Debate contributions by Ondřej DOSTÁL

Mr President, on Monday, the Council imposed sanctions on Jacques Baud, a former Swiss colonel, for his opinion on the Russian war. I'm not here to defend Mr Baud or his opinions, but the fundamentals of criminal law. Mr Baud was punished by an asset freeze and travel ban. Contrary to Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, he was punished without committing any crime. Contrary to Article 6, there was no presumption of innocence nor hearing; no right to an attorney and no impartial court. Do you want to live in a country where citizens are punished for speech in absentia by a bunch of bureaucrats? Did somebody abolish the Convention and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and we didn't notice? Who we are going to punish next? Professor Mearsheimer, Jeff Sachs, any critic of Kallas and von der Leyen? Donald Trump and JD Vance say the EU is no longer a democracy. Looking at this case, I am afraid they are right.

Mr President, I remind the Commission that Georgia is a sovereign state, not some sort of EU colony. Georgian people elected the Georgian Dream, not the opposition. Why? Because Saakashvili was a dictator and led the country to disaster. Georgian Dream brought them peace and reasonable prosperity. The European Union should respect the principle of sovereign equality. We have no right to subvert the Georgian Government or send millions from EU taxpayers to regime change operations. This is the very foreign interference we criticise here all the time. Georgians have full right to choose their path. We do not have to admit them into the EU. It was not very likely anyway. But we need them as partners and we should engage with Georgia in respectful and mutually beneficial relations, while Georgians are still willing to engage with us.

Mr President, I remind the Commission that Georgia is a sovereign state, not some sort of EU colony. Georgian people elected the Georgian Dream, not the opposition. Why? Because Saakashvili was a dictator and led the country to disaster. Georgian Dream brought them peace and reasonable prosperity. The European Union should respect the principle of sovereign equality. We have no right to subvert the Georgian Government or send millions from EU taxpayers to regime change operations. This is the very foreign interference we criticise here all the time. Georgians have full right to choose their path. We do not have to admit them into the EU. It was not very likely anyway. But we need them as partners and we should engage with Georgia in respectful and mutually beneficial relations, while Georgians are still willing to engage with us.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me draw your attention to a constitutional problem. In the case of frozen assets, the European institutions are abusing Article 122 of the Treaty with the direct and obvious aim of circumventing the Hungarian veto, and the parameters of Article 122 are hardly met. However, this has created an extremely chaotic situation in relation to national law. Article 1 of the Czech Constitution stipulates that the Czech Republic is a sovereign state. It is true that, in Article 10a, an international treaty allows certain powers to be transferred to an international organisation. However, of course, the Czech Republic has not transferred to the Union any power to violate the fundamental Treaties. Therefore, any abuse of the procedure under Article 122 is null and void and does not create any legal consequences for the Czech Republic. Even if the Czech Government were to agree to such a procedure, because only the Czech Parliament, not the Government, could extend the competences of the Union. I therefore warn other Member States, banks and other actors not to rely on a decision to abuse Article 122, and I call on the Union not to continue this constitutional quackery.

Mr President, first of all, I would like to say that I thank the Commissioner for the work done on the Critical Medicines Act. I also agree with the idea that there is a need to rebuild the European production base. I would not believe that after years, decades in the Czech Republic, in Central Europe, there will be a shortage of basic antibiotics. But I also call for us to continue to maintain friendly relations, not rivalry, with the countries from which we import medicines, because it will take time to resume the production of medicines. And at least in the medium term, we need to provide people with enough medicine. I am not only talking about China or India, but also about other Asian countries that are very prepared to cooperate with us both in the field of pharmaceuticals and health as a whole. So please don't fight it.

This is a good remark. We of course need to diversify, but it will take us some time and we should not cut ourselves off from the resources our industries need right now. If we diversify, for instance, in pharmaceuticals, it is a great thing. But for the foreseeable future we need to cooperate, and there is no need to stop the cooperation, which is mutually beneficial both for us and for our trade partners in the world.

