that starts from below, from the territories, and that really puts the person at the center, not the bureaucracy. Here, then, is the point: We do not need new models imposed by Brussels, but certain resources, administrative flexibility and simplification of procedures. The right to live in the community is not guaranteed with standardized guidelines, but with policies designed with people.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, if we are unable to protect our children, then we fail in our most sacred task. Children are too often victims of horrendous crimes: sexual exploitation, child pornography, international trafficking. Behind these crimes are organized networks, unscrupulous criminals, merchants of human lives. Against these monsters we need very severe penalties, capillary controls, European collaboration and zero tolerance. On this there is no left and right. There is only the duty to defend the most defenseless without hesitation. But the threat to our children does not only come from pedocriminals, it also comes from those who want to confuse their bodies and minds from an early age. Yes, I am referring to gender indoctrination, LGBT propaganda, and attempts to normalize gender transitions on minors without maturity or awareness. Children must be protected in their innocence, not exposed to ideological experiments that seek to erase their biological identity, family, mother and father. Our children, our grandchildren are not social guinea pigs, they are our future and our hope. It is our duty to defend them from criminals as well as from those who would like to sexualize them, committing another terrible form of abuse.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the arrest and political disqualification of opponents from elections is one of the most obvious features of authoritarian regimes and, unfortunately, Erdoğan's Turkey has long offered us concrete examples of this. But since those who want to bring Turkey into Europe for twenty years have not succeeded, they have decided to make Europe look like Turkey as much as possible; because it is paradoxical that we, while we are here to comment and condemn, rightly, the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, in France the leader of the main opposition party has been condemned to disqualification from candidacy for the next five years. In France, not in any Central African republic! Yesterday it was Romania's turn, today it is France's turn. They tried with Trump, they tried with Matteo Salvini. Today they succeeded with Bolsonaro, with Marine Le Pen, with the Romanians. And who will be next? Who will be next? Democracy is not only in danger in Turkey, it is in danger right here in our house! That is why the voice of the Patriots must rise ever louder, because on the left freedom and democracy have never loved it: They are always the usual. Down the mask: You are always the usual poor communists!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on 11 September 2018, Dr Abbas, a retired doctor, was forcibly taken; an arrest that seems linked to public criticism expressed by his sister, less than a week before, during an event at a think tank in which he denounced the repression of the Uyghurs. Her family has not heard from her since. On 27 February 2020, at least 40 Uyghurs were repatriated from Thailand to China, an action that is of deep concern and that violates the international standards assumed by the country. In China, Uyghurs face arbitrary detention, forced labour conditions and restrictions on fundamental freedoms. In addition, the Chinese government is extending its influence far beyond its borders, exerting pressure on other states to cooperate in the forced repatriation of persecuted dissidents and minorities. The European Union must go beyond mere declarations of condemnation, but it is necessary to adopt concrete measures, greater transparency in production chains and trade restrictions for products linked to the exploitation of forced labour, which damage our companies, subjected to rigid standards and often crazy regulations, applied by inflexible bureaucrats.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, 100 days have passed since the start of the new Commission: 100 days of announcements, slogans, declarations. If Europe were governed by press conferences, on the Commission's ambitious plans, we would already be the safest, most competitive and most prosperous continent on the planet. Let's talk about defense: You tell us that we need a European army, rearmament, common defence, but then you can't even protect our borders from the invasion of illegal immigrants. Competitiveness: As America revives the economy and lowers corporate taxes, you confirm the Green Deal and increase bureaucracy. Good, applause. Companies are closing down and fleeing to China. And on simplification: The only thing Brussels can simplify is the way it puts sticks in our wheels. More regulations, more constraints, more follies green They penalise our farmers and our businesses. In short, after 100 days the music is the same as ever: so much Europe in words, more and more Europe on paper and zero solutions for citizens and businesses. Enough of the empty promises! President von der Leyen: Change course or change profession!

