What Terry spoke about.

9 Jul

2025

EN Speech

Resumption of the sitting

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Dear colleagues, last week, 300 000 people took to the streets in Budapest for Budapest Pride – amongst them, 70 MEPs of this House. The message, colleagues, was clear: a peaceful Pride march is not illegal, but banning it is. It was a beautiful display of the power of love, of freedom, of democracy and rule of law. And colleagues, there is one man who was essential to making this possible: the Ma…

9 Jul

2025

EN Speech

The EU’s post-2027 long-term budget: Parliament’s expectations ahead of the Commission’s proposal (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Minister, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, the EU budget should actually start from the consideration of what the people in Europe currently need and what their concerns are. Starting, for example, with the dire situation of last week's immense heat wave. For our survival on this planet, for our well-being, for our economy, we have to act faster. That is why we have to ma…

18 Jun

2025

EN Speech

Freedom of assembly in Hungary and the need for the Commission to act (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, the ban of this year's Budapest Pride is completely outrageous. And let me be clear: I will not accept living in a Europe where peaceful Prides can simply be banned and nobody speaks about it. The right to freely assemble is a cornerstone of all of our democracies. Attacking it means attacking human dignity. And the Commission must act now, and …

16 Jun

2025

DE Speech

Statement by the President - 40th anniversary of the Schengen area agreement

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Schengen is a promise – a Europe without walls, neither on the streets nor in the minds. Forty years ago, we decided together: All Europeans should be able to move freely. My generation and the people who are even younger, honestly, can't remember another time at all. There was always a Europe without borders, a Europe of freedom, and Schengen was a promise w…

21 May

2025

EN Speech

The Hungarian government's drift to Russia-style repression: legislative threats to freedom of expression and democratic participation (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, the situation of democracy in Hungary is unbearable. And this is actually not news, because already in 2018, the European Parliament triggered the Article 7 procedure to protect the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary. Almost seven years have passed since then and things have continuously gotten worse in this period of time – and…

7 May

2025

EN Speech

EU support for a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace in Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Commission President, Minister, dear colleagues, tomorrow on 8 May, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, a day that gave the European continent the precious gift of peace. A peace that meant freedom and democracy for parts of Europe, and the freedom and democracy that eventually spread all over our continent with peaceful revolutions in the sou…

1 Apr

2025

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20 March 2025 (debate)

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Madam President, Commission President, Council President, dear colleagues, what a world we are living in. I was born two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and I must admit to you that when I grew up – and you can call me naive – I somehow thought that democracies in this world would become more numerous just with time, and that there would be a basic understanding between these democracies…

22 Jan

2025

EN Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Polish Presidency (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Prime Minister Tusk, welcome to the European Parliament. I think a lot of us are quite happy about this change in Council Presidency, especially because we live in times where Europe has to act. The new US President has started the year 2025 with a series of threats against our common European interests. In the east of Europe, Putin is still waging an illegal…

18 Dec

2024

EN Speech

Preparation of the European Council of 19-20 December 2024 (debate)

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Madam President, Commission President, dear colleagues, in these times of tectonic geopolitical changes, this European Council must send a clear signal. The European Union is a reliable and a strong partner for all those people in the world that are longing for democracy, for peace and for freedom. It is an honour that President Zourabichvili addressed the House this morning at such a crucial mome…

27 Nov

2024

DE Speech

Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Madam President of the Commission! I think it's clear to all of us, and if we take a step back, we'll see even more: We are facing huge geopolitical challenges. A demagogue and anti-European has just been re-elected to the White House. Ukraine is currently witnessing the bloodiest clashes since the beginning of this war, and we are seeing more and more how br…

19 Nov

2024

EN Speech

1000 days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, dear President of Ukraine Zelenskyy, dear colleagues and, most of all, dear friends in Ukraine, it has been a thousand days since Putin's illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which brought utter destruction and unbearable suffering to the people of Ukraine. A thousand days, a sad milestone and at the same moment a reminder of our promise. We stand with Ukraine fo…

14 Nov

2024

EN Speech

Deforestation Regulation: provisions relating to the date of application (vote)

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I'm trying here now, but the voting device didn't work. I just want to say it for the record. If other people are affected, I don't know, but it didn't work. Sorry.

