Debate contributions by António TÂNGER CORRÊA

Mr President, Commissioner, the key word is fear: fear, fear. Democracy is not protected with shields, democracy is protected with deeds, democracy is protected with freedom, democracy is protected with truth. And you can see from this Parliament where democracy is when the third political force is subject to a cordon sanitaire that does not allow it to hold committee presidencies or other activities here in Parliament. Is this democracy? Is this how democracy is protected with prohibitions? My dear friends, this Shield is turned upside down, it is turned to protect the Commission and other institutions of the European people, because it is the European people who decide. It is the people of Europe who rule the most in a democracy. Democracy should not be afraid, because democracy is and emanates from the people.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let us then talk about human rights. Everyone talks about human rights and I ask: and our human rights, the human rights of European citizens? In Portugal, 20% of Portuguese live on the poverty line. We have homelessness, we have homelessness, and what are we going to do with them? Are we going to preempt them in favor of illegal immigrants? I don't think that's what we all want. We have to protect our own and we have to protect our own first. Secondly, it is clear that the right of asylum is a sacred right, but it is not a universal passport. Protection should be for the real persecuted, not for the opportunists. As for the call pool It is a market of annual solidarity, let us be very clear, it is not solidarity, it is a market of consciences. The rich pay not to receive immigrants, the poor get into trouble. And this, my dear friends, is not a way to build Europe.

Madam President, Commissioner, I was serving in Serbia in 1999. I was instrumental in downing Milošević. You know one of the reasons why? Because I promised the Serbs a future in Europe. Eight years afterwards, I came back as a special representative of the European Union. And what had been done? Zero by us! So we are complaining about Serbia, but we are not complaining about us – for what we did not do, for how we did not give any future to Serbia. And now we are complaining. Yes, Vučić is not perfect. Yes, the Serbs are not perfect. And yes, there is a complicated situation. But the Russians are there and the Chinese are there because we left the void. We left an empty space and they came in. It's normal, it's chemical, it's like in physics; it's like that also in politics. So let's work a little bit harder to bring Serbia into the European Union: less talk and more action!

Mr President, Commissioner, we are, of course, in favour of enlargement, especially in relation to the countries of the Western Balkans, because there is a black hole, which is there in the middle of Europe, which it is essential to fill. However, enlargement should not be a pretext for destroying unanimity, crushing small countries or diluting sovereignty. And, by the way, I wanted to tell you: Be careful with the statements of Mr. António Costa, because he destroyed Portugal and eventually could destroy the European Union as well. In this case, in particular, we always affirm the precedence of states over Brussels. Moreover, it is not the institutions that are outdated, it is the bureaucracy that complicates the life of the institutions in Brussels. Too many bureaucrats, too much bureaucracy, not too much politics, are damaging the European institutions. It is the bureaucratic machine, this monster that has been created over the years.

Madam President, Commissioner, my dear friends, it seems that history does not pass through this Parliament. It seems that history in the Middle East began on October 7th two years ago and that what happened back doesn't matter. How many times were the Israelites harassed, how many times was Israel not attacked? And I'm telling you, this isn't a situation that's going to be solved overnight. It will be a matter that will have to be resolved in due course, in due course, and it is not with miraculous two-state solutions or with a precarious ceasefire, such as the one that exists at the moment. My dear friends, these crisis situations are not to be solved, they are to be able to maintain peace and stability. It is very important that people are aware of this, and that the Commission and this Parliament are aware that the conflict is not over, because the Palestinians have only one objective, which is to end the State of Israel, from the river to the sea.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, when the Commission speaks of digital sovereignty, it forgets the very foundations of sovereignty, which is the freedom of citizens and the sovereignty of the Member States. What it actually proposes is centralization and control. Digital identity, the digital euro, the so-called chat controlThey are not instruments of freedom, they are mechanisms of surveillance and censorship. They are a reflection of what we see in totalitarian regimes: in China, with the social credit system and the digital yuan; in Russia, with centralised identification and the digital ruble; in Iran, with the national monitoring network; in Venezuela, with the carnet de la patria. The free world does not centralize to control, it decentralizes to protect freedom. Europe should not imitate Beijing, Moscow or Caracas. As, for example, does the Portuguese government submitted to the ongoing globalist agenda.

