Mr President, Commissioner, I fully support your position. We have met many times in this House. And not only here, with Georgian representatives, we have been communicating with the Georgian people in Georgia itself, and we have always heard them want to be part of Europe. Granting candidate status to Georgia was an example of how the government is trying to follow that path. But today we hear ab
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The use of Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine’s victory and reconstruction (debate)
Honourable High Representative, we welcome your efforts to help Ukraine. You mentioned that we welcome the support decision of the United States House of Representatives, but let us admit that it is late. We welcome the use of revenues from frozen Russian assets, but they are too small. You yourself mentioned that Putin will not stop at Ukraine, and the only effective way to stop him is by confisc
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Union code relating to medicinal products for human use - Union procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human use and rules governing the European Medicines Agency (joint debate - Pharmaceutical package)
President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues. Healthy Europeans are indeed our goal, but the Covid has shown that we cannot achieve the desired results in each country alone, so the European Health Union would be the best instrument. And this package is one step towards ensuring that our European citizens can be supplied with fairly effective and affordable medicines anywhere in Europe. In fact,
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Promised revision of the EU animal welfare legislation and the animal welfare-related European citizens’ initiatives (debate)
President, honourable Commissioner, dear colleagues. Animal welfare is a compulsory aspect of agriculture that we must ensure when we live and manage our economic activities in accordance with European values. Farmers understand this too. The vast majority of them seek to provide the best possible conditions for their animals, both in terms of value, avoiding unnecessary stress, and in terms of ec
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Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)
President, Commissioner, dear colleagues. With Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression in Ukraine more than two years ago, we are determined to do our utmost to help the attacked country. The war has a huge impact on food and agricultural trade. While the lands of Ukraine, Europe, are being stolen by enemy tanks and bombs, Russia is destroying and stealing Ukrainian grain and hypocri
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Question Time with Commissioners - Preparedness of EU governments to combat foreign interference, including from Russia
Mr President, honourable Commissioner. Europe has done a lot to prevent Russian interference in European elections and in political life. But for the third year now, Russia's new wave of aggression in Ukraine shows that it is seizing opportunities in Europe. I want to touch on one issue that has not been debated very loudly here. These include continued trade and investment, as well as European in
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Strengthening European Defence in a volatile geopolitical landscape - Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2023 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2023 (joint debate - European security and defence)
Dear President, dear colleagues. Congratulations to Sweden on joining NATO. I would also like to respond to the right and left who spoke of peace. Peace can be instantaneous, but there is only one condition: The aggressor Putin must withdraw his troops from Ukraine. And as long as that is not the case, we need to defend ourselves, we need to support Ukraine with the weapons we need and with the we
Mr President, honourable Commissioner. I agree with many colleagues who have spoken here that our aim is to improve road safety, with a particular focus on training and training young drivers who start driving. But I also want to reassure those who are hesitant about medical examinations. As a doctor and as a representative from a country where medical examinations are already mandatory, I can say
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Tackling the inflation in food prices and its social consequences and root causes (debate)
President, honourable Commissioner. You have noticed with great precision that food inflation has hit the countries of the Eastern and Central European blocs the most, where food prices make up a large part of the income basket. You've also noticed that there's actually a difference between what the consumer gets, how much he pays, and what the farmer gets. I would like to point out that the Commi
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New wave of mass arrests in Belarus of opposition activists and their family members
President, Commissioner, honourable colleagues. On January 23, the Lukashenka regime again demonstrated its complete disregard for human rights and international norms. The Belarusian security forces targeted the families of political prisoners. Among the detainees, the majority of women are wives and mothers. This is an attempt to further intimidate the public ahead of the parliamentary and munic
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Empowering farmers and rural communities - a dialogue towards sustainable and fairly rewarded EU agriculture (debate)
President, honourable Vice-President of the Commission, representatives of the Council. I am delighted that you have heard the demands of farmers when they came with tractors, and you are starting a strategic dialogue. But I want to say what is the value of your words, what is the value of your obligations if the given obligations are not fulfilled? I would remind you that when Lithuania joined th
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Plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their food and feed (debate)
President, dear colleagues, Commissioner. Let's look outside the room: We are witnessing widespread protests from farmers across Europe. Tractors block roads and cities because European farmers, our citizens still suffering from the energy crisis and inflation, fear for the future of their farms. If we want to quell their fears and dissatisfaction with Europe to some extent, we need to show that n