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in Europe there are trappers of African origin, first or second generation immigrants, who freely incite hatred against the symbols of the Christian faith. We saw it recently in Italy, where a young Italian-Moroccan singer made a video where the cathedral of Milan is shrouded in flames. In Nigeria, however, a young singer has been in prison for four years on charges of blasphemy and a death sentence for hanging on his head, because one of his songs would have offended Muhammad. Today, Europe rightly calls on the Nigerian government to release him, to guarantee him a fair trial and to abandon the penal code based on human rights. Sharia. But it is Europe itself that lets multiply in our ghetto-neighborhood cities, where already the Sharia, imposed by clandestine Islamic courts, and which, in order to please other sensitivities, allows our roots and values to be undermined. Europe is asking others to respect their rights. Well, but remember that our peoples have a right to ask Europe for more respect for itself and our history and identity.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, for how many years has the Left been telling us that security and immigration are not related phenomena? You are finally realizing that this is not the case: Organised crime draws heavily from illegal immigration: They are perfect arms to serve the interests of organised crime across Europe. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2023 report, migrants pay up to €6,000 to leave on dilapidated boats from western Libya, fuelling illicit networks that finance terrorism and drug trafficking. That is why the European immigration strategy needs to change radically. Trump will do it: announced zero tolerance towards smugglers and illegal immigrants. If we want to take oxygen from the mafias, we have to stop illegal departures. Zero tolerance and the fight against the mafia. This is what the League has been supporting for years, what the Italian government is doing and what the Patriots are supporting for Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the right to express one's thoughts without fear is one of the great gifts of democracy, as Roosevelt, a Democrat, said. Last term, the League and I voted against the Digital Services Act. More than protecting democracy: The Digital Services Act, as it was conceived, is a club in the hands of the oligarchs of the European Union. This regulation was not created to protect citizens, but to control and censor. It is yet another tool of those who, under the pretext of fighting fake news and foreign interference, muzzle dissent and strengthen unique thinking. This is a custom-built debate against Elon Musk, guilty of making X an open platform free of ideological censorship. And what do you say now about Zuckerberg, who aligns himself with these new pushes for freedom? It shows that the wind is changing. The dictatorship of political correctness is finally collapsing in the rest of the world, except in Europe. And Europe risks suffering an undemocratic and censorship drift thanks to the European Soviet Union.

I also answer you in my mother tongue, Italian, which perhaps you understand. Look, the responsibility is individual. In life, in society, in common life we are all responsible for our actions; if a person hides, cowardly, behind a false profile, a profile fake, he must pay and it is right that he should pay for his responsibilities if he wrongfully offends other people. I myself have denounced, some we have found and they have been condemned. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find these people, but justice is justice. The law is the law for everyone, even on social media.

(start of speech off mic) ... represents a threat to European democracies? Is it the sovereign peoples who freely choose their representatives through the ballot box or those self-proclaimed enlightened elites who consider themselves the sole bearers of truth? From Brussels, regulations like the Digital Services Act are presented as tools to defend democracy, yet they risk stifling freedom of expression and silencing dissenting voices. The plurality of ideas – the cornerstone of any democracy – is being undermined in the name of a so-called greater good. Today, in the digital age, social networks are the new public squares where free citizens engage in debate. Yet these platforms are under attack by those who seek to control information and silence dissent. A clear example example is Elon Musk, who has become a target for defending free speech. And yet these platforms give a voice to millions, promoting the plurality of ideas, essential to a free society. Freedom of expression is non-negotiable. Limiting it means suppressing citizens' right to participate in public life. The peoples of Europe are not an ignorant mass. Tick tock, tick tock, the time for hypocrisy is running out. It's time to defend truth, pluralism and authentic democracy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Union is transforming hate speech. online in a Trojan horse to stifle freedom of expression on the web. True, new technologies can be used to spread insults, threats and hatred. I know something about it: Every day I receive threats from Islamic fundamentalists or keyboard