Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner! Yes, so I feel a bit like in the film ‘And daily greets the marmot’, because the old problems are back. First, the mechanisms and structures are fixed in one and can be tilted, altered or otherwise used at any time by the current or upcoming president. Secondly, unfortunately, the court created by the court is only a mock court. It is the case that their procedures should also remain confidential. And thirdly – and that really annoys me: To you, Commissioner, business interests are clearly more important than fundamental rights, because you are willing to accept mass surveillance of EU citizens without proper screening and redress, while the US – and that is the difference – is protecting its own citizens against it. They dump our data and ultimately ensure that the whole thing ends up in front of the ECJ for the third time and will then be overturned again. Which brings us to the starting point – and the marmot greets us every day.

Madam President, That such a debate has succeeded in the plenary, a debate that openly calls for the breach of EU and international law, calls for illegal acts and is shaped by an almost penetrating neo-colonial gesture. This is a disgrace to this Parliament, ladies and gentlemen. Anyone who wants to outsource asylum procedures, extort third countries financially in order to get rid of as many people as possible, throws human rights into the bin and abolishes the individual right to asylum. We don't want that! You are obsessed with the deportation mania and revel in your deeply racist fantasies. I warn the Commission, and, moreover, the Council, against becoming vicarious agents of the right, and yet somehow coming around the corner with a proposal that opens the doors to such fantasies. Please do justice – the Commission – to your role as guardian of the Treaties; It would be really important here.

Madam President, Clearly, we on the left, of course, also want the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines to end in 2035 – this is a right, an important, a good decision. But honestly, the interim targets could be more ambitious. And what does not suit me at all, and we find it unreliable, is that, of all things, luxury carts à la Koenigsegg with a sales value of up to EUR 1 million are excluded – de facto, all under 1000 pieces are completely and up to 10 000 up to 2035. This is just as if their exhaust pipes were farting gold ducats instead of exhaust fumes. No, we do not like that, we do not like that, we reject that and we consider it a policy of the superiors. And yes, in the case of trucks, we need a solution now. We must not let time pass, we need clear signals. And one more thing: We do not reduce emissions in the transport sector solely by turning the drivetrain around. No, there is also a need for a mobility transition. Investments in battery-powered cars, public transport, rail transport, polycentric urban planning, a different understanding of transport policy and state planning: That's what we need. And by the way: Fewer cars would also mean less need for critical raw materials, fewer dependencies on the EU and significantly more quality of life.

. – Mr President. Let's talk about Italy. For years, the Italian government has been trying to harass maritime rescue activists through defamation, administrative harassment, and a flood of legal proceedings. The latest harassment is a recent decree on sea rescue, which is actually a call to act as deadly as possible. This decree requires that rescue ships must go directly to an Italian port after a first rescue and that several rescue operations on the same voyage cannot be undertaken. This is even forbidden! This is a call to drown. And now I'm going to say something again, I'm going to ask you all: Since when has failure to provide assistance been legal? Since when has life-saving really been criminal? I would have liked to answer that question. I would also like to know from you – from all those who fall here over sea rescuers: Have you ever wondered why they are on the high seas and accept that? Because there is no one else. Ladies and gentlemen, the Italian decree violates the law of the sea, human rights and European law. It has to go. Ms Johansson, I expect you to act and not watch and close your eyes. It has to be done, and now!

Madam President, Right-wing extremists are omnipresent in Europe in parliaments, here also in this parliament, in governments, and they are networked throughout Europe. In 2016 alone, there were 22 people killed by Nazis in Germany. In 2021, anti-Semitic crimes increased by 29 percent in one year. There were 1042 right-wing acts of violence this year alone. That's three acts of violence a day in 2021. Left-wing deputies' offices, but also other deputies' offices, are regularly raided. And I say: The police must take right-wing extremism seriously. And we hope that Europol will finally broaden the definition of right-wing terrorist violence. This has long been necessary, because right-wing extremism aims at the death of democracy and plurality. Especially in times of crisis, right-wing apologists construct very simple enemy images: Foreigners, Muslims, Jews, gays, they are all guilty of the trouble of this world. We must fight this monster of right-wing extremism criminally, politically, publicly, in parliaments and on the streets.

