Speeches

Mr President! Thank you very much, and as Henrik Dahl said before, I would also like to thank you as a Dane for the support I have experienced in this House and from virtually everywhere in Europe. As a Dane, I am proud to come from a country that has repeatedly stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight for democracy and freedom in the world. For example, many Danes, along with several other European soldiers, were sent to Afghanistan to support the United States. Young men and women went to war, and many never came home. One of my former colleagues lost his life, and I clearly remember the feeling of insecurity when my brother was deployed as a combat soldier in Afghanistan the following year. It was America's war, but we stood there anyway out of loyalty, out of responsibility and out of community. Therefore, what we are seeing now is deeply serious and reprehensible. Because at no time in the history of the European Union has a Member State been threatened to the extent and in the way that Denmark is now. The threat is not created by an enemy from the outside, but by pressure and threats from an ally. In Denmark and Greenland, insecurity is growing. Children ask questions that children shouldn't ask because they're afraid. They don't understand why a president from a country of friends talks about their home as something to be taken over. Even by force, if necessary. It's not that there's anything wrong with the Americans. There is something wrong with Donald Trump. The Western world must unite, not threaten and fight each other with tariffs or even with military force. The punitive tariffs and threats announced by Trump are therefore completely unacceptable - not just for Denmark, but for the whole of Europe. Greenland is not an object of negotiation. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and part of NATO. Therefore, the answer for us is very clear: Trump should not threaten a European country by force, and the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark is and must be indisputable.

Mr President! Another climate change summit. Another round of empty promises, big words and probably no results. This is what we can expect from the climate change summit in Brazil. I remember clearly when the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke, sixteen years ago was half asleep during the climate summit in Copenhagen. And what's happened since then? We have thrown billions and billions of Euros at worthless climate activism. And we citizens have got nothing out of it. On the other hand, our competitiveness is crumbling, migrants have flooded our continent, Russia has occupied large parts of Ukraine because we have not allocated enough money for defence, and ordinary European families can no longer afford ordinary everyday food due to rising prices. This is the result of spending all our money on climate hysteria. I have personally had enough of watching our money being thrown after coffee meetings and "feelgood deals". We need to wake up from the green fever dream if we are to look after Europe and give our children a good future, and I think that should be the message we are sending the European Union to the climate summit in Brazil.

Madam President! Unfortunately, we see it every day in Ukraine: War fought with drones destroying the electricity grid and other infrastructure hits cities and civilians. But in their fourth year, their people are still fighting a heroic battle to push Russia out of their territory. Now we also see in Denmark and other EU countries that drones fly over our houses and airports. Even our military bases are being overflown by these drones. This is our new and unpleasant everyday life, and of course it requires us to act and react. Mrs von der Leyen said in her introduction that this is hybrid warfare and we must take it very seriously. I fully agree with that, but I am absolutely not sure that the European Union should be responsible for protecting my family and my country. That is exactly what NATO is for. NATO has the experience and know-how to protect Europe in situations like this. Getting the EU with von der Leyen at the head of our defence is a bit like changing Harry Maguire into Manchester United. Von der Leyen tends to run in the way of everything. She loves to tackle her fellow players and constantly obstruct the opportunity for Europe to actually cooperate. Every time she speaks, she incites more division in this house instead of trying to unite us. We need to unite in Europe in order to stand strong against Russia.

Madam President! Thanks for the speech, Christel. You say that it is important that we stand together in Europe, and of course you cannot disagree with that, and action must be taken now. Now my question is: You represent the Danish government, at least the same party that the Danish government does, and our Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. As I explained earlier today, we are three years into the war – three and a half years into the war – and Denmark has not yet responded. We have not yet taken the measures to protect our own airspace. How will you work to ensure that we in Europe and in the EU can work just a little faster than your party has shown that they are able to do at home in Denmark?

