Debate contributions by Sebastian TYNKKYNEN

Madam President, I raise your attention to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure and more specifically to its paragraph 3. The rule stipulates that, as a general rule, the questions shall be answered by the addressee within six weeks of being forward to it, and that those designated as priority questions shall be answered by the addressee within three weeks of being forwarded to it. Although I am new in this House, I know I am not the only one who has experienced that these deadlines are often not met. Madam President, I would warmly welcome any means that would push the Commission to better stick to these timelines set in the Rules of Procedure and respect the rules of this House.

Madam President, whether acknowledged by them or not, the national card scheme presented by the Hungarian Government poses a severe security threat to Europe. In late June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Austrian capital, Vienna, had become a hub for Russian espionage in Europe. Mr Orbán should not be so naive to assume that his friendly relations with President Putin will not result in Russia trying to use this visa scheme to make Budapest just another Vienna. Mr Orbán's initiative is on track to let the Russians establish another beachhead for its extensive espionage operations right in the middle of Europe. Good intentions or not, Mr Orbán, I think you should strictly reconsider this very dangerous policy. If not, other European countries will unfortunately have to start vetting the people coming from Hungary with extreme prejudice.

Israel is a multicultural society and within it a different population is able to live well with each other, but I can also say in Finnish what I just said here in English. 40% of Palestinian Muslims agree that suicide bombing is a way to defend Islam. We have seen this development, that all the time from the Gaza Strip and also from the West Bank, including the surrounding states, these attacks are coming on Israeli soil, and this October 7th was one good bad example of this, and therefore it is not safe at the moment to have a two-state model.

Madam President, for almost a year now, scores of hostages have remained in dark tunnels in the hands of Hamas. Although shocking, the horrific terrorist attack on Israel did not come as a surprise. In 2013, the world famous Pew Research Centre polled Muslims all around the world. One result in particular was quite shocking: 40 % of the Palestinian Muslims said that a suicide bombing in defence of Islam is often or sometimes justified. So is it any surprise that something like 7 October came to pass? The border wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip exists for a reason: so that the Israelis wouldn't constantly have to fear for their lives. Israel has offered the Palestinian Authority a two-state solution time and time again to no avail. The Palestinians simply don't want it. To them, the only solution seems to be an intifada. If Hamas came out of hiding and laid down their weapons, the fighting would cease in an instant and the humanitarian situation could start significantly improving. The whole world seems to want peace. The only question is, does Hamas?

Madam President, since the last time we discussed supporting Ukraine here in July, no major EU developments for ensuring Ukraine’s victory have taken place. It is quite bizarre that however later today we will be debating a plan that seeks to spend hundreds of billions of euros every year for things like decarbonisation. Actually, this is great news. It shows that if the European countries so choose, they already have the resources needed to help Ukraine to defeat Russia. In addition, not everything is about money. Last week, as a group of MEPs, we sent a letter to High Representative Borrell to increase pressure for allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil with Western weapons. Restricting Ukraine’s ability to hit strategically important targets is like forcing them to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. Russia is not pulling its punches. So we should not be telling Ukraine to do so either.

My fellow Members, the fact that the West has armed Ukraine in the fight against Russia, the fact that Ukrainians have died, it is not the fault of the West, it is Russia's fault that Ukrainians have died. You are suggesting that peace should be agreed now that Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is absurd talk! What if Russia attacked this war, for example, after winning Finland? Would it be your opinion that when Finnish children and women are killed, we start negotiating peace with Putin? Or should the West support us Finns?

Mr President, last month in Solingen, Germany, a supporter of ISIS stabbed three to death and wounded eight. The suspect arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2022. The application was rejected and he had to be returned to Bulgaria, where he had already lodged an application, but the authorities could not find him. Everyone now sees what a foolish continent Europe has become. Macron, Merkel and von der Leyen, say their names! Your policies and your inaction have been life-threatening for Europe. In my hometown of Oulu, a series of dozens of sexual crimes against children was uncovered, in which the perpetrators were mainly men of foreign background. The authors came to Finland through Europe, through your countries! What kind of Union does not protect the most vulnerable? It's like this. External borders must be supported and abusers must be returned to their countries of origin. It must be our honorary duty this season. We've seen enough. We've had enough.

You often use this example to say that it is unfortunate what has just happened, for example, with regard to immigration. This should not be talked about, this can stigmatize and so on. But when will you start worrying about what will happen to European citizens, how people will be killed and killed? Charlie Hebdo attacks, in the theater people are murdered, priests are slit throats. Three people have been murdered with a knife. When can we begin to conclude that something is wrong with our immigration policy?

Madam President, during the recently concluded term, we approved a support instrument for Ukraine amounting to EUR 50 billion. But what does it say about us Europeans that the size of the EU recovery instrument was EUR 800 billion, with half intended for green and digital transition projects? Are our priorities in order? Should this House instead ensure that we transition safely back to the situation we were in before, respecting state borders and not allowing Putin’s predatory actions? Only then can we be sure that other worthy goals can be achieved. Every day that the suffering of Ukrainians continues, we should look at ourselves in the mirror and feel ashamed. We are helping Ukraine to fight, but not to win. This must change. Slava Ukraini!