Debate contributions by Lukas SIEPER

Madam President, dear colleagues, don't worry, it's going to be my last one for now. I am referring to Rule 167(1), where it says, 'Parliament may place debates on specific matters'. A debate is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a formal discussion on a matter in a public meeting or a parliament. And here we got a long list of speakers coming in, talk for one minute and then leave. And this room here is mostly from 10 % filled to empty because there are breakfast meetings, funnily enough called 'breakfast debates'. Then there is group or individual meetings afterwards, so-called lunch debates. Then there is food and drinks with the intergroups, followed by dinner debates. You see a pattern here. And then finishing up in the night while the plenary is still ongoing, there are cocktail receptions with NGOs and lobbyists. Colleagues, this Hemicycle is a majestic sanctuary of democracy. It is the heart of this continent, and with all my soul, I want to see it alive, full of passion…

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I still remember the first time I spoke in a university classroom: My voice trembled but it was full of passion. That freedom to express myself has shaped who I am today. Every young person deserves the same opportunities free from any foreign interference. Today, our universities are facing an ever-increasing challenge: Countries like China and Russia are attempting to infiltrate and influence our academic institutions, putting at risk the independence and freedom that are at the heart of European education. This is a direct attack on our intellectual sovereignty and the values we consider fundamental. Universities must remain places of free exploration not tools of geopolitical games.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to join Mrs Van Leeuwen in calling on us to overcome our political trench fights. At the beginning of this year, there was a very serious attempt in Germany to write children's rights into the Basic Law, into our constitution. They even agreed on the content, and it was only because of the political trench fights of the parties involved that this had to be abandoned in the end. This is ridiculous and should never happen. Now I'm going to switch to English for the colleague that unfortunately left, who had the audacity to actually call the education system of the Soviet Union a better place than Europe, and then add up by quoting the Bible. To you, sir, as Christ, I say you are wrong, and God has tears on his face because of the zealotry that you put out in this Parliament.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, being a new Member to the Parliament, I was not able to see your work in action, but I was told a lot of good things and having a great sense of love for your culture, I must say, you have the most Irish name that I've ever heard in my life. Our newly elected President of the Commission said we need an economy that works for the people and I fully agree. Our strong economy and our unique single market is our biggest advantage in that more and more hostile world of ours. I really hope that we will especially work together on the capital markets union, not only as a tool to foster both venture capital and foreign investment in the EU, but also strengthen a united Europe as a whole. Because our economy was the one thing that brought us together in the beginning and I think it can also bring us together in the future.

Madam President, dear people of Europe, I would like to use this opportunity to challenge one fundamentally wrong talking point of the intolerant, the religious zealots and those who use the discrimination of people to gain power. They say tolerance for people of the LGBTIQ+ community is an ideology. How can you claim the nature of people is an ideology? How can you claim that tolerance for that is an ideology? This idea is so inhumane and backward it leaves me speechless every time I hear it. Mr Tynkkynen, for example: is the name used to describe this group of people really relevant? And in what political movement – and it is, of course, a political movement because it had to become a political movement to fight their suppression – are there only good ideas? I myself, I am not a member of this community, but I am proud to be an ally.

Madam President, Commissioner, food, safety, energy: that is everything that keeps us from anarchy as human beings. Everything that leads people from distrusting a system if it is missing. And now, in this so very important debate, on average – I counted it – we had 20 MEPs sitting in this room. I know, unfortunately, this is not how it's working here in this Parliament. I know the number of MEPs present does not mean that we don't care, but you have to see it from the eyes of the people. If someone now opened the live stream of the European Parliament who is affected by these problems, what should he or she think? And who has a right to judge our work here, if not the people? So I ask all of you, please take this topic way more seriously than the amount of people in this room would suggest. It is the one thing holding our society together.

Madam President, dear people of Europe! Personally, I've always had trouble believing in coincidences. The bigger the coincidence, the harder it is for me. For example, it was a great coincidence when, on the day of the appointment of our Head of Delegation for China, I joined him in the Members' Bar When we got out, there happened to be three Chinese lobbyists, one of whom, like the head of the delegation, also speaks Turkish. Likewise, it is completely impossible for me to believe that this Chinese ship with its Russian captain happened to be right near these data cables. This was a repeated attack on our critical infrastructure – nothing more, nothing less. And for my colleague Bausemer and his oh so clever questions: It's also hard for me to believe that it was a coincidence with Nord Stream that the Ukrainians were nearby. But it is just as Mrs Strack-Zimmermann said: Either it was the Russians who deliberately used these Ukrainians to ask clever questions here, or the Zelensky government has done us a huge favor.

