Speeches

Madam President, imagine your daughter being arrested for not wearing a headscarf. Imagine your wife never returning from a protest, and you being forced to search through body bags. Imagine the internet shut down, losing contact with your son abroad and being left completely alone. If you step into the streets, you do not know whether others are still protesting in other cities or whether you are simply walking out to be killed. This is the daily reality for Iranians, while here they receive only lukewarm words of encouragement. And yet they continue to march against our common enemy. They do not ask much of us. From our warm halls, only with decisions on paper can we help: stronger sanctions, visa bans on the families of oppressors, trade embargoes, terrorist designation and an invitation to hear their voice, Reza Pahlavi.

Mr President, the Iranians have risen up bravely against their torturers. For 46 years, the nation has been occupied by an Islamist dictatorship. They have been brutalised, murdered, and for too long have their crimes gone unheard. Not anymore. What we are seeing in Iran is a revolution that will change the world. Also, the EU needs to act swiftly: ‑ Stop the appeasement policy, tighten sanctions and isolate the regime that executes its own people. ‑ Proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. ‑ Stop trade with Iran. ‑ Listen to the Iranian people and invite Mr Reza Pahlavi to address this parliament ‑ the man whose name the people chant in the streets of Iran. ‑ Coordinate attacks with the US to weaken the regime to collapse. We can either forever be seen as traitors and hypocrites, or we can help the Iranians rid themselves of this regime.

Mr President, the Commission has once again visibly taken Elon Musk and the X-someplate to its teeth. More specifically, it blamed X’s Grok AI for being able to create images of underdressed people. X reacted quickly and said he was changing his service - that's good. But I ask, why is there only Musk and X in the headlines again? Is the Commission aware that similar images may have been made, inter alia, through the application offered by ChatGPT? When the Commission openly starts tampering with only one platform that has repeatedly been on its teeth, it raises questions. The Commission is a major power. It's so big it's supposed to be searching before it starts messing around. Keep this in mind: It is not your job to fight Elon Musk.

Mr President, when I started as a Member of the European Parliament, I thought that the European Parliament would be the one that would specifically oppose the Commission's federal fanaticism. How wrong I was. I am now reading direct excerpts from the European Parliament's report on the initiative for common EU company legislation: "Parliament stresses that Member States should not be able to maintain or introduce in their national law provisions derogating from common EU company law." "Parliament calls on the Commission to assess the benefits of a single framework, including on tax issues, as part of common company law." I ask you, dear colleagues, in the middle and on the left, when will this EU bowing of yours end? When will this dissolution of nation-states end? The more Member States are oppressed, the louder you shout here, 'Yes, thank you.' You're just EU masochists.

Mr President, sexual harassment is an abuse of power. All its forms are reprehensible. Let's start with the facts and Spain, which we are discussing today. Fact number one: The Spanish socialists have built their political identity on zero tolerance, equality and moral superiority, but in their own structures harassment has been commonplace. Then move on to the European level. Fact number two: This is what we don't want to talk about here. Immigrants from developing countries are overrepresented in sex crime statistics across Europe. Fact number 3: The consequences of the avalanche of migrants have been catastrophic, especially for women's safety. Ladies and gentlemen, ultimately, each country is a reflection of its own population. If we bring the Third World way of life into our own structures, we cannot be surprised when sexual harassment increases.

Mr President, how dare you parties on the left and centre talk about the rule of law? How dare you portray yourselves as the arbiter of what the rule of law is? You have shown time and time again that you are willing to accept even the most blatant violations as long as the victims are your political adversaries. Banning the most popular party in Germany – why not? Go for it! Arresting people and confiscating their electronics if they post something online that might hurt somebody's feelings – disperse, nothing to see here! Imposing massive fines on social media companies because they do not peddle the agenda that you want – oh wait, you support that too. Your hypocrisy is astounding, and you should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves.

Mr President, the arrogance of the EU is already on par. The EU-wide Non-Discrimination Directive is being pushed again. The Brussels batons really think that they are some kind of high priests who alone have the ability to determine what discrimination means. As if they – and only they – were able to lay down the right rules on these issues. It's not like this, is it? Finland already enshrines in law our own vision of what kind of rules we see as reasonable, and year after year we are the happiest nation in the world. Did we need the High Priests? We didn't have to. No wonder this proposal for a directive has not made much progress in 17 years. It will tell you all the essentials about this whole thing. The rules under which Finns treat each other should continue to be decided only by Finns.

Mr President, the clock is ticking for Europe. According to the European Defence Agency, EU defence spending reached 1.9 % of GDP in 2024 and may finally exceed NATO’s 2 % target in 2025. You heard right: may exceed NATO’s 2 % target in 2025. It’s ridiculous that it has taken over 10 years to reach a target that is now outdated, while the new benchmark is 5 %. Look at Finland or Poland after the war started in Ukraine: a sharp increase in defence spending. This proves that when there is political will, it is possible. Europe needs sovereign states that are willing – and able – to invest in their own security. That is the path to real security. Europe cannot deter or defend anything in 2030 if we cannot already produce and deploy in 2025.

Mr President, let me offer an example from Finland when discussing the grids package and energy infrastructure. We have not been waiting for EU-level strategies. We have been investing heavily in our own capacity, including nuclear power. Today, we are very close to full annual self-sufficiency when it comes to electricity. Our main grid transmission reliability rate is almost 100 %. This has not happened because Madam Ursula designed a grand plan, but because we took responsibility. This is the point. Strong national investments work. Finland doesn't want to pay other countries' electricity bills. What the EU needs is Member States with their own critical infrastructure funded by themselves – not centralised communist plans.

