Debate contributions by Reinier VAN LANSCHOT

Madam President, there it is, the so‑called smoking gun. A former Member of the European Parliament, Nathan Gill, admitted to spreading Russian propaganda in exchange for some money. He will spend ten years in prison in the UK. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. One former Member, Béla Kovács, fled to Russia to avoid arrest and he still lives there today. Another one was suspected of working for the Russian secret service. And then there's the case of former Dutch Member Marcel de Graaff, who spread Russian disinformation about paedophile networks, human trafficking and even organ harvesting in Ukraine. Statements so extreme that it makes Medvedev and Lavrov look mild. Two years ago, in the Voice of Europe scandal, authorities in EU countries uncovered that Moscow paid European Parliament Members to undermine support for Ukraine. Are these isolated cases, or is it just the tip of the iceberg? We don't know because we don't get to the bottom of it. The UK just launched a full inquiry to uncover how deep this problem goes in their country. And what do we do? So far, not much. It's up to Europe to act as well. Let's start with what we can do today instate the ethics body, and let's give the European Parliament the right of inquiry, like most parliaments have, so we can investigate interference in our democracy. Then we can truly get to the bottom of this, uncover how far this interference really goes, and stop it. Our democracy is under attack. We have to defend it.

Madam President, there it is, the so‑called smoking gun. A former Member of the European Parliament, Nathan Gill, admitted to spreading Russian propaganda in exchange for some money. He will spend ten years in prison in the UK. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. One former Member, Béla Kovács, fled to Russia to avoid arrest and he still lives there today. Another one was suspected of working for the Russian secret service. And then there's the case of former Dutch Member Marcel de Graaff, who spread Russian disinformation about paedophile networks, human trafficking and even organ harvesting in Ukraine. Statements so extreme that it makes Medvedev and Lavrov look mild. Two years ago, in the Voice of Europe scandal, authorities in EU countries uncovered that Moscow paid European Parliament Members to undermine support for Ukraine. Are these isolated cases, or is it just the tip of the iceberg? We don't know because we don't get to the bottom of it. The UK just launched a full inquiry to uncover how deep this problem goes in their country. And what do we do? So far, not much. It's up to Europe to act as well. Let's start with what we can do today instate the ethics body, and let's give the European Parliament the right of inquiry, like most parliaments have, so we can investigate interference in our democracy. Then we can truly get to the bottom of this, uncover how far this interference really goes, and stop it. Our democracy is under attack. We have to defend it.

Mr President, what do Trump, Putin, Xi and the tech autocrats have in common? They are all afraid of a united Europe and that's why they want to destroy it. The US National Security Strategy says out loud what we have known for years: they want a Europe of 27 weak nations. A classic example of divide and conquer. So we are on our own. President von der Leyen said that this is Europe's moment of independence. I agree with her. So, European prime ministers, this is one of the most important European Council meetings in years. Face reality and do what's needed: use the frozen Russian assets and give them to Ukraine; find new partners; ratify Mercosur; and defend our democracy by cracking down on foreign interference. At the end of the day, we – Europe – are in this together. We need a United States of Europe now, because that is the key to solving all the challenges of the 21st century.

Mr President, finally, some concrete steps on defence readiness. This report has good proposals on how to organise and finance European defence, and Volt is happy to have included three calls to action. Firstly, strategic capabilities like satellites and missile defence must be provided by the EU. Secondly, use the same equipment and make buying it together not the exception but the rule. And thirdly, while we invest in our defence, keep our investments in a climate neutral economy and in the well-being of Europeans going. These are good steps, but it is not enough. Some extra money and some extra equipment will not protect us from Russia, and the US National Security strategy shows, for the hundredth time, that America is unreliable at best, and at worst, it behaves like an enemy that wants to divide us and demolish the EU. Colleagues – we are on our own, so we require a fundamental change in the way we organise our defence. Most Europeans want a European army. What does that look like? A European military headquarters with a European commander. A supranational force of 250 000 volunteer soldiers on top of national armies, trained together and led democratically by an elected European government. So what brings real protection? A United States of Europe with a European army that can defend it. Most Europeans want it and Volt is here to make it happen.

Mr President, the EU is in a toxic relationship with Elon Musk. We are treated badly, publicly, over and over again. Musk makes bizarre accusations that the EU is 'killing' free speech, while he manipulates the algorithm to push radical content that supports his own political views, and yet we keep coming back. He breaks our laws, calls for the European Union to be abolished, and even compared us to Nazi Germany – and yet, despite all this, EU institutions are still active on his platform. What more does this man need to do for us to set some boundaries? If we want to build an independent digital Europe, the first thing we have to do is leave this platform. So EU institutions, please delete your accounts. After a break-up, you go your own way and you stop following your ex.