Mr President, dear fellow human beings! I lived for eight years in Köln-Kalk, a district with above-average poverty and therefore above-average crime. For eight years, 14-year-olds offered me marijuana on my way home, and the rest of the time these kids were busy looking cool around the area. But in recent years I've noticed something: They don't look cool in the area anymore, they look at their phones. And why? This is what Europol told us earlier this year: because the Internet has become the main place for the recruitment and organisation of young people for crime. That is why we have to react strongly with our rule of law. We must immediately oblige platform operators to delete content that celebrates or solicits crimes and report the incidents directly to the authorities. And we need to make digital literacy a school subject across Europe in order to raise awareness among young people about this problem. They're young, sometimes stupid, but they need us.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission in spe von der Leyen! Last time we spoke, I told you that I did not vote for you because of a grassroots democratic decision by my party and expressed the hope that you would teach us better. I would give you a 6 out of 10 for this commission. Not bad, but with air upwards, especially with regard to individual Commissioners. Nevertheless, I am now pleased to look the future Commissioners in the eye and wish them the very best for their work and will also vote for this Commission. But I would like to remind you of one last thing: They are elected indirectly but not directly democratically. The European people did not vote directly for you. As a colleague from France, who otherwise belongs to the more intellectual-creative political forces, has said: She also doesn't know them for the most part. It is now your job to show the people of Europe that you deserve your position through transparent work, strong engagement in classic and social media and prudent governance.

Madam President, our lands where once the borders stood, now flows the breath of brotherhood. No sentry halls, no gate delays, the open roads greet sunlit days. Through valleys deep or hills that climb, a fearless union breaks through times. In market hum and hearts alight, the ties of Schengen bind the night. Bulgaria's plains, Romania's streams, now wave into our shared dreams. From east to west, from sea to sea, the pulse of Europe beats so free. What walls we raised, our hearts unbind. Through Schengen doors we seek, we find no greater gift, no finer art, than Europe's soul in every heart. So travel on, let journeys weave, the thoughts of borders we shall leave. For here in freedom's vast embrace, the union spirit finds its place.

Madam President, dear people of Europe, I wanted to hold a speech about the saying 'show me your friends and I will tell you who you are', but one colleague already did that, so I'm just going to say, if you use troops of a tyrant in your war, you are a tyrant. But one of my colleagues caught my eye, and this is Petr Bystron from the tyrant-supporting AfD. Petr Bystron, you need to know, right now faces criminal investigations in Germany because he was bribed by the Kremlin. And why do we know that he was bribed by the Kremlin? Because he was stupid enough to complain on telephone about the fact that they gave him EUR 200 bills, which you cannot use in German gas stations. Of course, it's just an investigation, but as long as this investigation is pending, maybe Mr Bystron should not have a big mouth about Russia in this Parliament. Dear colleagues, we need to fight every tyrant and we need to fight everyone that is on tyrants' payrolls. Slava Ukraini!

Madam President, dear fellow human beings! Every act of violence against a woman deprives her of some of her dignity. Earlier, in the dark Middle Ages, women were not legally considered as human beings, but as objects under the control of their father, brother or husband. Until a quarter of a century ago, there were no laws in large parts of Europe to protect women from violence that was regularly directed specifically against their dignity. Italy did not change this until 2001, Germany in 2002, Poland in 2005. And today? Today I know stories of assault from each of my friends, 30% of women worldwide experience violence in a partnership, and today we see countless colleagues shaking with just anger. I myself have never committed violence against a woman, but I too have crossed borders to my shame. This day is a reminder for perpetrators, uninvolved people and victims alike that we will have reduced violence against women even further in one year.

Madam President, dear people of Europe, I have voted today with the reality in mind that despite our best efforts, EU sanctions on Russia have been not as effective as they should be, as we would have wished for. One weapon in the arsenal that Russia is using as a tool of hybrid warfare are those shadow fleets as an attempt to circumvent EU sanctions. We cannot let this happen. I stand along with the rest of Europe. My party, the Party of Progress, stands along with the rest of Europe in supporting Ukraine. But of course, Russia is not only waging a war against Ukraine, Russia is waging a war against every free person in Europe. This is why we do not only defend Ukraine with imposing sanctions like this and strengthening our laws, we are also defending ourselves. Therefore, I call on all my colleagues to also vote for this in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to speak on the UN climate conference. We had a vote regarding this topic today, and we see ourselves challenged with the fact that one of our most important partners, not only in climate protection but also in the energy transition, is a country that stands particularly against those changes and wants to keep a fossil-based industry, wants to make money on a fossil-based industry. Of course, this could now lead us to boycott this country, to boycott this climate conference. And as I have spoken out at least a little bit for the first option, I would strongly disregard the second option. We have to face the situation that when we want to save the climate, when we want to save our planet, we need to work together with people who might not earn our trust. So I hope that the next climate conference in Baku, or any climate conference, is visited by way more of the world leaders.