lions. But the solution is not to gag those who express uncomfortable ideas and stifle dissent. Commissioner Breton has attempted to obscure the debate between Elon Musk and Trump. Is this your democracy? Democracy is based on dialectics. Western thought lives on freedom, it is founded on freedom of thought. If we stifle freedom of thought, if we stifle the West, if we stifle what we are, if we stifle Europe, then the European Union is betraying itself, it is betraying the whole philosophy of Western thought. With this Digital Services Act we are gagging people, especially those uncomfortable ideas that the left does not like. woke, who do not like the respectable left, which makes so much theory in these classrooms, is good at teaching everyone but does not yet know well on which pillars Europe is based.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, every hour spent searching for documents, filling out forms, submitting certifications, queuing at the counter is an hour taken away from innovation, research and development. In Italy, bureaucracy steals 312 hours from every small and medium-sized enterprise. The problem, on a continent where small and medium-sized enterprises make up 99% of the total, is common and community-based. The most elephantine of bureaucracies that falls on entrepreneurs and citizens is right here, in Strasbourg and in Brussels. Let me give you just one example: It's not about businesses, it's about fragile people. In Tuscany, my region, the resources for the Independent Life project for people with disabilities have moved from a regional funding line to that of the European Social Fund. Due to this change, those who receive contributions will be obliged to participate in a new call, which involves the cancellation of existing rankings, the request for new evaluation documentation, the dismissal of employees hired, waiting for the new request to be accepted. What does the disabled person who doesn't have the money do? He can not redo all the drawing, the documentation, he loses the collaborator. So where does he go? Governor Giani's house? Or Ursula von der Leyen?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, one million failed returns of irregular immigrants who deserved deportation: Let's talk about this. But what action has the European Union taken to prevent this huge flaw in our security system? Nothing, the European Union does nothing – on the contrary – it throws a wrench in the wheels of any initiative by Member States to stop irregular immigration. In Italy, we signed a pact with Albania to build repatriation centres there. But Italian judges are boycotting this choice, only out of political opposition. The judges also put Matteo Salvini on trial for stopping illegal immigration in 2019 and on trial - think about it - for kidnapping, as if he were a common criminal. It's unbelievable, but this is what they invented to block those who managed to give effective answers. What do you think we should do to those who are delinquent in our countries and do not want to integrate with European culture and do not respect the principles of equality between men and women? Should we keep them all? Let us stop the hypocrisy and respect the mandate of European citizens, who want security and less immigration.

Thank you, Mr Torselli. She's Tuscan like me. He has in mind the positions of our governor Giani, which have also changed over time. The Tuscan left, like the Italian and European left, wants more and more migrants, but does not want to expel those migrants who delinquent. They are very favorable in Tuscany to open new reception centers, increasingly large, the last for example in the province of Lucca, in Antraccoli, but when it comes to expelling them, expelling irregulars, expelling criminals I do not agree. Instead a CPR, a center for repatriation in Tuscany and other Italian regions serves because illegal immigration that persists in Europe must be expelled.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, defending borders is a duty, it is a duty towards the most fragile citizens. Bringing everyone in, as the Left has wanted in recent years, has meant filling our cities with criminals, drug dealers and terrorists. Our borders are a colabrodo. Do we need an agency like Frontex that should defend borders more than ever? But let's tell the citizens that in recent years the Left, the Greens, have repeatedly tried to take the funds from Frontex and turn this coast guard into an NGO handmaid. Let's be clear: defending human rights is right, but why does this have to come at the expense of the security of European citizens? The league and I have always put safety first. This is demonstrated by Matteo Salvini, a true patriot, who today risks six years in prison for having defended the Italian and European borders from the irregular flows of illegal immigrants. We are therefore very much in favour of giving more support to Frontex. Not only that, we expect a reform of the mandate of the Agency that reduces the role of human rights commissioners and increases operational capacities also in third countries. Finally, we hope that this debate will not prove to be yet another inconclusive theatre. Europe must defend its borders. This is the imperative mandate that the peoples have shouted at the ballot box of the