Madam President, the 28-point plan was written in Kremlin handwriting while they keep killing Ukrainian civilians every single day, a complete disgrace. The gangsters leading the US and Russia try to impose a modern-day Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on Europe, a pretext for more war. One minute to midnight, Europe arrived to support Ukraine, trying to prevent a disaster. But European leaders, how much more evidence do you need that dictators don't respect flattery, only strength? How much more evidence do you need that, with 27 little armies, 27 foreign ministers and the vetocracy in Council, we are at the gangsters' mercy? How much more evidence do you need that a peace that lasts will only come if we enable Ukraine to win? This resolution is the same routine: it complains about America and Russia, but it mentions almost nothing about what we will do. Ukraine's security is Europe's security. Let us get out of this inferiority complex. We have what it takes to become what the USA no longer is: a united democracy defending freedom.

Mr President, Christmas came early for Trump and the tech bros. The Commission aims to simplify digital rules in Europe, but gave them a digital Christmas package. Europe acts like a digital colony and gift‑wrapped its own economic downfall. We should be saying 'European Tech First', but this package says 'America First'. It creates loopholes that big tech will rip open faster than kids can rip open presents. It cuts our privacy so they can train their AI on our personal data, while European start‑ups are not helped enough. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Colleagues, let's be more confident in Europe's own abilities. We can protect fundamental rights and be a digital power. We can have an innovative economy and tech with European values. I went to Slush in Helsinki last week, the world's leading start-up conference, and I saw we have an abundance of talent, ideas and potential to scale, but we lack the ambition – the political ambition – to enable it.

Madam President, Russia is at war with us. The US is treating friends as enemies and enemies as friends. Meanwhile, our defence is fragmented into 27 small parts. In the past four years, Ukraine's heroic fights bought us time – time to get our defence in order – and now, we finally have a result. The European Defence Industrial Programme is good, but it's not enough to keep us safe. It's too small and we are too slow. Colleagues, it took us four years to do the easy part. Now we need to finish the most important to-dos for creating a strong European defence union: our own command and control, a European pillar in NATO that can operate without the US, and a European army at its core. For our safety, we need to sacrifice the belief that national sovereignty is sacred, and create a real United States of Europe.

Mr President, Europe will never truly be united if Cyprus remains divided. For more than half a century, Cypriots on both sides have lived on a divided island. And now, after years of stalemate, a small window of opportunity has reopened with the landslide victory of Tufan Erhurman, Turkish Cypriots sent a powerful message: they want peace, unity and a shared future in a federal Cyprus. Let me be clear: Europe hears you and we stand by you. All external actors, especially Türkiye, should acknowledge and respect the will of the Cypriot people. Give peace, reconciliation and democracy a chance. Volt is a political party working on both sides of this divide, together for a common European dream. We believe it's time for two Cypriot leaders in Nicosia to come together and start building the future all Cypriots deserve.

Mr President, all you have to do is walk out and talk to someone to hear what the biggest problem is with people right now: They can't find a house. There's not enough supply. There are no owner-occupied homes, no rental properties, and what is too expensive. Now, for the first time, the European Council will meet on the housing shortage. For the first time! Living is a fundamental human right, and no one can find a home. How long does a problem have to take before it's big enough and you guys tackle it? Mayors have now happily come up with a plan: EUR 300 billion of direct investment is needed to at least partially address the housing shortage. And that will help. Just like with Covid: Start with an emergency package, then make it structurally part of the budget. Ladies and gentlemen, you can't live in bullshit. We need action. It took a very long time for the European Council to finally meet. Let's make sure it doesn't take that long for action to finally follow. We need action. People need houses. So: You can't live in bullshit. Action please!

Madam President, it is time to make the aggressor pay. I have been calling for it for years and now the moment seems to finally be there: EUR 250 billion of Russian State money is frozen in European banks. It's so much money – using it can change the outcome of the war! This is our chance to help Ukraine rebuild what Russia destroyed without European taxpayers having to pay a single cent. This is our chance to make sure that Ukraine stands strong in upcoming peace talks. This is our chance to show Putin that Europe has no war fatigue – that when the US retreats, Europe doubles down. Opponents of this plan say that it's too risky, that it sets a dangerous precedent if we use money from an aggressive dictatorship. But this is exactly the precedent we need to set. If you don't start a war, destroy millions of homes, bomb hospitals, torture soldiers, kill civilians and abduct children, then you have nothing to fear.

