Debate contributions by Marie-Agnes STRACK-ZIMMERMANN

Madam President, High Representative! India is a great opportunity for Europe – the Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world with 1.5 billion people. It is also the largest democracy in the world. Even if we have to pay attention to Prime Minister Modi in his Hindu nationalist and partly Islamophobic policies, which he unfortunately always raises, it is important to find open words. Ladies and gentlemen, India wants to become a developed country by 2027, the centenary of independence. This requires new trading partners, more investment and access to modern technology. And Europe can offer that. I admit that after this morning's sobering vote on Mercosur, where even the Greens voted right and left against Mercosur and put it to a brake, I sometimes have doubts as to whether this House really knows what it is doing in terms of the dimension of these decisions. We need closer cooperation with India. It would also be a smart strategy to counter India's traditionally close ties to Russia, which are rightly sharply criticised in Europe. However, more pragmatism in our relations with India does not mean that we should criticise where appropriate. We should finally think more strategically and yet remain clear in our attitude. This would be helpful for Europe and for the partners we urgently need in this world.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! The great hope of the people of Venezuela was foreseeably deceived. Mr. Trump did not liberate them. He only exchanged a dictator to prepare for months with the Vice-President and current Prime Minister Rodríguez – change of dictator instead of change of system. If he had acted out of love for humanity, he would have immediately demanded free elections, joined forces with the opposition, aside from the embarrassing number for the Nobel Peace Prize. The American Constitution states the pursuit of happiness, not the pursuit of subjects, not the pursuit of internal and external lawlessness, nor the pursuit of violation of international law. Let us help the Venezuelans in their quest for happiness, freedom and self-determination – let us support you consistently! Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have the courage to face Trump's behaviour! We are not sitting on the trees here, we are the European Union. And this cat hump must finally stop.

Mr President! Dear colleagues! Europe is and will be facing an existential decision this week. Do we play a significant global role in this world? Or are we on the way to an international zero number that is no longer taken seriously? If we want this brutal Russian war of aggression, which the right always likes to describe as an oversight if this war is to finally end, the pressure on the aggressor on the part of Europe must be increased to the maximum. I therefore appeal to the Council, which assets to strengthen Ukraine economically, to strengthen it militarily in defence and to begin reconstruction. I appeal to the governments of the European nations. Ukraine must be able to neutralize Russian military targets so that these attacks on Ukraine are finally stopped day and night. 93% of the attacks go to civilian targets because Putin wants to bomb Ukraine empty. And thirdly: I call on the Commission and the countries to sit down and draw up a plan. And yes, you have to sit at this table: Russia, including the United States, but above all Ukraine and Europeans, including states with Russian border contact. This table must be sat together to speak for sustainable peace, ladies and gentlemen. And it is not sustainable to press a button, which the USA would like to do. And then all is well. And then we go home and everything is beautiful. What is sustainable is that Russia will never again let this continent and beyond go up in flames. Dear friends, Merry Christmas, Slava UkrajiniLong live Europe!

Madam President, For many, the Arctic was far away – felt to be far away – and is suddenly at the centre of the action. Of course, this has something to do with Russia's attack on Ukraine, because we register that the whole world is touched by it. The Arctic is even very touched, after US President Trump suddenly thought, when he realized that, to subjugate the Arctic, to occupy – however. We were with a group in Greenland, and I can tell you that the people there are very worried because they do not know this external pressure at all, but because of these uncertainties of nature they had more to do with the internal – with the weather problems, with climate change. They want to alleviate this external pressure by working extremely and closely with Europe. We should use this – in their interest, in our interest. The Greenlanders are looking to Europe, want our support. For us, it is an opportunity to also ensure security in this area – and this security also pays off in Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner! EDIP is a good program, and that it took two years is sad enough, but I also thank the negotiators who got involved. It is about European sovereignty, about strength and autonomy. Let's not forget: Europe is the largest peace project in the world, and to believe that after 75 years of creation, it can last forever, which is deceiving. Our freedom is the most precious thing we have. And our weakness is the strength of the despots. And now to the left, who are building this pop-up here – for the sake of it, the workers would suffer: It's not just about cannons and rockets, it's about high-tech. It is about investing in the labour market. And I can only say to Mrs Demirel, who has just left the field after one minute: Take a look at IG Metall. Talk to them about how important it is for the industry to innovate. This includes high-tech. Ladies and gentlemen, military investment is always an added value for civilian life. Without the military, there would be no internet, no GPS, not even the microwave. That's why you're quitting this popanz.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. ‘Don't give up, Europe!’ This is what the Ukrainians are telling us – fighting on the front lines for three and a half years, looking for their abducted children, standing in front of the rubble of their houses. They are afraid for 24 hours, but they are also afraid that we will stop our help and put the glue on those who sing Putin’s lie song – also here in this house – and turn the victim into the perpetrator. It is unbearable that the Ukrainian president has to beg for help in the world. It should simply be self-evident, because it is also about us in Europe. Hungary can roll back the red carpet for the war criminal, who will not come. He doesn't think about it because he doesn't want peace. As soon as Trump has repackaged the cruise missiles, diplomacy is in the bin. Does anyone else notice any of this? Therefore: We will continue to support Ukraine – economically, humanitarianly and also militarily – until Putin finally understands that his bill will not work. Slava Ukrajini!