13 Nov

2024

EN Speech

EU-US relations in light of the outcome of the US presidential elections (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, the morning after the US election, Europe woke up in a new world. Let me say it straight away: I do not welcome the election of Donald Trump as US President, nor do I congratulate the person who will do massive damage not only to the citizens in the US, but across the world and also in Europe. Actually, there was a lot of jubilation on the far-right side when Trum…

23 Oct

2024

DE Speech

Tackling the steel crisis: boosting competitive and sustainable European steel and maintaining quality jobs (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! I myself come from the Ruhr region, and for decades this wonderful region has been shaped by steel – just like the whole of Europe and, frankly, the whole world. Steel creates tens of thousands of jobs, steel makes us economically strong, steel is the basic material of the ecological transformation. We need it for wind turbines, for rail transport, for almost…

21 Oct

2024

EN Speech

Order of business

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Madam President, dear colleagues, last Friday, an Italian court invalidated the detention of 16 asylum applicants sent to Albania by the Italian Government. Italy is a democracy, with an independent judiciary and courts that can freely rule on existing cases, also to stop illegal actions by the government. Still, members of the ruling far-right coalition, including members of the government, attac…

9 Oct

2024

EN Speech

Presentation of the programme of activities of the Hungarian Presidency (debate)

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Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, President of the Council of the European Union, Prime Minister Orbán, I take note of the fact that you have been invited to this Parliament in your role as the Council President. Let me tell you, on behalf of my group: you are not welcome here. This is the House of European Democracy, not of corruption, of lies, of propaganda and autocratic rule.…

18 Sep

2024

EN Speech

The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, sometimes it sounds like a phrase, but when I say this, I really mean it. Full solidarity to all the people who are currently affected by the flooding in central and eastern Europe, and, of course, also by the horrible forest fires in the south of Europe. People in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Austria are suffering from devastating fl…

18 Jul

2024

EN Speech

Statement by the candidate for President of the Commission (debate)

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Madam President, dear candidate for the Commission presidency, dear colleagues, we are at a decisive moment for the future of the European Union. Today’s vote will be one important step in setting the course for the next five years in Europe. We all know that the challenges ahead of us are huge, and this places an enormous responsibility on our shoulders. We see right now that climate change alrea…

23 Apr

2024

DE Speech

Resumption of the sitting

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Mr President! In the same case: I have to say, it shocks me. Last night, an employee of this Parliament, Maximilian Krah, was arrested. I believe this case comes after pre-existing suspicions of corruption. We see very clearly that we need more intelligence and security cooperation between Member States. But I also believe that it is important that we advance the investigation here in the European…

23 Apr

2024

EN Speech

Conclusions of the recent European Council meetings, in particular on a new European Competitiveness deal and the EU strategic agenda 2024-2029 (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, this is a moment of truth. A moment of truth for the climate, a moment of truth for our economy, a moment of truth for our security. Because we all know that the Green Deal is about climate action and energy transition, but it is also about global competitiveness, making our industry green, creating future-proof jobs, and it is about the question whether electric …

22 Apr

2024

EN Speech

Approval of the minutes of forthcoming sittings

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Madam President, colleagues, you have probably heard it in the news. We are quite concerned about reports coming from Italy on interference with press freedom. We have seen it in Hungary; we have seen it in other European countries, that very often when there is an authoritarian backlash, journalists are the first targets. So let me be clear. We will stay vigilant and defend journalistic freedom i…

10 Apr

2024

EN Speech

New allegations of Russian interference in the European Parliament, in the upcoming EU elections and the impact on the Union (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, there are people in this very House, here in the European Parliament, pretending to represent the people of Europe, pretending to protect their freedoms and their interests. But there are serious allegations that some of them have become the very agents of foreign influence by Russian autocrat and warmonger Putin. If those allegations are confirmed, this would consti…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

Resumption of the sitting

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Madam President, colleagues, after the debate we just had, I just wanted to say one thing. For International Women’s Day, we celebrate women in all their diversity – and trans women are women. And I would like us to investigate what has just been said. Thank you very much.…

12 Mar

2024

EN Speech

(International Women's Day Celebration)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, first of all, a very warm welcome to you and congratulations. As a former left midfielder, I can only say that actually it was football that has given me the strength and the courage to do what I do today. So I really think that football is not just a type of sport. It is really an enabler to make women strong and to empower women, and this is why it’s so great to…

28 Feb

2024

EN Speech

Formal sitting - Address by Yulia Navalnaya

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Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Yulia Navalnaya, it is hard to imagine what you have been going through in these last weeks, months, years. And when you were speaking about how you and your husband with your family were visiting Strasbourg a while ago and how you miss him right now, I was imagining what it would do to me if I lost my beloved partner to a brutal regime. And I know that proba…