Thank you, I'm very happy to hear you say that you want to increase democratic legitimacy, that you also want to create a possibility for Europeans to elect a government – or what exactly should they elect and how can we also unelect them? I hear you talk about the goals you want to achieve with these reforms, but what would these reforms look like exactly for you to make that happen and achieve that goal of more democratic legitimacy?

Mr President, dear colleagues, I've been to Montenegro, Georgia, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine. For the people there, the EU is freedom, prosperity and democracy. For them, the EU equals hope. New countries joining is also good for our economy and for our security, and some of these countries are reforming incredibly fast. But the EU itself has stayed still. Colleagues, the EU is the biggest diplomatic achievement in history, but does not work well enough today. Good ideas are blocked. We live in a 'vetocracy'. We can't wait to welcome new members, but enlargement has always happened with big changes to how we work together. The EU at the moment has two big problems. Firstly, a lack of action. Secondly, a lack of democratic legitimacy. Let's fix that. Let's give the EU the power to act, and citizens the power to decide how the EU should act. Europeans don't want to live in the ruins of a vetocracy. We want to live in a house of a united European democracy – a house where we can welcome new countries and where we can all say, 'We are Europe'.

Mr President, we are Europe. We should speak with one voice globally, especially when the topic is difficult. We should defend international law even when it interferes with our interests. And we should celebrate peace, no matter who helped achieve it. However, the ceasefire has already been violated, and this deal is incomplete. So, what can we do to help turn an incomplete ceasefire into lasting peace? Well, for peace, the root causes of the conflict need to be addressed, with Palestinians at the table. And peace requires justice – that means, instead of standing ovations for Netanyahu, we bring him, Hamas terrorists and other war criminals before the International Criminal Court. And it means rebuilding Palestine and supporting an independent, democratic Palestinian State. And we, Europe, can contribute to making that happen. Let's start with pressure on the Israeli Government to let humanitarian aid reach Gaza.

Mr President, so, if a thief steals EUR 60 and after a long trial a judge tells the thief 'okay, you now have to pay back EUR 3' – is that fair? Is that going to make the thief less likely to steal again? And is that going to prevent other thieves from stealing? For years, Google made a fortune knowingly breaking our laws at the expense of journalists. The recent fine of barely EUR 3 billion will simply be the costs of doing business for a company that makes USD 60 billion in revenue every year in Europe alone. It's a small drop taken out of an ocean of profits. The US Government puts pressure on the Commission to give no fines at all, so it's good that something is being done. But what we really need is an independent digital enforcement authority and higher fines. Otherwise, the law will not be about who is right but who can afford to be wrong.

Thank you, Mr Schwab. So, this debate is about our digital independence – a conversation we cannot have without also talking about 'chat control'. So, could I have your phone and see all the pictures and videos that you've shared with your friends, your family, your loved ones? Probably not, right? Then why would we allow strangers snooping on our phones? Because chat control proposes mass surveillance for all European citizens. Germany holds the key to stopping it at the Council meeting on 14 October, and your party is in government and can block it. Can you call Mr Merz and convince him to block chat control for everyone?

Madam President, how many Russian drones did it take to shut down European skies? About five. How many drones are over Ukraine? About 500 every night. If we face that, we're not prepared at all. Ukraine learnt the hard way how to defend itself against drones, and they understand you should not shoot down a cheap drone with a million-euro missile. Their technology is cutting-edge and Ukrainian instructors are in the EU right now, training European soldiers. Putin exploits our weakness and depletes our air defence on his terms. We've let a war criminal drag us into a boxing match and made him the referee. But if we stop being afraid to act, we can respond on our terms. Protect our skies. Build the drone wall. Stop buying Russian gas. Give all the frozen Russian assets and set up a no-fly zone in western Ukraine. Colleagues, Ukraine is helping us, but we don't say thank you enough. So let me say it: Mr Zelenskyy, thank you. And let's back our gratitude up with actions.

Madam President, dear Prime Minister, you said it's up to us to dream about the future, and I agree. 40 years ago, European leaders dreamed of the future in a tiny village in Luxembourg. They decided to do something new. They opened borders. And what started in Schengen proved to be a massive success: the freedom of movement. You also said too many Europeans have lost faith in the EU. But polls show that nine out of ten Europeans want more European integration. From Portugal to Romania, from Greece to the Netherlands, people realise we are Europe. It is not the people who have lost faith, it is the political leaders. The new ideas are here. A European Defence Union, foster EU enlargement, a digital Single Market. But every European Council meeting ‑ no decisions. Today everyone knows Schengen. So I ask you, what future do you dream of? What new things will you do? And what tiny village in Luxembourg will you make famous next?