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, I urge you: we must not be pulled into someone else's trade war. Earlier this year, the US tried to impose export restrictions on China. China responded with rare earths restrictions, the US backed off and on 30 October they reached a deal. Caught in the rivalry was the Dutch company Nexperia. After US pressure, the Dutch took control over the Chinese‑owned chipmaker. This step prompted an immediate Chinese response, disrupting EU automotive supply chains. China is a crucial trade partner, not a rival. We depend on them for many items, from rare earths to medicines. China is also one of our greatest export markets. We cannot afford to lose either. The EU must not become a proxy in the US‑China rivalry. Our policy must be independent, focus on EU interests, support EU workers and industries, and remove tensions in order to secure us profitable access to world markets.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear Commissioners, the European Council held an exchange with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and promised him unwavering support. This week, however, the media is full of a multi-billion corruption case in Ukraine targeting the inner circle of the same President Zelenskyy. Is this something we really want in the EU? Thanks to the invitation by the Patriots, we had Professor John Mearsheimer in the Parliament. He painted a bleak picture concerning Ukraine: the war is a result of an unwise attempt to enlarge NATO; the United States will pivot to Asia; the war will end in an ugly victory for Russia, resulting also in the weakening of NATO and the EU, but Russia will not attack the EU – it will not even go beyond the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, so said Professor Mearsheimer. He doesn't tell nice tales, but he tends to be right. Let us adapt to reality. Let's disentangle ourselves from the quagmire of unending war in Ukraine. Let's support a peace solution on the framework of Ukrainian neutrality and engage with the countries of the Global South to guarantee it. What has changed? Let us concentrate on the core task of the EU, which is the prosperity of its Member States and its citizens.

Madam President, across Europe, there is a constitutional principle that, in a sovereign state, it is up to the people of the state to admit into its territory. In Europe, there is hardly a week without violent attacks. Member States are obliged to defend their citizens and nothing in European law should limit, challenge or charge for this obligation. Unfortunately, the migration pact does just that, and worse, on the basis of arbitrariness and non-transparency. The Czech Republic has received a wave of refugees from Ukraine. It was included in the group of states facing a significant migratory situation. It may apply for a reduction in contributions, but without any guarantee that it will be granted. Unlike other states that are in a group of states under migratory pressure, they not only may not pay, but they may also draw. On the other hand, Slovakia and Hungary have also accepted hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, but they will probably apply without exception. Calculations of how much it will cost taxpayers are kept secret until the very last moment. This isn't right. Migration must be prevented by not supporting wars and coups in those source countries, and not by arbitrarily imposing new taxes on the citizens of the Member States by a Brussels official.

Madam President, dear colleagues, would you rather be a Belarusian or a Ukrainian? Belarus has cheap energies, oil and gas, their industry doesn't fail, their farmers don't strike, they export fertilisers around the world, they have a decent public health system and they are not short on critical medicines. They are hindered only by sanctions, which harm us as well as them, and we should abolish them. But, more importantly, Belarus has peace. They still remember the horrors of a Nazi genocide much worse than in Poland. Their constitution explicitly excludes military aggression, and they are doing what they can to keep their country away from foreign wars. Now, compare it to Ukraine after the Maidan putsch and after six years of Zelenskyy. The country destroyed, their sons dead, and those who return will find their land and minerals owned by foreign capital. Belarusian leaders are not perfect. Which ones are? But if the West tries to impose on them some new Zelenskyy, they will look across their southern borders and say 'no, thank you'. We should respect that. Yes, it is not our country, but theirs.

Honourable colleague, I would like to ask one question. Belarus is not a member country of the European Union. What, in your opinion, is our right to judge who is leading the country? And what is our right to intervene into their domestic matters and to decide who is their legitimate president and who is not?

Madam President, the Czech Parliament has decided to punish for political convictions. According to the amendment to the Criminal Code, the spread of ideas of communism is to be punishable, support for the communist movement is to be punishable, the use of communist symbols is to be punishable. All of this has been under a five-year prison sentence since January. Several countries, good partners of the European Union, have communist symbols in their flags. Will we be afraid to take pictures with their diplomats so you don't get arrested in the Czech Republic? The Communist Parties shall operate properly in the Member States of the Union. Their politicians represent voters in national parliaments and even in this parliament. Whoever publicly expresses his political opinion, for which he was elected, will have to avoid the Czech Republic in order not to lock him up there. This is unacceptable and absurd. I call on the institutions of the European Union to protect the fundamental political rights of citizens of the Union, to call on the Czech Republic to stop criminalising their execution and to put an end to this criminal abomination.

Thank you, Ms Bosse, it's my pleasure to communicate with you. The Czech Republic is not one of them, at least, because there are much bigger and stronger entities, but they are only tools. And how we deal with the tools is the issue of our political culture. Of course, we need to protect against hate speech and things coming from abroad. But the worst things we are doing for ourselves. This is my opinion and this is how I see it.

Mr President, today's theme is 'Protection of European Sovereignty'. This title is a bit misleading. Sovereignty is a conceptual emblem of states. Europe, even in the sense of the European Union, is not a state, therefore it does not have sovereignty. It has only conferred powers which can be revoked at any time by the States. Member States have sovereignty, which must be protected. Unfortunately, especially at election time, the digital space is overwhelmed by the products of political entities paid for from EU grants, from the sources of friendly embassies or from one of the parties to the information war taking place in the United States. There have even been cases where the secret services of State A have influenced the elections in Member State B through controlled leaks to the media. And the lack of restraint of the European institutions, including this Parliament, in commenting on national elections is becoming legendary. It makes no sense, colleagues, to seek technical solutions for something that is a manifestation of a lack of respect and political culture in relation to the sovereignty of individual Member States.