Mr President, Commissioner, it is extraordinary. It seems that anti-Semitism and the problems of the Middle East only began on October 7th two years ago. It's not quite like that. They're centuries old. If my friends study history, they will see that the roots are deep, and we cannot allow them to evolve. In Europe, the work of the Muslim Brotherhood has been tireless against our democratic structures, against our social structures. It is enough to read the report made by the French secret services to see to what extent this organisation has been working in Europe, and it is they who have caused this kind of situation. My dear friends, let us have no illusions, because after the Jews come Christians, as in Congo. Right now, in northern Mozambique, where there is a genocide, a genuine genocide, by Islamists against Christians. We Christians are next.

Mr President, Madam Minister, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, hallelujah! There was light. I have been advocating for years for an international administration for Gaza and, in principle, for the entire Palestinian Authority. And now that the plan of the Americans has come to the fore, this administration has become unavoidable, which I think is extremely positive, because without it there will be no peace, there will be no stability. I think that is the way forward, not only for the Gaza Strip, but also for the territories of the West Bank. The European Union has behaved unfortunately towards the Middle East: has given money, has lost control of money; tunnels are built with money from the European Union, and aid does not reach the people; People are hungry and the least defended of all. This help, which the Commissioner has come to announce, will be provided through whom? The United Nations? Hamas? Because do not forget that there is something called Stockholm syndrome – and you can be sure that a large part of the population of Gaza and a large part of the West Bank, of the Palestinian Authority, are increasingly on the side of Hamas. I'm sure they won't forget that. As for the two-state solution, let's recognize what? There can only be a Palestinian state if that state recognizes the state of Israel. That is why the five attempts in the past have failed, and that is why this one will fail if the Palestinians do not recognize the State of Israel.

Madam President, Commissioner, we in Portugal have always been in favour of immigration, we have always had immigration since the country was founded almost 900 years ago. What we want is regulated immigration that integrates into the life of the country. It is not a mass, unregulated immigration that harms Portugal and harms the Portuguese – and harms Europeans as well, because their countries are also being attacked. In Portugal, more than half of the individuals who are imprisoned are foreigners. In Portugal, more than half of those who commit violations are foreigners. There are many places in my country where our wives, their daughters, cannot go unaccompanied. They are often afraid to take to the streets after 6 p.m. It can't be like this, this has to stop and that's it. And it has to stop because otherwise we not only lose our generations, we lose our sovereignty.

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, Madam Minister, first of all, I'd like to thank you very much for the solidarity that was displayed by this House and by our friends in the European Union towards, not only this terrible happening that 3 % of Portugal this year destroyed out and the loss of lives, but also for the solidarity vis-à-vis the terrible accident with our elevator which killed 16 people in Lisbon. Thank you for the solidarity. I'll speak Portuguese now. Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, I have to say that every year it is the same, that is, every year we have fires. This year, 3% of Portugal's area burned. And don’t come to me with stories that are climate change – it’s not. Most of them are arson; There is a human hand in these fires. Therefore, it is not worthwhile to have big theories of climate change if we do not prevent the human hand from doing damage in our countries, on the one hand. On the other hand, more important than solidarity and the means used to fight fires: They must not exist. Prevention is necessary so that there are no fires. Because it's the same every year. We say that in Portugal, but now I stand here, before Europe, to say the following: if you want to help us, help us regulate our territory, help repopulate the trees and vegetation of our country, help with techniques that avoid fires because, once the fire is declared, thank you very much for the help, but it is already late. We don't want words; We want action. And that is what I ask of you, especially the European Commission and the Council: Be active, proactive, and have action.

Madam President, Ms Kallas, while everybody speaks about Israel and the surrounding problems, today I'm going to speak about Hamas – the other side – because the conflict has two sides. Hamas is a terrorist organisation recognised by all countries represented here. Hamas must be held accountable if it refuses to release hostages and shoot them at point blank in a cold way, refuses to disarm and deliberately steals or blocks food aid meant for civilians. Hamas is not a partner for peace, it is an obstacle to peace. All countries, nations or institutions that provide Hamas with manpower, weapons and money should be considered as terrorism supporters. And let's say one thing here: if they want the war to end tomorrow, they just release the hostages and put the weapons down, and in 24 hours, there will be no more war in Gaza, I can guarantee you. The other thing is recognising the Palestinian states, very nice. What are you going to recognise? The Gaza Strip? The West Bank, where the most corrupt government takes over and they don't have geopolitical continuity? They hate each other. Abu Mazen is hated as Netanyahu by the Palestinians. Now, one thing is that if you want to create a state, you must have elections, you must have a parliament and you must have a government. And who's going to be the government? Hamas or its proxies? I leave this thought with you. The other thing is Jordan. 60-70 % of the people living in Jordan are Palestinians. Remember the Black September in 1970? Once you give them the statehood, they will say, we national Palestinians, we want to be in this country because it's our country. It means to destroy Jordan.

