Debate contributions by Fidias PANAYIOTOU

I am not sure if I understood your question. You asked how many likes and how many shares I got from these platforms. We upload videos to all the platforms and, so far, we got billions of views talking about the most boring thing – the European Union – on all the platforms. I do not understand really your question, but I think X and Telegram took some good steps closer to freedom of speech. Before Elon Musk acquired X, I think other platforms got inspired, like Meta, to use these 'community notes' and all this stuff. So, I think it was a step to the right direction. Still, we need to improve fact‑checkers. It is not the end of the story. Thank you so much, I love you all.

Mr President, the EU wants to use censorship to protect our democracy. This is the essence behind the last proposal of our President, Ursula von der Leyen, to build a Democracy Shield with tools that go directly against freedom of speech. Von der Leyen wants to reinforce sanctions against individuals based on their opinions if she considers they are misinforming. On top of this, our President wants to give more power to fact‑checkers to moderate social media, who are nothing else that people with their own biases. I believe we should follow people like Pavel Durov and Elon Musk have done to allow more freedom of speech online. Things like 'community notes' have helped to empower the citizens themselves to decide what is right and what is wrong, instead of biased fact‑checkers. So please, von der Leyen, let Europeans express themselves freely even if you do not like their opinion. Thank you so much, I love you all.

Madam President, the EU is falling again to hypocrisy and double standards. I agree with all of you that it's a very serious issue that Russia violated the airspace of the EU around 40 times this year, but I'm shocked that none of you is pointing out that Türkiye did the exact same thing against my country, Cyprus, more than 1 000 times only in 2024. Greece and Cyprus suffer these airspace violations by Türkiye every single week. But this is not what we are debating about in the Parliament today. Instead, we are putting our focus on the violation of our airspace by Russia while we stay silent about the same actions made by Türkiye. So to start fixing these double standards of the EU, I propose to you that the next plenary session in the Parliament will have a debate about Türkiye's violation of airspace. I hope I have the support of all of you. I love you all.

Mr President, in 1974, my country, Cyprus, was invaded by Turkey, which since then occupies 37 % of the island. Nine years after the invasion, the so‑called authorities in the north declare illegally their independence. I condemn this act and any act to legitimise it. Let me ask you, dear colleagues, is the EU actually caring about the Cyprus problem? Well, let me tell you what most Cypriots think: that the answer is no. Instead of speaking about the occupation of Cyprus – which is an EU country – here we constantly speak about the occupation of Ukraine. Instead of imposing sanctions on Turkey like we do in Russia, we decide to give them billions of euros through accession funds and we keep buying their weapons. This, my friends, is hypocrisy. Our moral compass is broken. Let's fix it.

Mr President, the European Union is becoming bigger, and I think, in general, this is good news. In a world with big powers like United States, China, Russia and India, our small European countries must stay united to survive, develop and compete. But, of course, more countries joining the EU will mean slower decision-making. Let's be honest, our bureaucracy and decision-making are huge and slow, so that we can't take decisions as fast as other world powers. Even our 27 leaders cannot manage to agree on important topics. How will we manage when we are 30 or 40 countries in the EU? I believe that for the EU not to become even slower, we first need to reform it from the inside, but before more countries join the club. So this way we'll be able to compete and stay relevant in the most important battles, such as artificial intelligence. Thank you so much, I love you all.

Madam President, finally, we have a peace plan for Gaza after millions of citizens across the world took to the streets and put pressure to their governments. Even though this is overall good news, we still need to be very careful. This is because we shouldn't forget that the creators of this peace plan are Trump and Netanyahu. These are the same people who are still committing the biggest genocide of the 21st century against the Palestinians. The same people who are absolutely opposed to a two-state solution. The same people that might be ready to start a new colonial time in Gaza if this peace plan is not implemented properly. So, our role as the European Union should be to keep pressuring the governments of Israel and the United States to respect all the points of the peace plan and make sure that the final result is the long-awaited two-state solution. I love you all.

Mr President, a shameful injustice is happening in my country, Cyprus. Five of my Greek Cypriot compatriots have been illegally detained in the occupied areas for the apparent crime of visiting their own property, which they were forced to abandon after the Turkish invasion in 1974. With no credible evidence, an unrecognised military court is accusing them of illegal entry and espionage. But, guys, let's be clear: this is not only a violation of their fundamental rights; this is also a direct attack on the efforts for unification – because how can we have peace when people are treated like criminals for visiting what is rightfully theirs? Several weeks later, three of them have now been released, only under strict conditions, but this is not enough. As Europe, we must act. We have to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all five, and made it clear that human rights are not negotiable. I love you all.