Madam President, First of all, I bow to the victims, to the women, men and children who were brutally killed. A regime that kills even children has no right to exist. We are on the side of relatives, families, friends, the 18,000 detainees, as well as those in Ukraine who lost relatives due to the use of Iranian drones. The killing must end. There must be an end to the death penalty. For this we need clear statements, also here in Parliament. As a group, we support any sanction, any sanction that is targeted at the actors of such inhumane policies. And we do not support sanctions that target Iranian society. And I tell you: We have to do a lot more, a lot more. I call on all 705 Members of this House to stand up personally for detainees who are threatened with the death penalty. Take over sponsorships! Put some pressure on me! Put pressure on the various international institutions, but also on Iranian institutions. Let us ensure in our 27 Member States that not a single person is deported to Iran. We need an effective, truly effective Europe-wide deportation ban to Iran. And we must not merely pursue symbolic politics and content ourselves with it. Iranian civil society needs much more, needs support in its networking in the resistance. The fight for a free and democratic Iran needs a long breath, our soul and our heart.

Madam President, We look with concern at the spiral of violence in Iran, and I bow with deep sadness to the many, many victims, especially the children, the more than 400 people who have been killed so far. My highest respect is indeed for the Iranian women who, despite everything, revolt and all those who support them, such as the Iranian national football team, which risks significantly more than a yellow card, or the female basketball players who have dropped the hijab. What a great and courageous civil society! And if we can do anything, it is to create safe channels to this civil society to actually make these protests visible, to give them more and more face. And this is necessary because the brutality of the regime has reached a new level by bombing Iraqi Kurdish areas out of revenge – and, moreover, this is done together with Ankara, which is also bombing Syrian Kurdish areas here. The legacy of Jina Mahsa Amini also includes the fact that here in Europe we are closed and closed to condemning any attacks on Kurdish areas – any. That is the least I expect from the European Parliament. And I also expect that we will do everything we can to ensure that this Iranian regime does not come into possession of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons in his hands are an existential threat to peace and stability and also a call for a new nuclear arms race. We are not interested in that. I think we should make that clear. And in all that we do otherwise – I agree with the previous speakers – I think we must not forget this aspect.

Mr President! Every single refugee from Ukraine is protected. I really mean all the people from Ukraine who come to us. I also mean Roma who come to us and have big problems at the borders. By that I mean third-country nationals who work there or are present there in some way. Students mean me and people who are not willing to take a gun in their hands. We therefore also demand consistent protection for Russian oppositionists, but also for conscientious objectors and deserters, all of them, not just Russians. There must be rules for this, open channels. Because of everything you have presented here, there is no such thing. We need political asylum for these people, we need humanitarian visas that can be distributed in the EU embassies of all countries, not just individuals. A deportation stop is necessary for these people. One thing I want to say in the end: It is also a moral question whether these people will also receive support. The best way to end wars is to: No one's going.

Mr President! NGOs, lawyers, those affected by pushbacks have waited long months to finally get this report on the table. It is a testament to Frontex's involvement in systematic violations of human rights at the external borders, accomplice in the cover-up of illegal pushbacks, often resulting in the deaths of asylum seekers. For this, even the air surveillance was suspended. How deep the moral rot was proved by the communication channels of former Frontex boss Leggeri and his team, who gave instructions to look away so as not to witness pushbacks. Even Frontex's own fundamental rights officer was deliberately deprived of information and we, the Parliament, were constantly lied to and fooled. It's not about the misdeeds of individuals, it's about this agency playing God to override every right. This Frontex system must be terminated! There must not be a single cent of tax money for an agency that is not worth the life of asylum seekers even a chanterelle. We need an agency of respect for law and an agency that actually respects human rights. Border protection without human rights is despotism.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We request an additional debate, namely a statement by the Commission on Frontex's responsibility for fundamental rights violations at the EU's external borders in the light of the OLAF report. This debate should take place today as a third point. We ask for this because the OLAF report has so far only been discussed in a small circle, namely in the Frontex investigation group, and has been made available to the members of this group and a small other circle practically only for a limited time. But this report is a real baseline document for human rights violations, evidence of human rights violations, including by Frontex: Not only has Frontex been involved in human rights violations, but it has actually tolerated them. Both have happened. It was instructed to look the other way – by then Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri. Illegal practices were covered. We were led astray. We have been lied to several times in Parliament. We know that now, and we can read it there. And there is also a petition that a budget relief for Frontex should not take place.

Mr President! Well, what does it say about a regime that kills a young woman because she didn't wear her hijab properly? This indicates that the chapter on such a regime must be closed. He who kills people in the name of God is himself forsaken by God. We will never stop supporting women who resist archaic submission and humiliating patronage. And we will never stop supporting protests like in Iran with all our hearts, with all our souls, because they are just. Iran's women have long since become a symbol of resistance because they are all about it: free to breathe, to be able to determine one's own life and to be respected as a human being, even as a woman! You can't even kill the desire for freedom, equality and justice with an axe. This idea cannot be suffocated or condemned. Iran is a wonderful country with a great history and culture. But now it is time to open a new chapter – with a female handwriting. Because enough is enough.