Madam President! Sigrid, either you don't listen very well when I'm talking, or you're trying to create a narrative that doesn't exist. Because I think it's a really good idea, with other ways of farming than you do today. It just needs to be competitive. In fact, some people are actually asking for these products. The reality is that it is not there. We can see that the demand for, for example, legumes, which you need for those so-called veggie sausages, as you refer to, is therefore decreasing. Not just in Denmark, but throughout Europe. So when there is actually a demand that is actually a business for it, then I am sure that farmers will go that way as well. What is important to me is that we create the opportunities, the framework for our farmers to actually grow their business, whether they want to have meat production or plant production.

Madam President! No farmers, no food. That is a good saying, but apparently there are still people in this house who think it is important that we introduce more bureaucracy into our agricultural sector and that we destroy the Danish cooperative model. Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself, because it is absolutely crazy when our competitiveness is already threatened by overregulation and demands from the European Union. If our farmers are forced to close down, we will not just lose jobs. We are losing the certainty that Europeans can get good and local produce. That is why we must ensure that our agriculture is strong and competitive. Disadvantaged, green and bureaucratic measures have led to meat prices rising so sharply that we now have a level at which Commission President, Mrs von der Leyen, yesterday had to go to the salad bar for lunch in this House, and at home in Denmark, we have a Prime Minister who has had to open up to emergency rations and eat mackerel sandwiches because spaghetti with meat sauce is no longer an everyday commodity. I refuse to continue along that path, and I would like to call on all of us to fight, all we can do, to say no to more bureaucracy and to make our farmers' daily lives more difficult.

Mr President! The last 10 years have been a disaster for Europe. Migration to Europe has been totally out of control for too long, so we now face a challenge that does not just require our attention, it requires action – real action, not just talk! The massive migration from Muslim countries has brought about a culture where rape and crime are daily occurrences. And that, dear colleagues, is the consequence of the naive and pernicious policies of the left. And those who pay the greatest price, these are our women and these are our children, but all women and all children deserve to feel safe. That is why we must put an end to the rules that currently prevent us from rejecting and expelling unwanted immigrants. We must be able to make decisions that benefit our societies and protect our citizens from migration. That is why it is time we reversed the trend and restored Europe after the massive devastation caused by the Socialists and their friends on the left.

Madam President! Dear Mette! As a Dane with respect for the rule of law, it actually makes me a little sad to sit and watch you sit here today and enjoy the spotlight, while you still refuse to answer for your actions at home in Denmark. Because as Prime Minister, you have closed down an entire profession without a legal basis. You have made hundreds of people unemployed, and you have sent out a bill of about 30 billion Danish kroner to the taxpayers. And when the questions came, yes, you hid behind the Moderates and the Left, and took advantage of your flimsy majority to avoid being brought to justice. You said in your speech that Europe's building blocks are democracy and freedom. But you are the first Prime Minister in recent Danish history to restrict citizens' freedom of speech. You did that when you introduced the Law of the Qur'an. Then you chose to restrict the freedom of speech of ordinary people and submit to the imams and let them dictate what we must say and how we must express ourselves. It is not only an attack on freedom of expression, it is also an exaltation of Islam in Danish society. When I look at the government's work programme for the next six months, I see a work programme with no concrete solutions and which, in principle, could just as well have been written by any other Member State here in the European Union. It is superficial and there are no concrete solutions. One of the things you mention that I think is positive is migration, but as I said before: No solutions, just empty words. So, Mette, I'd like to help you a little. Let us erect more fences and walls along the borders of the European Union. Let's turn the boats in the Mediterranean. Let's put an end to all spontaneous asylum. Let us give the Member States the right to introduce permanent border controls. And let us make a plan for remigration, and let us take a stand against the conventions that prevent us from expelling unwanted and criminal immigrants. If you need more good ideas, Mette, you can always write to me. I promise you, I won't delete my text messages. In conclusion, I have no doubt that you consider today and the next 6 months as one long job interview for your future career. If you think I've been a little too hard on you, I only have one thing to say: Live with it!

