What Hannes spoke about.

Madam President, I wish a European leader had given a speech like Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did from this place a couple of weeks ago. He passionately spoke about youth opportunities and mentioned Erasmus+, quoting Goethe and telling a remarkable European story. A successful relationship has to offer young people opportunities. Our relationship with the United Kingdom is not a one-way st

Thank you for taking the blue card. I want to show that there are Members from the left side taking position on this conflict. But I want to refer to an amendment by the Patriots, because you are saying the situation has 'genocidal characteristics', so you worry about the Christians and you also want to protect them. So my question to you: does to your Christian charity go so far that you would gr

Madam President, Madam Executive Vice-President of the Commission! This war is not over, Elon Musk's lawyer said after his €114 billion lawsuit against OpenAI was dismissed. This shows that artificial intelligence is no longer just about technology and economic interests, but much more about power, information security and control. Advanced AI systems detect vulnerabilities in computer systems, sc

Mr President, Commissioner! If this new law of the People's Republic of China aims at ethnic unity, then it is nothing more than assimilation, the systematic restriction of language, culture and religion. Minorities such as Tibetans, Uighurs, Hui, Manchures or Mongolians are affected. And using Tibet as an example, we can see how cultural identity and religious traditions are being put under incre

Mr President, Commissioner! The worst humanitarian catastrophe of our time in Sudan is never ending: Millions of internally displaced people, millions of people on the run, hunger, an entire generation without any education. This is a failure of the international community. Systematic rape as a weapon of war, targeted starvation, attacks on civilian infrastructure – war crimes committed by both si

Madam President, Commissioner! With the admission of Russian athletes, sporting events become the scene of the Russian war of aggression. What this means is illustrated by an example provided by Jens Steinigen, Olympic champion in biathlon and founder of Athletes for Ukraine comes from. A Russian athlete runs after a Ukrainian athlete with a loaded rifle. What's going on in the brains of those spo

Mr President, Commissioner! If the European Union is to take on more tasks - and that is what the Member States want - then it can only be done with an ambitious budget and not with less or equal money. We are in an economically difficult time. Investments in areas with growth potential are necessary. And one of them is the cultural and creative sector with 8 million jobs, 200 billion euros. The m

Mr President, dear Commissioner, ahead of the elections, Bobi Wine was cheered by tens of thousands of Ugandan voters wherever he appeared in the country. Now, after the elections, he is under siege, and tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets – this time in protest. The post-election situation in Uganda shows a systematic assault on fundamental rights. President Museveni's seventh term

Madam President, Madam Vice-President! Education is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, this right remains unattainable for millions of children and young people worldwide. In Europe, social background and educational success still go hand in hand far too often. Growing up in a family environment with a weak educational background, l

Madam President, Madam Executive Vice-President of the Commission! Joseph Figueira Martin must be released immediately and unconditionally. His case is a human tragedy. I am still moved by the descriptions of his relatives. A humanitarian researcher is kidnapped, tortured, detained without medical care and sentenced to ten years of forced labour by mercenaries from the Wagner Group, on the basis o

Mr President, esteemed Commissioner! When it comes to piracy, some may think of the Pirates of the Caribbean and Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. Online piracy is all about entertainment, about being able to stream offers supposedly cheaply, but this adventure is usually over quickly. 40% of users of illegal streaming platforms are victims of credit card fraud, identity theft or malware. Online piracy

Madam President, esteemed High Representative! Media freedom, pluralism and the rule of law are non-negotiable. They are the foundation of our liberal democracy – and they need to be protected every day. Public service broadcasting plays a key role in this: It ensures independent information, control of power and trust in democratic institutions. However, it can only fulfil this task if editorial