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The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)
Mr President, dear colleagues. Indeed, we are grateful to the Ukrainians for defending our values and the future of our children against the Russian aggression. It was a shame that we were unable to agree on support for Ukraine for almost two months. Today we have a decision to provide €50 billion in aid. Everyone knows that it's small. Colleagues have said that we are still not using those 300 bi
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Keeping commitments and delivering military assistance to Ukraine (debate)
Mr President, dear colleagues. Dual feelings include listening to these debates. Firstly, it seems to me that we need to understand that Ukrainians are not defending their freedom, but defending our freedom. The aggressor, who occupied part of Georgia, part of Moldova, part of Ukraine, will not stop if allowed. Secondly, colleagues have already mentioned how unevenly member countries are supportin
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Ensuring proper functioning of EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes (debate)
. – President, Commissioner, dear colleagues. Since mid-2022, the European Union-European Solidarity Lanes have helped Ukrainian goods reach the global market and equip Ukraine with the essential means needed for the people of the country and the fight against Russia’s aggression. Unfortunately, this system has been disrupted since November. Almost full blockade of the Ukrainian border by Polish c
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The unknown status of Mikalai Statkevich and the recent attacks on Belarusian politicians’ and activists’ family members
. – President, Commissioner, dear colleagues. Unknown from the places of imprisonment of political prisoners can not continue. We must increase the pressure on the Belarusian regime to release all political prisoners. We must insist that detention conditions for all detainees are in line with international and national laws, which clearly emphasise that detainees have the right to contact with the
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Revised pollinators initiative - a new deal for pollinators (debate)
Mr President, honourable Commissioner. Dear colleagues, I grow bees myself, just like my father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Now my children and grandchildren help me to turn honey, so I fully understand the invaluable importance of pollinators for the environment, agriculture, even the family-cultural connection. In Lithuania, bees have always been especially respected and loved. Our most
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The lack of legislative follow-up by the Commission to the PEGA resolution (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner. Perhaps we all understand that special services must have the tools to prevent the activities of hostile countries. However, these instruments cannot be used against the citizens of their country to persecute political opponents, journalists, and for this reason the European Parliament calls on the Commissioner, you and the Commission to adopt legislation that can ensur
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Sustainable use of plant protection products (debate)
President-in-Office, dear colleagues, honourable Commissioner, I agree with the need to protect biodiversity and to halt climate change. But when it comes to pesticide restrictions, we need to remember that they do not just spray fields. Since the introduction of pesticides, the production of basic cereals has more than tripled. I also agree that we need to limit pesticides, but we need to give fa
Dear Commissioner, dear colleagues. First of all, I thank the Commission for its comprehensive and geopolitical assessment. I want to congratulate the people of Ukraine and Moldova on the positive assessment of the Commission and the proposal to the Council of the European Union to formally open accession negotiations. This is a historic step, the significance of which will be best seen in a few y
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Generational renewal in the EU farms of the future (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, first of all I thank my colleague for this excellent report. European agriculture is retiring. One third of our farmers are over 65 years old. If we want to preserve a vibrant village, ensure European food security, climate and environmental protection and a successful transition to the Green Deal, we need to ensure generational renewal in agriculture.
Mr President, honourable Commissioner. Indeed, innovation is the way to strengthen the competitiveness of the European Union. You have presented here the European Innovation Agenda, and possibly its funding, beautifully, but in next year's budget we see a decrease in funding for innovation. We also feel that European Union funding does not meet today's innovation needs compared to Asian countries
Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. In the workplace, a person spends most of his active time. Unfortunately, the psychological atmosphere at work is not always favorable. Astigmatism, mobbing, harassment, burnout often lead to a deterioration in mental health or even suicide, especially among older or young workers. The situation was mentioned here among the farmers, but also among
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General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024 - all sections (debate)
– Dear President, Commissioner, representatives of the Council, dear colleagues. Farmers in the European Union are going through a particularly difficult period, which presents many new challenges. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the energy crisis, rising interest rates and rising production costs make it difficult for farmers, especially small and young farmers, to provide us with hea
Dear Commissioner, dear colleagues. Today's European Parliament resolution rightly assesses Moldova's progress on reforms and demonstrates its strong commitment to joining the European Community. I welcome the choice of the Moldovan people and the mandate given to the pro-European Moldovan government to carry out the necessary reforms. I know that the path of reform is neither easy nor fast, espec