... the truth. And the question is: Will the Commission and the Council ensure that no pensioner has to freeze at home in winter? That my baker next door does not go bankrupt because of the high electricity and gas prices, not even the small craftsman or the Thuringian glass manufactory? If you say yes, then please do not come to us with a revenue cap of 200 euros per megawatt hour, because this will not solve the problems. That's the point. We need to rethink the electricity and energy market. We need a rabid excess profit tax, effective price caps for gas and electricity in general, an EU-wide ban on electricity shutdowns and compensation, indeed full compensation of people for their additional costs due to the price explosion for which they are not responsible, which they did not cause. Energy is a public good, a fundamental right that does not belong on the negotiating table of the stock exchange. We need a shield for citizens and not for greedy multinationals.

Madam President, Mr Prime Minister! Let's talk about Europe, because there is a lot to change, and we have to talk about it. We need an EU that opens up, and that includes – that is my position – first of all bringing all the countries of the former Yugoslavia into the EU on an equal footing, as full members. It's time to do that. We need an EU that not only supposedly leaves the big ones in charge, but above all enables citizens to have a greater say, and an EU – as you have indicated – that fights poverty: We talk about food prices, energy prices and much more; More needs to be done to this end. And – I say that too: Nothing is without freedom and democracy in this Europe – nothing. This starts with the fact that in all, all Member States – including yours and mine, I say quite frankly – women are granted a right of self-determination over their bodies and, in this case, abortion is also accepted and not sabotaged. That's such a simple thing that we still don't have a handle on. And it goes on that human rights must finally be respected at the EU's external borders. I've been to your country a lot, a lot. And I tell you, it is unbearable how refugees are dealt with there – I cannot see it – who are really pushed back every day, over and over again. How does this fit with your positive statement about accepting Ukrainian refugees with open arms – which I consider very, very important? That doesn't fit. I cannot explain to the Afghan soldier on the Bosnian-Croatian border, who fought against the Taliban for years, why he is not allowed into the EU, nor to the Nigerian Christian who is being persecuted in their country. We have to change that. There must be an end to this drawer policy, with double standards. And because this is so, I hand over to you the work of many NGOs: It is an Black book Pushbacks and many other things. It's not just about Croatia, it's about many European countries. Let's talk about these issues and really change something!

Mr President! So one thing is quite clear: Pegasus is not the only surveillance software, God knows, but one of very, very many. And all have one thing in common, namely the principled distrust of the citizen, well-seconded by the secret services and long since degenerated into a reason for statehood. In tens of countries – and not only in the usual dictatorships – this is an attempt to bring down opposition figures, journalists, human rights activists and even members of parliament. And therefore to our own address: We cannot expect any government to voluntarily expose the scandals it has caused. Now and today is the hour of Parliament and it is up to us to bring out the dirt so that it can be removed. We must protect the victims, as well as those who turn to our committee in confidence. You can't reform such spyware, you have to ban it. Creating the foundations for this is our job.

Madam President, We are very keen to hold a debate on this subject. Given the resignation of Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri last week, the debate is also urgently needed. And I would like to point out that, to this day, Members do not yet have access to the 200-page report of the OLAF investigation, which is directly linked to this resignation. The European Parliament has the task of controlling Frontex and we must discuss this resignation with the Commission and the Council. Frontex has long tolerated violations of fundamental rights at the EU's external borders, as we know. The OLAF report has provided further guidance, and I think we need to agree on that. We ask for your support, including through roll call vote.

Madam President, Yeah, I just got warm. Some in this House don't want to talk about pushbacks, let alone pushbacks in Greece. I do, because pushbacks happen every day. Even now, as I speak, in Greece and around the European Union. And all pushbacks – definitely all pushbacks – are illegal because they actually break EU and international law, because you do not have the possibility to at least apply for asylum – it is a completely different question whether it will actually be granted. I am talking about the Coast Guard in Greece and its human hunters in Samos, who are tracking refugees to transport them on inflatable boats – without life jacket, without water, without food – and pushing them towards Turkey. I'm talking about the dead in the Evros River. I am talking about a hostile and disgusting policy that has caused thousands of refugees to drown every year in the Mediterranean – women, men, children – and about the incident where, for example, refugees had to undress in front of border guards, and about a government that criminalises NGOs. That's what it's about. What I also want to talk about are the fears of the refugees, to be picked up and actually imprisoned or to be promoted into nothingness. Frontex has witnessed many of these incidents. Braven helpers, accomplices and all the fine border guards do not care about these human lives. What racism in the middle of Europe! I call on you, the Commission, to act at last and not just talk! You know all the incidents. I urge you to intervene. Finally, start infringement proceedings. Establish an independent human rights monitoring mechanism. This suffering must end!

