What Tomas spoke about.

Mr President, colleagues, the European Council has recognised the hard truth: not only the awful war of aggression against Ukraine, but also the constant hybrid attacks against Europe, are threatening our Union. The EPP Group strongly supports the message that Russia's hostile actions will not go unanswered. The same must go for any other hostile actor attacking Europe. We cannot be weak against o

Thank you, colleague, for your question. I think it is very important that all pro-European groups work, when it comes to supporting Ukraine, to support a stronger Europe, and of course we need to strengthen that cooperation in this House. But if Mr Sieper means that the EPP Group could never vote for stronger borders on migration, or we could support more investment in both renewables or nuclear,

Madam President, colleagues, hybrid attacks across Europe have unfortunately become the new normal. We face sabotage, cyber attacks, foreign interference and disinformation campaigns on a daily basis. Hostile actors like Russia and Iran seek to undermine our security and democracy. The message from the European Council must, therefore, be clear: Europe cannot continue to be reactive. We must count

Mr President, young people should, of course, both have the right and be able to speak up, to demonstrate. But what we have seen recently here in France has evolved into something else: schools being set on fire, attacks on police and firefighters, teachers and also students that actually are afraid. I do not think I exaggerate by actually saying what we are seeing is some kind of riots. And what

Madam President, Commission President, I love Europe, and I also love Canada, so I believe in this marriage. Thank you. We also must face the reality that we have many threats outside and within our Union. And now is the time to protect our freedoms, to make Europe safer and build a more strong and prosperous Union for our future generation. This is the clear top priority of the EPP Group. But to

Madam President, colleagues, let me conclude with one simple point. The threats to our democracies are not going away. Russia will continue to test our resilience. Other hostile actors will continue to look for weaknesses. And technology will continue to give them ways to exploit divisions in our societies. We must be better prepared. We need the political will to protect our election. We need the

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, European democracy is under attack. We have seen several hostile attempts from foreign actors, but let us be clear: Russia is the main threat to our democratic security. Russia is not only waging a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and it is not only trying to influence our elections in Europe. Russia is trying to weaken Europe itself. We see it in

Madam President, colleagues, we will have a vote now. We respect, of course, the request of The Left. We now have some amendments approved. We have the text. I would urge colleagues to vote, of course, in this vote – we should respect it. From EPP I want to be clear: we are standing with the children. We have to protect them from predators.

Madam President, dear colleagues, today's vote is not about party politics. Today's vote is not about majority tactics or strategy. Today's vote is not about shared control. It is not even about procedures. It is much more important than that. Today's vote is about deciding if we want to protect our children, or if we want to protect sexual predators. Madam President, in March, we collectively fai

Madam President, Commissioner, Taoiseach, the EPP Group strongly welcomes the Irish Presidency's focused on the security of Europe and its citizens. We have already strengthened Europe's external borders with the migration pact and new rules on returns of irregular migrants. Now, we must step up our fight against cross-border organised crime because, while we have taken back control of our externa

Mr President, thank you very much. Colleagues! Today I want to talk about something terrible that has shaken Sweden. A Swedish citizen and police officer, Christian Zedig, has been murdered in Copenhagen in a brutal and senseless act of violence. An ordinary holiday night and football celebration turned into a tragedy, and a family has now been left in great sadness and loss. A wife who has lost h

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, cross‑border organised crime now poses a systemic risk to our Union. We are now coming to a situation where criminal networks even recruit children – children – to pull the trigger. This is not business as usual. Of course, we see that the Commission sees how serious this is, and we do welcome the initiatives. But I do want to underline that we must do more:

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the EPP Group is committed to a simple but very important principle: what is illegal offline must be illegal online. This is not just common sense; it is a matter of justice. Yet across Europe today, this is still not reflected in the law. Last month in this Chamber, we listened to Jackie Fox from Ireland about the horrific impact of online abuse, which ulti

Mr President, colleagues, the development in the Middle East remind us of one simple truth: Europe cannot afford to be weak in an unstable world. Let us also be clear: the people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity and democracy, not the tyranny of the ayatollahs. This is yet another wake‑up call for Europe. We must strengthen our defence capabilities so that Europe is prepared for modern threats, in

Mr President, Commissioner, giving amnesty to half a million irregular migrants is a direct challenge to the Schengen area. It undermines our common efforts to strengthen our borders and tackle illegal migration. After years of political deadlock, we agreed on the Pact on Migration and Asylum to restore order and prevent fragmentation. Now, at European level, we are taking the next steps. Parts of

Mr President, apologies, but of course, it is a bit embarrassing to follow this institution's vote on the Mercosur agreement taking the Commission to court. But with that said, we should now have a very important topical debate on migration. The EPP Group, we stand for protecting European borders and we need to tackle illegal migration. We do take responsibility for delivering exactly that. For ye

Mr President, colleagues, Europe is standing at a moment of decision. The threats are real and they are growing week by week, day by day. Russia continues its brutal war against Ukraine and Europe must stand firm. We can no longer outsource our own security. We must take responsibility for our own defence. But colleagues, the military threats are only one side of the coin: the other side is the at

Madam President, colleagues, this is not the moment for hesitation. It is not the moment for half measures, not the moment to retreat into narrow interests. This is actually the moment to stand together, to show real European leadership and to act decisively. Please, Council, show that – even if you are not present now. We must get the Mercosur agreement done. We must make Russia pay for its war o

Mr President, Vice-President, colleagues, I think we all can agree that Europe should not only adapt to the digital age, we should shape it and we should lead it. But if we are honest, I think the European Union today remains too slow where speed is needed, and also too fragmented, where unity is also vital. So now is, of course, the time to move faster, to cut the red tape that strangles innovati

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, as rapporteur, but also from the EPP, we welcome the European Democracy Shield. We see this as a commitment to defending our democratic values and also strengthening trust between citizens and institutions. But perhaps the most important message is to Russia, and other hostile actors and to those supporting them: stop interfering in our elections. On the com

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, the launch of the annual migration management cycle is a concrete step towards implementing the migration pact, which is important, but it is also about finally taking back control of migration in Europe. It is always important that we, amongst ourselves, debate migration issues, but I would actually say that what's really important now is also

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, eight years have passed since the brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and I think it is fair to say that impunity has not ended. Yes, there have been some reforms and yes, it is positive that the Commission is engaging with the Maltese authorities, but it is also clear that this is not enough. That is also clear in the recommendations that we can

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, we need to make Europe more safe – now and for future generations – because organised crime is on the rise across Europe. Our common task is quite clear. We need to crack down on the criminal networks. At the heart of this work are the brave men and women in law enforcement – those who safeguard our citizens and communities, sometimes by even risking their o