European elections. Listen to them, listen to them, or the Europe we know will disappear in the deafening noise of your deaf hypocrisy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, there are over 1 000 political prisoners arbitrarily arrested and detained in Cuba, while a bloody authoritarian regime continues to brutally oppress anyone who dares to oppose it. José Daniel Ferrer García is not only an opponent of the communist regime, but an example of non-violent resistance and hope for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Today his situation is critical and the conditions in which he is forced are objectively inhumane. The European Union’s response to this crisis – as to many others – has so far been inadequate. A timid, ineffective reaction, devoid of any incisiveness. The European Union, on the other hand, has a moral and political duty to adopt a clear and strong position. We call for the immediate, unconditional release of José Daniel Ferrer García and all other political prisoners who are victims of communism and its atrocities. It is not only an act of justice, but a concrete demonstration of solidarity with all those Cubans who risk their lives every day to embrace the highest Western values: freedom and democracy. We strongly condemn the systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by the Cuban regime, torture, violence against demonstrators and repression of freedom of expression and worship. The passive behaviour of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Mr Borrell, is not only inappropriate, but scandalous. His indifference to the cries for help in Cuba, which are a huge stain on the reputation of the entire Union, is scandalous. We must immediately introduce targeted sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations, stop all financial support to an oppressive regime. It is our task, but above all the task of the majority, which unfortunately also includes those who have always looked with sympathy also to extreme leftist regimes, not recognizing the damage that communism has done in Europe in the last century and that it still perpetrates in the rest of the world. We must therefore condemn these injustices, but also act concretely to stop them.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, this Parliament has a duty to raise its voice against an anarcho-communist government that has erased all traces of democracy, violated human rights and left an entire population to suffer hunger, misery and despair. Venezuela, once one of Latin America's most prosperous nations, has been ravaged by years of dictatorship and repression under Maduro's communist regime. The rigged elections that continue to occur are just another chapter in a long line of fraud. Thousands of political opponents have been persecuted, imprisoned or forced into exile. Freedom of the press has been silenced. Peaceful protesters were brutally repressed and the country plunged into unacceptable economic and social conditions. We cannot afford to remain indifferent to these injustices. We have a moral duty to the Venezuelan people, we must support them in their struggle for freedom. Europe must recognize Edmundo González as the legitimate elected president and demand that Maduro be held accountable for his crimes before international justice. More than 5 million Venezuelans have been forced to leave their homeland. Maduro has not only devastated the lives of his citizens: his regime poses a threat to the stability of the entire region. Its authoritarian control over institutions, the use of military force against its own people, and ties to criminal organizations and corrupt regimes cannot and should no longer be tolerated. Yet, in the West, the left is silent or downplaying what is happening in Venezuela. Europe must now act, issue targeted sanctions against the Maduro regime and offer concrete support to the democratic forces in Venezuela. We need to send a strong and clear message: Europe will not remain silent in the face of tyranny. Long live the Venezuelan people and a greeting to our Venezuelan friends who are here in the Chamber.

(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, at the Open Arms trial in Palermo, the public prosecution requested six years in prison for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Matteo Salvini, who in 2018‐2019 defended Italy’s borders and the safety of Italians by blocking the landings of illegal immigrants. In his indictment, the prosecutor said that terrorists and human traffickers should also be disembarked. A crazy opinion, which the European left, NGOs and immigration NGOs fully share. But let them go and tell it to the families of the victims of the Solingen attack, who saw their loved ones die, to whom I express my total closeness and solidarity and that of the entire group of Patriots for Europe. Let them tell the families of the victims of all the other Islamist attacks that have bloodied our European nations. Irregular immigrants, among whom terrorists and traffickers are hiding, must not be sent away and Europe must facilitate their repatriation, not complicate the lives of the States that want to do so. Leave the nations free to defend their borders. Let the peoples of Europe live in safety, preserve their identity and preserve their roots.