Madam President, Commissioner, first of all I would like to commend the efforts of the rapporteur, Ondřej Kolář, who has certainly made the best of his efforts in drawing up this report. However, I cannot fail to point out certain shortcomings, namely the differential treatment that has been applied to the Federation and the Republika Srpska, the lack of dialogue with the Republika Srpska representatives, in contrast to the excessive dialogue with the representatives of the Federation, in particular the Bosniaks. This is complicated because it makes the report not perfectly exempt. We have to think that Bosnia has two entities. These entities are increasingly apart from each other and we run the risk, in fact, of having a more divided country today than it was 30 years ago. And it is very important that we have this notion because 30 years ago I was in Dayton, I was an ambassador in Bosnia and I knew the country well and I know the country well. And then it was closer to the European Union than it is now. Twenty years ago they were closer than they are now. I think this is extremely serious and I think there has to be more dialogue and there has to be less demonisation of the Serbian side compared to the Federation side, because nobody mentions the increasing Islamisation of part of the Federation, the influence of Iran, Turkey and Qatar on parts of the Federation, which is as unacceptable as the influences of Russia and China on the part of Republika Srpska. We have to be diplomats. We have to do the dialogue.

Madam President, Commissioner, there is no doubt that major changes have taken place in the Middle East in recent times. Part of the siege of terror was broken. Iran will experience a transition that it will not be able to escape and that will be advocated by its own citizens. It's not going to be an outside influence, but it's going to be a change from the inside out in Iran, on the one hand. On the other hand, their proxies, like the Houthis, like Hamas, like Hezbollah, will no longer have the fantastic bed they had, with Iran supporting it. My dear friends, it is time for change, but it is time for complicated change because we have Syria as well, which has a situation that is not easy and will not be easy to solve, in either transition or final period. Therefore, we will have to be very attentive to all this evolution. The painting has changed. Human rights, as everyone here has said (I'm not going to talk about it anymore), are in danger, but the fact is that all the geopolitics in the region has changed and will be very problematic.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, enlargement is strategically essential for the European Union. We speak for ourselves and for what Portugal has gained by joining the European Union, and we want the other candidate countries to also win when they join the European Union. But this must be done in strict compliance with the Copenhagen criteria. timings exactly the same as each other. There should be no first and second speeds, there should be no children and stepchildren in this adherence, on the one hand. On the other hand, we need to clean the house –– our European house –– because our European house, like any other house, needs maintenance, and that maintenance has not been done. Such maintenance is absolutely necessary before any enlargement. We must revise the Treaties, we must revise our own Union and the principles and values by which we are governed, because many years have passed since the beginning of this great project, which is the European Union, and the world has changed. The global world has changed. Strategically, we have other challenges that we did not have at that time, and we need to tackle those challenges in a more modern, more proactive and, above all, more effective and active way for ourselves Europeans. I would therefore like to leave this message here and say yes to enlargement, but to an enlargement tailored to the 21st century and not to an enlargement tailored to the 20th century.

Madam President, Commissioner, this Pact has positive aspects, but it also has very negative aspects. In particular, it tries to defend biodiversity, but at the same time approves projects that damage habitatsThey expel fishermen and privatise the sea, which is in the public domain. I am talking about wind farms at sea, which are serious both for those who fish, for the maritime population and for the countries themselves. On the other hand, the aquaculture farms that have been benefited by the Commission in my country, Portugal, have not been a success. On the contrary, because many people receive the money and drop aquaculture, which is currently a source of marine pollution. Therefore, Commissioner, I believe that this Pact must be revised with a view to improving the lives of European citizens. Because from today to tomorrow, Commissioner, we will not be able to eat wind shovel stews. We have to eat fish stews; And if there are no fishermen, there is no fish, if there is no fishing, there is no fish.

We are no one's accomplices, Mr President-in-Office. And, for now, the UN estimates are worth what they are worth. As you know, most of the humanitarian aid goes directly to Hamas and not to the population, and you have to know, these are proven facts. That is an aspect, it has nothing to do with Mr Netanyahu, nor do I know him personally. When I lived in the region, Mr. Netanyahu was a nobody, now it looks like he's prime minister. So it has nothing to do with him, it has to do, yes, with the Israeli people, it has to do, yes, with the Palestinian people and it has to do with the region and with our security, European security, it has a lot to do with that. However, I find it very strange that the honourable Member is so outraged by what is happening in Gaza, but during the conflict in Bosnia and other conflicts in the Balkans, no one has raised their voices – and many more people have died than are dying now.