Madam President, Russian drones in Poland – a major escalation. Drones in EU and NATO airspace are not only another Russian escalation, but also another warning for us. There is a clear pattern: destroying our communication cables in the sea, the attack on the EU embassy in Kyiv, and now drones invade our airspace. Russia is testing us. Colleagues, how we respond today will determine how Putin acts tomorrow. Every Russian escalation is an invitation to another escalation if it is not met with a strong response from us. We need forward defence: I have called for a no-fly zone in western Ukraine to intercept Russian air attacks close to NATO many times before. Let us finally do it. Colleagues, we need a strong and united European deterrence. The drones were shot down by a collective European effort. It shows that we ...

Madam President, colleagues, sometimes I tell my friends I'm going for a run, but instead I end up on the couch, eating a bag of chips, watching 'The Hangover' for the 15th time. When it comes to the single market, this is exactly the EU: big words, bold promises, no execution. We know what we should do: give startups a fast, digital way for legal incorporation; create one capital markets union with a simple set of rules on tax, stock options and employment – a strong 28th regime. Because while we are scared of American tariffs, our own internal trade barriers are costing us three times as much. Despite good resolutions, some colleagues here are tempted by comfort and only focus on deregulation. That doesn't fix our innovation problem. It's like sitting on the couch thinking that our problems will be fixed by eating low‑fat chips. So come on EU, get off the couch and start running!

Madam President, while Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska, the largest air strike on Ukrainian civilians happened. It seems that the more we talk about peace, the more aggressive Putin becomes. The more the US bows, the more bombs he throws, and the more we are paralysed, the more he prolongs this war. We want this war to end as soon as possible and to prevent it from ever restarting. So make sure that Putin realises that he will not gain anything. Conversations about security guarantees are good, but should never become a substitute for making Ukraine win, and the coalition of the willing should never become a substitute for building a true European Defence Union.

Madam President, dear Prime Minister, Denmark has great stories to tell. It gave Ukraine all its artillery so they could fight back. It launched the Danish model for defence investments to help Ukraine win. Now Denmark is targeting Orbán's veto so Ukraine can take steps towards its European future. Denmark holds the rotating presidency for the next six months, and your Minister of European Affairs has said she wants to take away Orbán's veto and voting rights. A unique opportunity to blast through Europe's paralysis with a little Danish dynamite. It's time to do what millions of Hungarians, tens of millions of Ukrainians and hundreds of millions of Europeans have asked for: stop this wannabe dictator. The least corrupt country on the planet going after the most corrupt leader in Europe. Isn't that a story we would all like to hear?

Mr President, dear colleagues, what could the EU look like in 2030? A new European Union from Greenland in the Atlantic to Ukraine in the Black Sea, a new Union with more countries. For the countries joining, it means new opportunities, new freedoms and new responsibilities – 35 countries collaborating together. But we know the EU is already dysfunctional. There's only one solution: reform, treaty reform. Let's create a Europe 2.0 with a European Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, free from the oppressive veto, a Europe that speaks with one voice. This could become a reality by enlarging and reforming the Union – in other words, a new Europe that is bigger and better. Parliament voted for treaty reform already, but the Council refuses to act. They are not even present at this debate, only thinking about the next election, not thinking about the next generation.

Madam President, dear colleagues, without America, NATO doesn't work. NATO's commander: American. NATO's intelligence: American. NATO's weapons: American. And Trump's big betrayal of Zelenskyy in the White House showed us that, at best, the US is unreliable. So how can we make NATO work for Europe? That depends on next week's NATO summit, which only seems to be about how much money each country will spend. A percentage. This is so shortsighted. Spending more money will not protect us. It's about how we spend it. Because if we do what we always did, we get what we always got. We need a European supreme allied commander. We need a European intelligence service. And we need a European nuclear deterrent. Putin will only attack us if we are weak. A European army makes us strong.

Madam President, colleagues, press release: Cyprus leaders agree to open four new crossing points. Crossing points? It's not something you think exists in Europe, but this is the reality for Cypriots. One nation divided, not by choice, but by the geopolitical greed of Türkiye. Along the 180‑kilometre ceasefire line, there are only nine crossing points. Can you imagine that? The opening of four new crossing points is a positive step, but a small one. Now is the time to start the negotiation process on a comprehensive solution. We can achieve a bizonal and bicommunal federation for the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots. We can build a common future together. Let's lay the foundations for mutual understanding, recognition of past mistakes and empathy. As a member of Volt Cyprus told me yesterday, the people of Cyprus have already solved it. The leaders need to catch up.