Speeches

Madam President! Natural disasters, as we see these years, are not natural. It is the result of not taking serious action against the destruction of climate and nature. People die and lose everything in extreme weather conditions. It's terrible, but it's also predictable. This year has been the toughest we've seen. The future is getting even more violent. Of course, we need to help people and areas that are suddenly in the midst of disaster. We need to help with urgent needs and we need to help with reconstruction. On the Green side, we therefore support the proposal. We must always show solidarity with those affected by the disaster. However, we must remember the background to the funds that are now to be used for natural disasters. We must prevent and reduce poverty and help people in vulnerable situations. We must ensure a just green transition where no one is left on the platform. And we need to slow down – yes, stop the climate catastrophe. We do this with ambitious climate action and nature restoration. Remember that!

Madam President! Children need security, for fundamental rights to food, to health, to a place to live and to go to school, to be allowed to play and to be protected from violence. Not all children have these rights. The many dead, maimed and orphaned children in Gaza have no rights. The same is true in Ukraine and Sudan, where there are also a lot of people who are affected by trauma. I could go on. Even in the rich north, our children and grandchildren are threatened by an uncertain future of rising inequality, devastating climate change and war. The greatest threat to a good child's life is to grow up in poverty. There are 20 million children in Europe. Children living in poverty do not have the same opportunities as other children. Historically, we have many children and young people with mental health challenges, probably due to war, because of climate threats and because of the Internet. Children should also be protected from family violence. I proposed this in the Danish Parliament in 2008 and it was adopted, only with opposition from the right wing. I am a very proud father of this proposal.

Madam President! After yesterday's discussion, it needs to be stressed that the conflict is older than the horrific attack on innocent Israelis, which can only be condemned without reservation, and all sorts of sympathy for the victims and their families. Nothing on this earth justifies the killing of civilians. This is also the case in Gaza, where more than 40 000 people have been killed. Many more bodies are buried under the rubble. In the West Bank, the murder rate is at a record high. It hurts Palestinian families just as much when they lose loved ones in a totally disproportionate attack that Israel has been carrying out now for almost a year in Gaza and the West Bank – and now also with the spread to Lebanon. We stare into an abyss of unimaginable suffering, unimaginable horror and hopelessness. The death toll will certainly increase further in the near future, not only because of bombardments and war, but also because of a lack of everything to sustain life, food, clean water, medicine and hospitals. We need to take steps to force an end to fighting and to secure a ceasefire and humanitarian aid. If this madness is to end, even greater pressure is needed, both on the current Israeli government, Hamas and Hezbollah. They are all an obstacle to peace. If this vicious circle of hatred and extremism is to be broken, it must be done with external pressure and there are more possibilities. There is the possibility of stopping the purchase of goods produced in illegal occupations, the possibility of sanctions against ministers and high-ranking officials and military personnel, and the possibility of considering suspending parts of the Association Agreement. We must act for peace.

Madam President! More than 41 000 people have been killed in Gaza and they are the ones who have been found. Many lie under the rubble strangled, bled to death or starved to death, women and children and civilians, the majority of them. Killed by a myriad of bombs that rained and still rain down on a population that cannot escape. Hunger, thirst, no medicine, emergency aid that doesn't get let in. It is a real humanitarian catastrophe and a long-standing health crisis that we are facing. Bombed hospitals, killed doctors, aid workers and journalists. Thousands are imprisoned without trial, torture is widespread. Even children are being abused in Israeli prisons. The hostages are still in Hamas' tunnels. The shock, grief and anger at the unimaginable terrorist attacks are widespread in Israel, and that is understandable. In the West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed, wounded and displaced has multiplied. Violence, destruction, arrests, displacement and killings are perpetrated by extreme settlers, and the Israeli military is watching. The right-wing Israeli government supports the illegality. The whole region has become a major area of tension. Where is the path to peace? We must put our foot down and stick to international law and the goal of peace between two peoples. Armistice now and the hostages must be freed. Neither Hamas nor the Israeli government should be able to let Israeli civilians or Palestinians pay the price. Both have to comply with the international legal order, the international agreements. It is our responsibility as outsiders to help peace along the way. It doesn't come from more violence. It is no longer a case of self-defense, it is a case of collective punishment. Both sides stopped seeing each other as human beings. But one side is obsessive, and the other side is obsessive. We must stick to the international legal order, the two-state solution and the 1927 borders, and our words must be followed by each other.

Mr President! Right now there is a fundamental struggle going on in Ukraine. We are witnessing an aggressive regime overturning all international rules and agreements. For me, there is no doubt what our response should be to this illegal war of aggression. We need to gear up with our support so that not too many Ukrainian soldiers and civilians are killed for lack of material. We need to remove the restrictions we have placed on ourselves. Weapons donated from our countries must be able to be used for an active response against the military bases and infrastructure in Russia, sending cascades of missiles, drones and bomb attacks against Ukrainian residential areas, institutions and infrastructure – in accordance, of course, with international law. Only in this way can we force Putin to withdraw to the internationally recognised borders and force Russia to negotiate and stop the hostilities. We are at a crucial point in history. There is a historic responsibility on this Parliament, which often says in celebratory speeches that we are on the side of justice. Now is the time to show it.