Madam President! The only genocide taking place in Gaza is what Hamas is exposing both its own people and the Israelis in the area. For it is common knowledge that all Jews in Gaza are either dead or held hostage by Hamas. Nearly two million Palestinians live and worship in Israel. So accusing the State of Israel of carrying out genocide against the Palestinians is not only stupid, it is also a direct lie from the anti-Semites of the left. Like most people, I hope that the war ends soon, so that children and other weak people can have the opportunity to get the help they need. But as long as Hamas threatens Israel and wants the Jews to be exterminated, unfortunately there is no indication of that. Because if the left really cares about the civilian population, then they should turn against their friends in Hamas and in Iran and stop their mockery of terrorists, because that is a disgrace to our free democratic society. Let me remind you that Israel is fighting our struggle, in fact, the entire struggle of the West against the Islamists for democracy.

Madam President! I am very surprised that just before I got the floor, I was asked by one of our officials to take a pinI was sitting in my jacket. One pin, which symbolises respect for the hostages trapped in Hamas captivity. Honestly! How did we get to the point of not showing sympathy to people who have been captured and held hostage by Hamas? It is simply grotesque that the European Union can take such a stance on how to show sympathy for completely innocent people. That's where sympathy should be. It should be with the innocent. No matter whether it is innocent Israelis or the innocent civilians in Palestine who, of course, need the relief they need to survive. But instead of constantly and always accusing Israel, let us remember that it is Hamas that is responsible for the present disaster. Hamas is responsible for the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza. They are the ones who resurrected the conflict with their insane terrorist attacks on October 7. They are the ones holding hostages, both the Israelis and their own civilian population. It is Hamas that refuses to lay down its arms. Hamas wants to destroy Israel. Hamas is our enemy, not Israel.

Madam President! I do not think I have been with so many Danes - Danish MEPs at least - since I was elected barely a year ago. It is a great, great pleasure to see that this is something that can bring us Danes together. It is, of course, when someone threatens our kingdom and our territory. Because, as one of the other Danes said earlier, this is exactly what has happened: A superpower has allowed itself to threaten Denmark, and one may well wonder a little how passive the rest of Parliament has actually been in relation to that threat. On the other hand, I am very pleased to see how we can stick together as Danish members in this matter. When I look out, I can see that there are almost nothing but Danes. It is nice to see that there is support from individual countries, but the debate in general has been very centred from Denmark, and I think that is a pity, because we should actually get support from the rest of Parliament, because it is completely unheard of that there have not been greater reactions than what has. Every time there are small problems in the rest of the world, we are lightning fast from this house to come out and tell about how terrible it is. But when one of our own Member States is threatened by a superpower, we pull the handbrake a little, and I think that is reprehensible, so we should be able to do better on the part of the European Parliament. But we must remember the positive, and that is the Danish unity. I am very much looking forward to hearing the other Danish contributions in this debate.

Mr President! Many in this house, especially on the left, see the EU as the great gift stall. But unless you want to increase the EU budget, that is a completely utopian mindset. We need to prioritize the budget we already have. And that means we must stop spending money on green feel-good projects, poor foreign aid and completely bureaucratic nonsense. Instead, we need to spend citizens' money in a way that benefits citizens and creates a better everyday life for European citizens. To cut to the bone, we only need to focus on the most important things. We must strengthen our competitiveness so that we can create good conditions for European businesses and thereby create better conditions - living conditions - for European citizens. We must strengthen the European defence industry and we must ensure security of supply in critical medicines, food and other things that we absolutely need. And then, of course, we must put an end to the uncontrolled migration that we are seeing towards the European Union.