Mr President, my country, Cyprus, faced the biggest wildfire in the last 50 years, and the European Union did almost nothing to help us. If you look at Cyprus on the map, you can very easily understand the main problem: we are too far away from continental Europe. This means all the help sent from the EU doesn't reach us on time. This is such a big issue. With this wildfire, we actually received more help from third countries like Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon than from the EU countries. This is not a good look for the European Union, and us Cypriots feel abandoned by the EU. Don't get me wrong; we are very grateful for all the help, but sadly it is not enough. We need more investment for prevention through the EU Cohesion Fund and more firefighting equipment in Cyprus through the rescEU programme. European Union – you were not in Cyprus when we needed you the most, and this needs to change. I love you all.

Madam President, the European Union wants to take money from its development funds and use it for war. Yes, my friends, it's true: the European Union intends to take money from its cohesion policy, which accounts for 30 % of its total budget. This budget is meant for the development of Europe's poorest regions, but they will use part of it for defence, which essentially means war. In fact, the reason why we are here today in the European Parliament debating it is because of an initiative signed by more than 1.2 million European citizens who have got together to give a clear message to us, the European politicians: they want our cohesion policy to focus on the development of our regions and the preservation of their culture. But here comes the European Commission and, instead of listening to its citizens, it proposes to use its cohesion funds for re-armament and war. I will be very clear with my message: forget about using our money for warmongering, be more creative. Thank you, I love you all.

Mr President, energy is the backbone of our economy. From driving our cars to taking a shower and even powering the AI factories of tomorrow, everything depends on reliable energy. We need to reduce the cost of energy. To achieve this we must invest heavily in nuclear power. I know people have concerns, but nuclear is safer than you might think. We need to focus also on renewables – especially solar energy – and, just as importantly, on batteries to store the energy so we always have the power, day and night. We must also recognise that not all countries start from the same place. Current green regulations and timelines are often too aggressive, leaving little room for regions still heavily dependent on fossil fuels to catch up – like my country, Cyprus. If we get energy right, we will make Europeans richer and improve everyone's quality of life. I love you all.

Mr President, High Representative/Vice-President, the speech I will make right now will not help any Palestinian in Gaza. This is because in the European Union, we love to speak about Gaza, but we don't take actions to actually help the genocide that is taking place right now. Instead, the only actions that we take are to help Netanyahu on his mission to kill more and more Palestinians. Germany is the second-biggest provider of weapons for Israel after our biggest ally, the United States. Yes, my friends, about 30% of the weapons bought by Israel come from Germany, weapons that are being used for the killing of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. We cannot allow this any longer. The EU must stop the trade in weapons with Israel right now. Whatever we say in our speeches is useless if our actions will continue to provide the genocidal state of Israel with weapons. Please, friends, Europe, history is watching us.

Madam President, I will try to convince you in less than a minute why freedom of speech is under attack in Europe. Freedom of speech is only relevant when someone that you don't like says something that you don't like, right? In Europe, the person – the country – that we don't like now is Russia, and we ban their media. So this is a sign that freedom of speech in Europe is under attack. It is all under this word: 'misinformation'. Misinformation in the past was labelled in an incorrect way. So 'misinformation' is a tricky word. This is my first time that I'm trying to do a speech without a text, and I missed it. But I will improve and I will learn, and I will come back the next time. I run out of time. I love you all.

Thank you for your feedback. I've been to Ukraine and I'm going in a few days to Russia as well. The goal of going to Russia is to show that we need to talk and solve this problem. Ukrainians are dying. We need to start diplomacy. This is what we need to do. It doesn't cost a lot. We are trying to rearm Europe with EUR 800 billion, and talking is free. This is what we should do, I think. Thank you, I love you all.

Mr President, the moral compass of the EU is completely broken. Since 2022, the EU has sent EUR 138 billion to Ukraine in military and humanitarian aid. We have cut diplomatic ties with Russia and imposed the biggest amount of sanctions in history, a quite clear and powerful response. On the other hand, when it comes to Palestine, our stance is completely different. The Israeli Government is conducting a brutal genocide, and people are even starving to death due to the blockade the last two months. Despite all of this, the EU maintains normal relations with Israel – no big sanctions, no cutting of diplomatic ties. Many EU leaders met with Netanyahu, like the President of my country, Cyprus, recently did. But none of you will even consider meeting and just talking with Putin. Just let me ask you, where is our moral consistency?

Mr President, Kaja Kallas is basically the foreign minister of the EU, and I think she can help my country Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since the Turkish invasion in 1974 and, as a result, the two communities – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – are living now separately. This problem remains to this day, unsolved. So I believe it's the job of Kaja Kallas to go to Türkiye and speak with President Erdoğan in order to defend the interest of Cypriots as citizens of the Union that she serves. I believe Kaja Kallas spends a lot of her time and effort towards Ukraine, which is not even a member of the EU. But what message does that send to EU citizens like us in Cyprus, still in a divided land? Kaja Kallas must make Cyprus a priority so we can show the world that the EU stands by its people.