Madam President, Belarus not only borders Russia, it also borders Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, all three of which are on Mr Putin's menu. And let's not forget that it also borders Ukraine. From there, the attack started for the first time in 2022, co-organised by Putin’s puppet Lukashenko, who, after his election in 1994, ensured that he could be re-elected again and again – against the Constitution. 2020 – this election was a theft. The opposition suppresses, no longer a parliamentary seat for them, the prisons full of political prisoners – exemplified by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-founder of the Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna, Ales Bjaljazki. They all suffer, and our job is to: If we support the prisoners and their families, we support the democratic forces led by Sviatlana Zichanouskaja. Against a dictatorship in the middle of Europe, we are very concrete and very loud.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! Yes, it will be a huge challenge, because we live in unstable geographical conditions – let us not forget it – due to Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine. The whole continent is touched and we need a flexible budget. We must always respond to this real world. This means: Investments in defence, resilience, joint procurement, interoperability, military mobility – and yes, that costs a lot of money. But also some good news in this house: I am glad that we have done this the European Defence Industry Programme; It is called EDIP, and it is called EDIP. This is the first step towards greater European independence. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank all those who have helped, colleagues, staff, the administration and also the Council and the Commission – a heartfelt thank you. I have the last 14 seconds to say the following: As the US President tears down the east wing of the White House to build a ballroom for his pleasure, we will upgrade the EU House to ensure security for our citizens.

(Start of speech when microphone is switched off) ... just so that it doesn't (Non-understood passage). I'd tell him to reroute the plane. We are Europeans and, as I said, Vladimir Putin does not belong in Europe. It is also not legally possible. Hungary has not yet left the question of not letting Putin come to Europe here. What if Putin wants to come to Europe? As I said, there are direct flights - or we can set them up - from Moscow to The Hague, and then the court has to speak, and that is true justice, and we owe that to the victims.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! What are we waiting for? In the face of the brutal attacks on Ukraine, it is time that we finally do what Putin should hear and see. Putin is a war criminal. By the way, he does not belong to Budapest, but directly to The Hague, and in court. This is called justice. Justice is also to use the frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, to survive and to rebuild its country – and that is not enough interest income, but everything that goes. Ladies and gentlemen, Putin must pay for what he is doing to Ukraine. It is also not a destabilisation of the euro area, as is always the case. It does not burden our national budgets and, above all, it is done within a legal framework. Ladies and gentlemen, it is really time that we debate less, act quickly, because in Ukraine everything is really burning, and it is time that we not only talk, but do everything in our power. And that's part of it.

Thank you very much, Mr Orlando. You have been a really brave mayor in Italy – in Palermo – and know what you are talking about, under the threat of people standing and being intimidated. Do you share the concern I have when even in a country like the United States we are witnessing journalists being pressured in the White House to leave the Pentagon, the White House? And do you think that even in friendship we have to articulate this here, so don't look away, even where the beginnings have already been made? Because it starts with the word and often ends in violence.

It would be nice if you could read. This is obviously not the case. You know you're just throwing dirt, there's nothing else. No, you! You asked me, and I'll tell you something: You can't get around with the cheap tour. You are the one who can be elected to this Parliament to dismantle the shop here. And I'll tell you something: You won't be able to do that!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! More than a year ago, Mr. Stoltenberg said: We don't live in war, but we don't live in peace anymore. Governments in Europe finally understand that this is the case. Mr Merz has now also announced this publicly, because we must explain to the people what the situation is. Putin's war logic is obvious. His goal is far beyond Ukraine. He also says loudly that he wants to take the Baltics. Ladies and gentlemen, Putin is not successful militarily, as he thought. We have been overestimating him militarily for years, but we underestimate his brutality. Putin does not want peace. It opens many fronts, and it has been for a long time: cyber, hybrid and now also this drone spectacle about Europe with unforeseen consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, the ultimate consequence for us is not only to react technically to this, but to work together in the nations – and above all in Europe – and not just this infinite little one: Who is responsible for what? Perhaps we can agree across states, across parties, across the Council, the Commission and Parliament that we can only succeed together. I know it's not easy. I know that we must explain to our governments that this petty national thinking will no longer work in the future. Ultimately, we will only be successful together. There is no country in Europe capable of defending itself – not a single country. It is a strength to take this step forward together. Ladies and gentlemen, Putin is listening closely to us. Putin understands only the language of strength. Everything else – and as beautiful as it is to send peace dusts to heaven – is nonsense. The only thing he understands is strength and, above all, unity. Let's go this way. Long live Europe!