Mr President! I would like to commend the Commission for not having pursued the same destructive policy as their predecessors did when they sat in the Commission. We have got a Commission that has put a little more of a brake on sending out harmful proposals, harmful regulation of Europe. Proposals that have tested our competitiveness time and again have destroyed the opportunities for our companies to compete with other companies in the rest of the world. The new Commission has promised us that something else must now happen. We're going to have to put some new buns on the soup, as they say. We need to start deregulation. Europe needs to regain its competitiveness. We've been hearing about it for 100 days now. But we still have to see action, and I am very much looking forward to that. For, dear Commission, when something comes up, we will probably be ready to act here on the part of Parliament, because Europe is really crying out for deregulation so that our companies can do well in the global world. I am also very much looking forward to you starting to deliver on returning some of the people who are staying illegally in Europe. You have promised European citizens that you will do so, so we are very much looking forward to it. Because it is time for us to ensure that the citizens of Europe can live safely and properly in this part of the world.

Mr President! I am quite convinced that it is completely subordinate to who is the President of the United States in relation to how important a partner the country is to us in Europe. Whether we have a Republican or a Democratic President, the United States will be our most important business partner, both in terms of trade and security. That is why it is our task in Europe to reach out to the ever-present American President and make good deals with him and his administration. When Trump was last president, he put pressure on Europe to adjust and live up to the conditions for joining the NATO community. Now he is back in the Oval Office, and we know that he will put pressure on the economy and boost the American economy. That is why we need to follow suit in Europe. We need to look at how we run our part of the world. We need to deregulate at a pace that we have not experienced in Europe before. If we do not follow the Americans and the Chinese, then we will lose in the new global world, so that is why we simply have to get out of the starting holes here in Europe.

Thank you, Mr President! Hetzen against our farmers has to stop. This has been going on for far too long, with the consequence that fewer people want a future in agriculture. You must stop persecuting our farmers by unnecessarily negative publicity and devastating taxes. In Denmark, for example, we are the only country in the world that has introduced a tax on CO2 for our farmers. A tax that will mean that thousands of jobs will disappear in our rural areas. Why? Because the liberals and the left do not understand the value of agriculture to society. But what they forget or do not understand is that agriculture plays a key role in our security. Because as unstable a world as we live in today, food security is also a general question of security, and we must never make ourselves as dependent on food from other countries as we have been on gas from Russia and oil from rogue states in the Middle East. On the other hand, we must protect our good European farmers, who work every day to ensure that we can all have something to eat. Thank you for the word.

Madam President! I would like to start by congratulating Trump on his convincing choice. Even states that you would expect to go to the Democrats went with a convincing majority to Trump. Thanks also to Trump for giving us in Europe a wake-up call. It is quite clear that we have not taken our own security seriously here in Europe. We have to stand in our own right, and we can only do that if we start to take our armaments seriously. The European NATO countries must invest in better equipment for our soldiers and more weapons. The European Union may be able to play a coordinating role here. Because it's embarrassing, so bad it's been up until now. Finally, I would also like to call on all politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to seek good cooperation over the next four years. Free trade is good, and free trade is the way to go. It makes us all richer, so let's maintain good relations with each other.

Mr President! We have just heard from the Commissioner and several from the left that they want to tighten up the Buildings Directive, forcing citizens to renovate their homes with energy. Danish Niels Fuglsang from the Social Democrats said back in June that people just have to pay what it costs. It's like it's an insignificant grip in your pocket. But such an investment is not just a grip in the pocket of ordinary citizens. In fact, the renovations in question will cost an average of EUR 40 000 per dwelling. In Denmark alone, it will affect 400 000 families. It is a cost that will force many to go from house to home because they cannot afford the renovation and cannot borrow money from the bank, as these homes are most often located in areas where the banks will not lend money. This is a completely unfair and very wrong way to treat our citizens. It is not because I do not think that we should focus on the green transition, and of course we should make ourselves independent of oil and gas from rogue states in the Middle East and from Russia, but in a way that we do not ruin and destroy the lives of many millions of citizens of the European Union.