Madam President, colleagues, today many people in this Chamber want strict rules for artificial intelligence. They talk about risks – like losing jobs, fake news or AI getting out of control – but I ask you: since when has being scared helped us move forward? AI can help us cure diseases, teach millions and fight climate change. If we block it too early, we will stop something great before it even begins. That's like banning electricity just because someone got shocked. We need to guide AI, yes, but not trap it in fear. And if you are still unsure about what AI can do, here is something to think about. This is not me speaking: this whole speech was written by AI.

Madam President, I'm from Cyprus. Cyprus had an invasion 50 years ago from Türkiye. I'm a bit sad here in the European Parliament because I feel that there is not enough support for Cyprus to solve our problem that we have had for so many years. We talk every week, every day here about Ukraine, and Ukraine is not even a Member State of the EU. So now it's a pivotal point because negotiations started again in Cyprus to solve the Cyprus problem. So now is the time for the EU to put a lot of pressure in Türkiye, because it's the key player here to solve the problem in Cyprus. And a lot of people in Cyprus are not very happy with Europe, because we don't have the support that we want for so many years to solve the problem. Thank you and I love you all.

Mr President, we have a big problem here in Europe. A 'democratic' and 'independent' media outlet, Radio Free Europe, might close because the US might stop funding it. And here in Europe we are panicking and we are even thinking to use taxpayers' money to save it. But let's be honest, how 'independent' and 'democratic' can a media be if it's funded by a foreign government? But I'm afraid that the real question is this: are we scared of losing the truth or losing control over it? I believe democracy is not about controlling the narrative. It's about trusting people to choose their own. I love you all.

Madam President, hello friends, I'm quite proud to say that the European Parliament is very transparent. And you can all, all the people, the European citizens and everyone in the world, they can go in the website and they can find our salaries, they can find how much budget we are allowed to use, how much money we can spend, and this is very good. It builds trust and it's transparent. And it also builds expectations for the citizens. But I'm unhappy because the European Commission doesn't have the same procedure. When you go to the Commissioners, you cannot see the salaries of the staff, how much budget they have and all this stuff. So this is not as transparent the European Commission. So I encourage the European Commission to be like the European Parliament, a lot more transparent, because this will build a lot of trust. I love you all.

Madam President, it's time for Palestinians to have their own state. Most countries around the world support a two‑state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the biggest obstacle for this to really happen is the United States. The United States has used its veto power in the United Nations Security Council dozens of time to block resolutions to recognise a Palestinian state. Alongside the United States, only eight other countries have refused to recognise Palestine. On the other hand, 143 countries around the world recognise Palestine, many of them represented here in the European Parliament. I believe the EU should push for a two‑state solution and challenge its biggest ally. Now, more than ever, we should act independently from the United States in order to stop the genocide of Palestinians and finally achieve a two‑state solution.

Madam President, AI will replace most jobs and we are not ready for it. Self-driving cars are replacing drivers. AI models are replacing software developers. Robots are replacing factory workers. Jobs will be disappearing, and the hard part is that we cannot really predict which ones will disappear and when. Europe needs to prepare for these big changes, and the way to do it is to fundamentally transform education. Our current education systems were created long ago, mainly to turn children into obedient factory workers. But now times are changing. Soon factories will not need human workers anymore. Even though we refuse to acknowledge it, today children mostly learn online by themselves. Perhaps the solution to fix education is to listen to them carefully and embrace their ways. Let me finish with a quote from Isaac Asimov: 'Self-education is the only kind of education there is.'

Mr President, my uncle has been missing since the Turkish invasion of my country, Cyprus, in 1974. This had a huge impact on my family. My father was seven years old when he witnessed a suicide attempt by my grandmother because she couldn't handle it. My uncle is one of the 2 000 Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who had disappeared, mainly during the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the intercommunal fighting of 1964. The remains of these communities' people are being searched for by communal committee, and by today half of them have been identified and returned to their relatives, who, unlike my grandmother, were lucky enough to live until that day of relief. I want to thank the European Union because it is the biggest funder of this committee, giving so far EUR 35 million. Please continue to fund this project, which not only brings peace to families like mine, but also encourages cooperation between the two communities of the island, increasing the chance of a potential solution to the Cyprus problem.

I will keep saying the same thing here. Please answer me not with a personal attack this time, but with an answer. Where do you draw the line on misinformation and truth? And who is judging? Thank you. I love you all!