As a German citizen, I am happy to answer this with my full heart in Europe. The fact that the Federal Republic of Germany launched Nord Stream 2 in 2014 after the first attack has triggered great – and rightly so – discussions in Germany, and the Free Democrats were among those who rejected it because it was a bilateral agreement with a criminal, contrary to European interests. And Gerhard Schröder was part of Nord Stream 2. He has really been treated accordingly in Germany as a former chancellor, namely that his own people have also said: This is absolutely a nonsense. And I believe that Germany has acted very well.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! This is not a new reality. This is the bloody logic of war since 24 February 2022: Again and again two steps forward, one back, and we're watching. I am glad that NATO reacted immediately yesterday, because a swarm of drones 100 kilometers over Polish territory is not a coincidence, this is a concentrated action. It's not just a military issue. This is a classic hybrid attack to make us nervous here; to scare us; to give a real boost to the guys here who are close to Putin; and to confuse all the countries that have a Russian border and the people there: Is NATO standing, is the EU standing? I tell you, this Europe must stand! It will be our task in the future to assets Leave the Russians to the Ukrainians. Stop importing gas and oil from Russia! These are the countries – including those represented here – that fill this brutal war chest. That is the reality! On the one hand, to say that we are helping Ukraine, and on the other hand, to throw money into Putin's throat: What kind of perversion is that? Ladies and gentlemen, full solidarity for Poland! Slava Ukrajini! Let's stick together!

I believe that every state must be aware of: It is part of the European Union, and that means not only getting the giveaways, not only taking the money, but also taking responsibility. What this looks like in detail, we should discuss in detail here; That's what it's about. Because I still see countries that talk a lot, but little happens. Others do something, but that's not enough at the front and back. If we want to be taken seriously in this triad – what is happening in the Indo-Pacific, what Russia is still doing and how the American president is acting – I can only say: We have a chance when we perform together. That is our strength, and we should do so.

Madam President, first of all I would like to thank you both for your commitment. Ladies and gentlemen, Ukraine has been attacked to an unimaginable degree; Trump is courting Putin. from the Leyens plane is jammed on the approach to Bulgaria; Our EU representation is being destroyed in Kyiv – what more needs to happen? I hear about the Coalition of the Willing, but above all I see national egoisms. If the EU wants to play a role in the theatre in the future, then not as a dwarf, but as a giant, as a giant around the US, next to China, next to Russia; We have no other chance at all. This means, ladies and gentlemen, that we all have to go back to our homeland, to our nations, to make it clear to our governments, whether we belong to the government or to the opposition: We are all responsible for 450 million people who want to live in peace and freedom. That is why the EU must be present and must not duck, and above all, the nations must not duck away.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! Do the Putin friends here in the house know what the Moscow puppet government is doing in Belarus? It's telling that none of them are here either. There are currently 1,160 political prisoners in detention in Belarus, including 165 women. In terms of population, Belarus has the highest number of political prisoners. July 14 is the anniversary of the arrest of the Belarusian literary scholar Ales Bjaljazki. He was arrested in 2021, sentenced two years later to ten years of camp – isolated and getting sicker. Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin has since died in prison, like many others. Belarusian video blogger Zichanouski spent two years in solitary confinement. His words after his release: “A prisoner is still a human being. This is inhumane. This is a nightmare. These are tortures. This must stop." Alexander Lukashenko is Moscow’s puppet. He is a brutal dictator. Let us not forget these crimes and strengthen the opposition.

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner! Kateryna Korovina is a 28-year-old Ukrainian from Luhansk region. She was abducted in March last year on her way to the pharmacy by the Russian domestic intelligence service and is now in a detention centre in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly making small donations to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And during the interrogations, she was pressured to sign a confession in order to be filmed for a forced propaganda video in which she dropped a pre-recorded text. In court, she courageously retracted her statements and declared that they had been made under psychological and physical pressure. She pleaded not guilty and concluded her statement with a self-written poem entitled ‘Horror in my home’. It is good that we are talking about it today, because the victims have a name; They are not anonymous. And these people in the Occupied Territories deserve our attention as much as all the victims in Ukraine. And I feel bad when I hear someone on the right who calls himself a sociologist, like this is trampled underfoot. Putin is a criminal and no one else.

You are a member of a party that is considered a secure right-wing extremist. I think your immunity has just been lifted – correct me if that is wrong. That you even have the courage to speak like that. I just said, if you've listened, there's a president in the U.S. who obviously loves authoritarianism the way you love it. And I tell you: The majority in this House will not allow politicians like you and your party – who are sitting here, who have allowed themselves to be elected here, not to bring Europe forward, but to destroy this Europe from within – to destroy this European Union. That's why I say: We must not only defend ourselves externally, but also internally, so that politicians like you do not destroy this European Union.