Mr President, at the Saarijärvi Straits the farmer Paavo once said to his wife: "Place in the bread half of the bedbugs, for our neighbor took away the frost." --------------------------------------- Almost 200 years later, it is time for Finnish farmers to hear a new kind of warning: If the majority has a green-left EU power, it will go under your bread. The harsh truth is this: In recent years, the EU's agricultural policy has focused on greening, as it should have focused on increasing European food production. These farmers and their tractors are not going to rush in Europe's cities to protest. They have, once and for all, come to the full measure of this crackdown on European food production. It's time to admit that excessive green humps and the production of pork-bovine minced meat just don't go together. I have to choose, and for me that choice is easy: I always choose European food production.

My colleague, Trump is only talking to Russia because Europe is so weak that it has not invested in its defence. If we had invested in defence, Europe would be involved in the negotiations. You condemned the defence arms race in Europe. This is exactly what Trump and Putin want to see in Europe. When Russia spends 40% of its budget on the military industry, should Europe not invest in defence?

Mr President, Europe must finally start to realise the true gravity of our dismal defence readiness. It is a matter of life and death. The fact that the eligibility for research and innovation funding will now be extended to European defence companies is a big step in the right direction. I think that the fact that we even have to take this kind of decision now shows how lost most of the politicians in Europe have been in the past. If our security has not been worth our research and innovation funding, may I ask what has been more important? Actually, there is another good thing about this regulatory change: when EU funding is flowing to industries that actually matter, it won't be going to areas to which EU money should not be going in the first place.

Mr President, Marseille, France, is in chaos. Drug gangs have taken over the city, they incite fear, recruit younger and younger people, and shootings have become commonplace. Unfortunately, by European standards, the development of the city is quite familiar. Like many other major European cities, Marseille has a large immigrant population and, less surprisingly, has faced major challenges. Failure to address the problems adequately has led to the emergence of parallel societies. Rules and Europe are giving way to turmoil. People are brutally killed. The so-called "barbecue" is one of the typical ways drug gangs exploit lives: First they shoot, then they set the body on fire. Ladies and gentlemen, we are losing Europe one city at a time. Is it time to wake up?

Madam President, dear colleague Langensiepen, it is truly offensive when you shout out from the podium calling this side fascists. My brother has Down syndrome. In Finland, the laws allow abortion almost up to the fifth month, but people like my brother or those with deformities can be aborted even a month later. What message does this send to these people? Well, that they are not equal. And this is something you Greens have supported in Finland, even though we on the right have many times demanded that this be corrected. You on the green left, have been the most active in promoting the screening of children in the womb and afterwards allowing abortion if the disabled child is not desirable. That is the purification of humankind into one kind and that is fascism. And also, my colleague Langensiepen, even if one was a person with a disability, it does not have to mean that they have a disability in manners.

Madam President, the EU-UK trade agreement is a lesson for the EU. When Brexit took effect, did the trade across the Channel suddenly grind to a halt? Was the UK suddenly inaccessible to continental Europeans? Did the UK collapse? Of course not. The British are doing more than fine without so-called 'help' from Ms von der Leyen or any of us here in this Chamber. The Brits know pretty darn well how to run their own country. Dear colleagues, we all know how to run our own countries better than the EU ever could. Let this be a wake-up call, Ms von der Leyen. We don't need your endless EU regulations. We don't need your harmful Green Deal. We don't need your mass migration. What we need are stronger national states.

Madam President, I can't help but notice that there are no 'Free Sudan' flags in this House. Why is that? Those who made freeing Palestine their entire identity are strangely silent on this issue. Where is the outrage about the systematic ethnic violence against black African non-Arab people in Sudan, or about the 12 million Sudanese fleeing death? Do they not deserve your passion? You raged at Israel's defensive war against Hamas, yet I don't see even a quarter of that energy aimed at those responsible for more than 150 000 deaths in two years in Sudan. Have you lost your voice when it comes to the over 4 million children facing acute malnourishment? This is beyond hypocritical. It is a complete disgrace.

Mr President, the phrase that we Finns are familiar with on TV, 'you can't stop money from coming', here in the EU, bends to 'you can't put up with money'. These are the kind of consumer collusion that the spot does not come, but is constantly moved forward and billet it as it continues. 8 billion euros in stimulus package interest rates. On top, of course, of 20 billion euros in social, or should I say socialist, cohesion. EUR 42 billion for territorial cohesion and nowhere to be found. Do I need to continue? Dear Left and the so-called centre-right: Do you have any idea what would be said to wasters like you in any successful company? You have seriously neglected our common interest – you will be fired.

Mr President, what is the EU to China? It is a soft organisation for China that is not expected to cause any harm. At the same time, the EU is China's main trading partner. EU exports of goods and services to China last year amounted to around EUR 270 billion. The United States is a much smaller trading partner for China, but it is still the United States, whose levers China fears. We are not a tariff-loving people and believe in free trade, but we should be aware that we are sitting on a huge China lever. We must not submit to any kind of extortion from China. If we are mittens for China now, we can be mittens for it also in the future. A tougher China policy is Europe's key to a safer tomorrow.