(Start of speech off mic) ... Rule 197. Even though I would not jump on the same point like my colleague, dear Mr Marquardt. The thing is, he's right. We have a vote here today where at every single vote, the machines failed at some point. This is not okay. We have to have a high standard. And we even have colleagues who chant and act like it would be a show or something. So what I would like to propose, dear President, even though I fully respect your ability to make these vote sessions real quick and very efficient, maybe we take ten minutes and give the IT department a possibility to see what's wrong with the voting machines.

Yes, so I'm trying to answer the three questions one by one. First question: Is it possible to end a war with diplomacy? I believe that a war of aggression, a war of aggression contrary to international law, can only be ended by striking back the aggressor. The second question was: How do we get the Russian people to join us? The Russian people are not the question here. We have a dictatorship in which a dictator with all evil power rules over his people. And we have to bring down this dictator and then we can work with the Russian people again. And the third question: Is it theft? Yes, if you say that the theft of Ukrainian land by Russian troops is theft, then you would say that it is also theft. But I don't think the Russians deserve better in this situation.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is not only conducted with assault rifles, tanks or missiles, it also includes means of hybrid warfare. It is an attack on our democratic system, and Russian capital, whether frozen or not, is one of those weapons in this arsenal. It is one of the weapons used to promote extremism and populism within our societies. In view of the upcoming elections in Germany, I take this matter personally. We are witnessing a critical moment when we must do everything we can to protect our democratic institutions. And this includes not only – here briefly greetings to the Federal Government – a fair electoral admission system also for small parties. No, it includes, above all, protection from hostile foreign powers. By classifying Russia as a high-risk country for money laundering and terrorist financing, we are sending a clear signal of our willingness to defend our values, stand up for our freedom and democracy. Dear Members, there is only one decision: Put Russia on this list.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, for me as a German, the events in Amsterdam are a disgrace. We're all human. Of course, it's a shame when people celebrate the deaths of other people in a football stadium, but it's an even greater shame if this leads to mass attacks on people because of their faith or nationality. We're all human. My country has revealed the cruel face of inhumanity to the whole world. No one should forget the lessons of the Nazi era, regardless of religion or nationality. We are all human, be kind to each other.

Mr President! High house! We are having a debate here about the elections in Georgia and what we are witnessing is a long line-up of MEPs who have appeared there as election observers. And some stand up and say: I've seen all this, it looks great, the choice was completely unproblematic. And the others stand up and say: I've seen it all, it's just a joke, it has nothing to do with democracy. I don't want to get too close to you all personally. I believe that you, as an individual election observer, are not in a position to really judge what has happened in Georgia. What can be judged, however, is the overall flow of information regarding the state of democracy in Georgia. And what we are witnessing there is a government, a political system that is taking over more and more demands, ideas and sometimes even entire laws from Russia, a state that is definitely not democratic, it was presumably never – and that is the big problem. And I would like to ask everyone to take this with them today: Georgia is a European country whose democratic future we must fight for.

Mr President! I actually wanted to talk about the fact that there was no sow going to the climate conference, but to whom do I say that? Because there's no sow in this room anymore. Nevertheless, I would like to comment on what has been discussed here. And it shocked me a bit to see that many people have portrayed climate protection as an alternative to politics that we can do. Here, a colleague - from over there about - said that we can do either climate change policy or policy for our people. That doesn't make sense. I'm making this clear to you just for the right side by way of an example. They are always particularly afraid of the bad people with the black hair. The more we drive our climate to the wall, the more of them come to Europe. Yes, climate protection is an interest of society as a whole. This is something that concerns all of us. And accordingly, I hope that at the next climate conference a few more of the powerful people of this world will appear, that we will not put this issue on the sidelines as in recent years. We only have one planet. When he goes to the dogs, we all go to the dogs. Let's tackle it together!

Madam President, dear citizens of Europe, in addition to more than a hundred dead, countless people have been injured. Tens of thousands of people lost their property and businesses in the region suffered damage worth several hundred million euros. You'll be surprised, but I'm not talking about the flood in Spain. I am referring to the flooding of the Ahr valley in Germany three years ago. It has been three years in which the fight against climate change has been relegated by other important issues such as the economic crisis, the challenges of migration or Putin's war of aggression. Today, in this debate, the majority can think of nothing better than insulting each other. The price of this inaction is paid by the citizens of Spain. Let's stick together.