Mr President! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, maybe today is a really good day, because we have a resolution on the table that promises not only humanitarian aid in the headline, but also in the context. Because in wars, children and young people are mostly defenceless – all of them. And that is why it is also right to include Roma children, stateless children, young people such as students, but also particularly vulnerable people such as LGBTIQ people and victims of violence here. Butsha also clearly shows us that aggressors do not ask for ID before they kill people. And that is why I ask you to support our amendment so that children and young people who are still detained in detention centres and detention centres in Ukraine – mostly third-country nationals – are not forgotten. Children are children, no matter where they come from. And that is why I urge you to put an end to the duplicity here in the house. Because to protect people from Ukraine, to take them in, especially to protect children, that is absolutely right. And I am fully behind it too. But to let people rot in other forests on the border with Belarus is absolutely wrong. And you have to say that. Ladies and gentlemen, we need neither racist reservations nor ideological, but empathy and unselfish help. What a society is really good at is evident in such times – that freedom and equality are values that no one can do without. Therefore, the protection of all refugee children, including those at the EU's external borders, is necessary. Only that is truly fair.

Mr President! Well, I think we should not light fog candles, and a fundamental problem in connection with the rise in energy prices is probably also the architecture of the energy market, which, thanks to liberalisation, simply favours speculation and dubious business models. This is how we need to act in the short term – fighting energy poverty with social tariffs, free energy quotas and banning electricity blackouts. But we also need to act in the long term – rethink European electricity and gas markets and focus clearly on renewables. That's not to say that we're replacing one gas with the other, the main thing is that it's not Russian! That can't be the way! For example, we must also discuss the marginal cost model. This must be put to the test because it allows large corporations to make huge profits at the expense of consumers. And we have to understand that energy prices are a social problem. What we need is a right to energy, for everyone.

Madam President, When the small Ukrainian family stood in front of me in their emergency shelter in my office, exhausted by three days of long escape, my first thought was: Hopefully all the others can do it too. This is why I am addressing the people of Russia: Put down your weapons, don't go to war any longer! It must be over! And yes, all solidarity goes to the people of Ukraine, who receive great support in the Member States and have an immediate opportunity to integrate. This must also include students and workers from third countries. However, dealing with refugees from Ukraine shows one thing clearly: that it is possible for the EU and Member States to welcome people if they want to. Such a spirit must shape the entire migration policy towards all refugees fleeing war and discrimination. There must be no first- and second-class refugees. Solidarity is not divisible.

Mr President! As president of the Iran delegation, I can't help but raise my voice against the death penalty in Iran because the death penalty abolishes every human right. It is forbidden, and everywhere else: in Iran, in China, where there are the most death penalty, in Egypt, in the United States, all over the world. As a Member of the European Parliament, I am proud that such a penal remedy has been abolished in the EU and that this does not exist in our country. And as a German – let me say that – with a long history of human rights violations by my country, I particularly appreciate that. We are deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Iran and stand firmly by the families of the victims. Hundreds of people are executed every year, women and young people. We are worried about the EU's dual states, where we have protested a lot but achieved nothing. We worry about Nasrin Sotudeh, the many political prisoners. To want to fight this cruel policy with more and more new sanctions is still a mistake. Iran is one of the most sanctioned countries in the world. And what did it do? Nothing! It is much more important to support civil society vigorously, not to allow double standards in politics, to support the people of Iran with medicines in the face of the new COVID-19 wave and not to reject them hard-heartedly. Dialogue is just as important, and we, as the European Parliament, have a special responsibility in this regard. Yes, this is a tedious path, and sometimes it seems pointless. And yet it must be left, because the people of Iran need open doors. If we beat them too, the hardliners have won for many years. I don't want that!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! We should be clear about what we're talking about at Pegasus, a spy software that lights people up, makes glasses. And once infected with it, it gives full access to all the data on the phone, can turn cameras, microphones on and off without us noticing. This is the perfect total surveillance. This categorizes people, sorts them into danger levels without them knowing about it. This is total surveillance, as George Orwell described it with horror. There is nothing, there is absolutely nothing in the world, not even counter-terrorism, which justifies total surveillance – certainly not in a democracy. Because what happens, we see: Journalists, bloggers, oppositionists, lawyers, dissenters are being spied on. That's what it's about. This is not just about our right to privacy, which is at stake. It is about the core of democracy and our freedoms as a whole. All the worse, governments such as Poland, Hungary – yes, also Germany – use this software and around 50 countries around the globe. And it is hard to beat perversity if money is used – for the purchase of Pegasus – for victims of crime. We have to ask ourselves: What kind of society do we want to live in when mass surveillance becomes normal? Such a society has left the ground of the rule of law. I don't think we all want that. After NSA, Tempora, after tens of scandals of illustrious secret services, the alarm bells must finally ring. We demand full clarification, a full parliamentary committee of inquiry with all the resources, binding consequences for the Member States and not just speeches. We need clear rules. We need bans on the production, sale and export of mass surveillance technologies. We need to talk about it and not complain.