Madam President, many speeches by the European Commission show that we really need to protect democracy. Sixty percent of citizens do not want Ursula von der Leyen. Are six out of ten European Union citizens Russian agents or fools under the influence of hybrid threats, as it sounded today? No, they want someone who will not lead the European Union to decline. Will this unpopular politician resign? No, and he still wants to establish a ministry of truth to suppress criticism. Members in the Corruption Case Pfizergate triggered a vote of no confidence in the Commission, were identified as a pro-Russian hybrid threat during the discussion. No, they're not a hybrid threat, they're doing their job. Influencing the Election: Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. We are paying putschists against the Georgian government, you will let one of the parties in the Moldovan elections here agitate in Parliament and slander the competition. Prime Minister Fico's Slovakia will continue to be visited by you. And when there was an election in the United States, did you show respect to the American electorate? You said: Will we work with whomever you choose? No, you ran a campaign against Trump, and now it's backfired on you. So please protect democracy, great, but start with yourself.

Mr President, I would like to ask the Commissioner politely why you did not take Mr Šefčovič and Mr Síkela from Global Gateway And you didn't accompany Slovak Prime Minister Fico to Beijing last week? Trade diplomacy in the next century will require mutual respect. If you had come to China, a key trading partner, to wish you an anniversary, you would have solved pork or electric cars or even critical medicines. And maybe you would improve the European Union's negotiating position vis-à-vis the United States, so you wouldn't have to sign unbalanced agreements on golf. Europe is open in China. It's an industrial powerhouse. It needs global trade to work. There is no real reason for conflict, but there are many possible synergies. All you have to do is go across the street. Or you can insult them like Kaja Kallas, but then you don't sell the pork and the farmers suffer the damage. Commissioner, in my opinion, you are officials. You should conduct high-quality trade diplomacy and benefit the prosperity of the Member States. Can't it really get any better?

Madam President, on Georgia, I would like to call for moderation and respect. Georgia experienced the collapse and disintegration of the welfare state after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the Color Revolution under Saakashvili, they were given dictatorship and war. Today, under the Georgian dream, they have economic growth, a regenerating health system, investment from China and, last but not least, peace. You don't like it? Don't you think that's enough? Compare this with the fate of Ukraine under Zelenskyy. The European Parliament is now de facto demanding a coup d'état and the cancellation of elections from Georgia, otherwise it threatens sanctions, visas and the suspension of cooperation. How would you like it if the United States interfered in who is the head of the European Commission? So why are you doing this to Georgia? And what are you offering them? Fighting for Western interests to the last Georgian? Georgians have properly elected a government that is not anti-European, but only protects the security of their small country located in a hot spot between great powers and conflicts. You won't change it if you put pressure on them. We just lose a friend, a partner and an ally.

Dear colleague, I would like to ask for a clarification. You speak against communists, but I'm not aware of communists liquidating the steel industry, liquidating the car industry, liquidating the pharmaceutical industry. From 1949, we in Czech Republic were able to manufacture our own antibiotics, penicillin. Now we are unable. So why are you speaking against communists when the problem is somewhere else?

Madam President, in the light of current events, let us recall what NATO is not. First of all, the alliance agreement is not a charity. The purpose of membership is to reduce security risks for members, not increase them. The admission of a new member implies, for each Member State, the acceptance of a military commitment to defend it. If it is judged that NATO enlargement will only increase the risk of war with a third country, any member can legitimately veto NATO enlargement. Let's count on it. Second, NATO is a defensive alliance, not an instrument of imperialist policy. If a NATO member militarily joins Israel's aggression against Iran and receives an appropriate military response, there is no reason to activate Article 5. European NATO members can therefore be recommended not to join the aggression even indirectly, for example by providing bases, as even this can be seen as an act of war that is not a defence and the consequences of which are not covered by the NATO Treaty.

Madam President, the rule of law and the transparency of finances are important objectives of the Union. However, their surveillance must not be misused for political attacks. This is what happened during the recent mission of the Committee on Budgetary Control to Slovakia. This mission was proposed and led by a colleague Zdechovský, an MEP of the outgoing Czech government hostile to the Slovak government. Another member was a colleague Wiezik from Progressive Slovakia. Half of the four-member delegation was thus clearly biased. Zdechovský has no formal education in law or auditing. On the other hand, he abused the position of Head of Mission for political propaganda by proclaiming Slovakia to the media as a ‘banana republic and an untrustworthy state for investors’. This offended not only the Slovak government, but Slovakia as a whole. Whoever uses a surveillance mission to self-promote and insult a Member State, instead of impartial control, undermines the dignity of the European Parliament. I therefore call for control missions to be conducted from now on by people experienced in law or audit and with no political ties to the controlled country and who know how to behave.