First of all, I did not recognise any of this; Secondly, you know perfectly well, I have already said here, that my thesis is very simple: It is now impossible to create a Palestinian state. They've been created five times, five possibilities, all failed. It is impossible to unite Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinians of Jordan into one unit. So my solution lies in an international administration. That's my solution. And, what else, why do I say this? Because, unlike the honourable Member and the majority of Members here, I have lived in that region for many years. I know the region, I know the people, I know the conflict, and the conflict is not going to end overnight. That's all.

Madam President, Mr Commissioner, first I'd like to state very clearly that each life lost is a dramatic loss, and there are too many lost lives in that conflict –number one. Number two, Hamas is a terrorist movement, a criminal one, and they have not only 130 hostages, they have 2 000 130 hostages because they are keeping hostage all the total population of Gaza. They are using human shields and they are using everything they can because their only goal is to destroy Israel. So let's free the hostages, let's disarm Hamas because they are the culprits. If they stand down, there will be no more war. So therefore, we can talk about peace. It's not only Israel that is doing bad moves. Hamas started this. Hamas has to end this.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are celebrating – and it is a reason to celebrate – the end of the Second World War, the greatest war the world has ever known. No, it wasn't 50 million, it wasn't 60 million, it was 75 million, between military, civilians and genocides. 3% of the world's population died as a result of the war. This cannot be repeated. But if the end of the war was good news, the best news was the creation of an area of peace and prosperity called the European Union. And the European Union must be strengthened, but it must be strengthened with sovereign countries, not with federal or federalist structures that want to impose solutions on us. We are different from each other and we have a lot of honour in these differences, and we want to keep them – on the positive side, with collaboration, but each of us is different from the other, and this is highly positive for the creation of a body like the European Union. On the other hand, in terms of defense, it is good that we do not invent much. We have NATO, which is an organization faithful to itself and to ourselves, and which has always flown when we need it. And let us not forget that the United States of America has been the guarantor of our freedom, and we, from now on, must also be the guarantors of our freedom, so that the horrors of this war whose end we are now celebrating will never be repeated.

Well, I do not know whether I understand little or much, but there are those who understand much less than I do, which is the case with the honourable Member. The defeat of the Socialist Youth must have hurt him. I'd like to say the following: it is clear that I do not enter here – as Mr Assis quite rightly said – into Portugal’s internal policies. Now, we are not defending a prime minister who you say is hiding, the prime minister is from another party, he is from another political formation. I don't defend or attack, nor have I come here to attack anyone. I have come simply to say and defend national sovereignty, be it energetic, political, social, cultural or ideological. That's all I came here to do.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, more has already been said here than once that, on 28 April, Portugal and Spain entered the biggest blackout in history. And it was the biggest blackout in history because the others had been smaller, in the past, and with smaller consequences. This blackout was planned, everyone knew it was going to happen, as will other blackouts, as long as this policy, which is an ideological, irresponsible and suicidal energy policy, continues. We were the fourth country to shut down thermal power plants. Why? At the seaside planted, little polluted. Why? What was the counterpart to that? That needs to be known. On the other hand, we do not want any more Commission; we want more sovereignty, we want more Portugal and less Commission. We are not going to solve our problems with a European Grid. And it is not with the green fetish of the green economy, of green production that we will save our countries. We have to think about ourselves. Collaboration? Cooperation? Certainly, but from sovereign countries and not from a supranational or federal entity, as they are trying to do with us, which is the control of a European Grid. We don't want it, we are against it. We stand for interconnected but autonomous networks. Those who do not have energy do not have sovereignty. And Portugal, which has existed for much longer than the European Commission, wants sovereignty and wants its energy.

Mr President, Madam Commissioner, well, it's very simple. Serbia is the most important country in the Western Balkans, and it's a black hole in the heart of Europe. Serbia must join the European Union, period. And I must say that the fault is ours, because the Commission, mainly the Commission, all these years did very little. And then came the Russians, and then came the Chinese – and we were away. The other thing is relations with Kosovo. Well, it's very easy to say. But what about the five European Union countries that do not have relations with Kosovo? Kosovo's independence was declared illegally by Resolution 1244 of the Security Council. So don't push Serbia where Serbia cannot be pushed. Push on other things – civil society, rule of law, closeness to the European Union, and so on – but not on what they cannot do. Serbia was proposed a European future 24 years ago. I know because I was there. Till today, there is no European future for Serbia.