Madam President, There is no alternative to renewables. And this does not change anything if nuclear power and gas are declared green energy by decision. We need bold steps to expand renewables, and we need to do better than fossils. We need an effective offshore strategy as a pillar to combat climate change, creating good working conditions for the people who work there, respecting the preservation of the marine environment in every single technical solution. Harmony between the environment, nature and people – that is what it is all about. And it's about thinking beyond offshore locations: For example, to Just-transitionregions that could be considered in the production of offshore installations. Thinking all the factors together also means thinking and mobilizing all the actors together, and not just the private ones. Honestly: It's really time to rethink, to change our notion of politics and the public sector. The public sector is more than a guarantor of private profits, but an equal player, precisely because the market does not direct everything. We saw this in the pandemic. It's time to put the common good at the heart of every decision, especially when it comes to renewable energy. There's too much at stake to allow this strategic sector to simply be taken over by the biggest corporations because it's really about all of us.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, Mr Minister! You really should stop lying to us! There is no emergency caused by migration and certainly no war at the borders with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. What there is, however, is a humanitarian catastrophe that you are increasing with your actions! We urge you to immediately withdraw this scandalous proposal! Instead of resolute infringement proceedings against Push backs All of which, as you know, are illegal, the Commission is making itself the secondary of the European right to shoot down the right to asylum. If you had even a spark of respect for the lives of refugees, you would do everything possible to open the closed zone on the Polish-Belarusian border in order to protect people from cold and hunger and at least pay the last tribute to the many who had to die there. Empathy and humanity are the sisters of freedom. You forgot that. I really feel sorry for you.

Madam President, ‘’ were the words of the dying George Floyd, and the world listened for a moment. But this moment did not last long and certainly not for the young Rome, who died in Athens in the hail of bullets from the police. His killer was congratulated by the Greek Minister for Economic Affairs – he did his job well – and later even released. This is lived contempt for human beings, supported by a government that has made structural violence and racism its own top priority. This government, like other governments on the same mission, has nothing to fear at all. It reaps the tolerance of a union that now understands solidarity as a crony and has lost its orientation in the national tangle of flags. There is no room for prosecuting police misconduct and combating violence and racism, either in the EU Roma and Sinti Action Plans or in practical policy. And, frankly, The talk that you have to integrate them, as if you were dealing with extraterrestrials, I'm really fed up with. These people have lived with us and with us for ages. And somewhere in these mountains of paper in the EU, people have been lost. Putting them back at the centre of European politics is a challenge and, above all, our job, our task. If the principle of ‘no one is worth less than another’ is relativised in the EU, then it is only a monster. And which of you, I ask, really wants to allow that?

Madam President, Oh my God, where did we end up, I wonder. And yes, of course, it is true that Lukashenko unconscionably abuses refugees. He does not care as much as the Belarusian opposition, which he has brutally thrown into prison. But it is precisely for this reason that the Polish government – embarrassedly supported by the Commission and the Council – does not use war rhetoric and refers to refugees as a weapon. If this is true, what kind of nationalism is it? Calling on the EU to: Push-backs To support, supposedly to protect their border, is a disgrace. Shame on you! If you put 12 to 15 000 highly armed border soldiers against 4 000 refugees in position, you have to think about what is actually going on here. By the way, it was a Polish mayor who spoke of dozens of dead in the woods. And I am grateful, especially to the Polish NGOs, who are now helping refugees who have nothing left to lose – except their lives. All parties involved must stop abusing the plight of refugees. And, Mr. Borrell, I say it quite frankly: They must ensure that aid organisations have access to the refugees. And that Poland is processing asylum applications in accordance with EU law is also what this is all about. Let me tell you one more sentence as East German: It is not barbed wire fences that are the solution, but law and human dignity, and that is what we as the EU must adhere to.