Mr President, honourable colleagues, last time in Strasbourg, Valérie Hayer of Renew decided to attack Members who honoured millions of victims of Nazism by placing flowers at the grave of an unknown private. She used a speech in plenary that could not be answered. That's why I'm doing it now. We are solely accountable to our constituents for our political views, not Mrs Hayer or the Renew faction. We are ready to discuss with you, but you will not dictate to us. The journey took place in strict compliance with the rules of this Parliament, and to say otherwise is a false accusation. The Gospel says, ‘Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but ignore the beam in your own eye? It's a hypocrite. Pull the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see through to pull the splinter out of your brother’s eye.’ You are blaming opposition politicians for fabricated corruption. And yet you elected Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, with full knowledge of her Pfizergate. It is now the biblical beam in your eye, after the judgement of the Court. I therefore call on you to remove the beam from your eye and express with us this Commission's distrust or remain silent on transparency matters forever.

Madam President, honourable colleagues, millions of Allied soldiers have given their lives for the victory over Nazism. Unfortunately, we forget those who have made the most sacrifices. I am ashamed of my colleagues who claim that only the Americans liberated Czechoslovakia. Would you tell the mothers of the Soviet fallen in the liberation of our country? Would you tell the impoverished prisoners at Auschwitz that with the arrival of the Soviet army they were not liberated, but occupied? I am ashamed of my government for not honouring the fallen members of the Soviet army, and I am glad that Prime Minister Robert Fico will do so for the former Czechoslovakia, although he is disgraced for it. I have therefore decided that tomorrow I too will lay flowers at the grave of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. I do this for three reasons. First of all, from the personal conviction that the fallen are not forgotten. Secondly, by the will of my constituents, who still remember the horrors of Nazism. Third, the will for peace. Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism unites us and can open the way to peace, to diplomacy, to the resolution of the current conflict, which has no military solution. I wish all statesmen a happy journey, wherever they go to celebrate, and I ask them to spread the will for peace in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter. I'll do it tomorrow.

Mr President, honourable colleagues, Commissioner, the problem of patients with rare diseases is the availability and reimbursement of treatment. The so-called Transparency Directive was intended to guarantee that the reimbursement of medicines would be decided by States in a fair process according to criteria known in advance, with the possibility of judicial review. The Czech Republic has formally introduced an official decision-making system that is as complex as Egyptology and roughly as relevant to what patients receive at the end of the day. In the real world, this depends on non-public deals between the pharmaceutical business and payers, and the corrupt bonuses that pharmaceutical companies give to hospitals. If these players don't agree, patients simply don't get the cure. They can sue, but unfortunately it's often too late before they win. The first step towards redress is to find out, on the basis of hard data, what is really happening in the Member States and what patients actually receive, and then start enforcing the rules and rights of patients that have long been in place. This is a cross-party task and I will be grateful for any cooperation between my esteemed colleagues and the Commissioner.

Mr President, dear colleagues, I had an opportunity to be a part of a European Parliament mission to Thailand, and we tried to build friendly relations, which we need because we are in danger of trade wars and Thailand is and can be a valuable partner to the European Union. Firstly, I see it as wrong to 'strongly condemn' somebody who should be our partner – and 'strongly condemn' is the wording of the declaration – in case we are not a court of law and we cannot assess what actually happens there. The position of Thailand is that the Uyghurs are safe. There are safeguards in China that are put in place. The opinions of our colleagues are different, but we should leave it to the court to resolve these things. Another issue is the critique of internal laws like the criminal lese-majesty law. Thailand has a kingdom for 800 years, and it is not very respectful from us to intervene in their domestic affairs. Please reconsider.

Madam President, the shortage of essential medicines is a failure of the Union's economic policy. We used to be self-sufficient in manufacturing, we even had state medical supplies that had those warehouses when we talked about supplies. We are now dependent on the import of active ingredients from Asia, the interruption of which would be fatal. That is why I pragmatically call on those responsible for foreign policy to refrain from trade wars with states on which we depend in medicines, which is China in particular. Secondly, I call for the removal of those regulations that prevent the resumption of production of essential medicines in Europe, as it used to be, in order to phase out import dependency. Third, we see pharmaceuticals as a strategic commodity more important than weapons. We had a shortage of antibiotics in 2023, and it wasn't nice at all. Instead of trillions on ReArm, let's give space to the development of our own pharmaceutical production. Fourthly, many of the blackouts are in fact the result of an infringement of competition. These drugs are, but because of distribution monopolies, they don't get to smaller pharmacies and patients. The Commission has long had powers to stop this atrocity, but it only needs to start using them. Then let's do it!