Speeches

We are here today on this historic occasion to welcome the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to the European Parliament. This is an extraordinary moment, in extraordinary times. It has been almost one year since the brutal, illegal invasion of sovereign Ukraine by Russia. In all that time, Mr President, your leadership has inspired your people and inspired every corner of the globe. When the world thinks of Ukraine they think of heroes fighting the odds, of David beating Goliath. They think of the icons of Snake Island, the warriors of Mariupol, the liberators of so many occupied towns and villages. Their names will be spoken of for generations. Notwithstanding the bombs that fall every day, your grain continues to feed the world. When a devastating earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, you stood up and sent rescuers, equipment and expertise. That is real solidarity. (Applause) I am proud to say that this House of European Democracy, its Members, our European Union, have always stood with you. We understand that you are fighting not only for your values, but for ours. For those ideals that bind us as sisters and brothers. They make us all Europeans. Because Ukraine is Europe and your nation’s future is in the European Union. (Applause) We know the sacrifice that your people have endured for Europe and we must honour it not only with words but with action: with the political will to ensure easier trade and with the fastest possible accession process; with funds for your people; with help in reconstruction; with training for your troops; with the military equipment and defence systems you need to win. Now, States must consider, quickly, as a next step, providing long range systems and the jets that you need to protect the liberty too many have taken for granted. Our response must be proportional to the threat – and the threat is existential. I grew up hearing my grandparents’ stories of my country’s last three fighter planes. When all seemed lost, when they had no ammunition, no food and no hope, when all that remained were their three barely functioning planes that they called Faith, Hope and Charity – named after what they were fighting for, after what was at stake. The planes meant one more day of liberty, just long enough for help to arrive. They meant peace. You do not need to convince anyone here of how essential it is to support Ukraine, to back all those giving their lives, to support the values we preach with concrete measures, to ensure victory, real peace – based on your 10-point plan, accountability for those who have committed war crimes and for the protection of freedom for all Ukrainians. I want to repeat the promise I made to you when we met in Kyiv last April: we have your back. We were with you then, we are with you now, we will be with you for as long as it takes. Freedom will prevail. Peace will reign. You will win. Slava Ukraini! (Loud and sustained applause)

We will put to the vote the request to have a resolution to wind up the debate. (Parliament agreed to the request) The debate will therefore be wound up with a resolution at the next part—session. The agenda is adopted and the order of business is thus established.

We will therefore vote on the ECR request. (Parliament rejected the request) We will now vote on the S&D Group’s alternative proposal. (Parliament rejected the alternative proposal) We will now vote on the Green Group’s alternative proposal. (Parliament rejected the alternative proposal) Wednesday’s agenda therefore remains unchanged. We move to Thursday – tomorrow. The ECR Group has requested that the Council and Commission give statements on ‘The situation of the former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili’. These would be added as the second item in the morning. I understand this could go with one round of political group speakers and the start of the sitting would be brought forward to 8:30. The debate would then be wound up with a resolution to be voted at the next part-session. I give the floor to Anna Fotyga to move the request on behalf of the ECR Group.

President. – Also for Wednesday – today – the ECR Group has requested that a Commission statement on ‘Public security and the terrorist threat in Europe in the light of the recent knife attacks in Germany and Spain’ be added as the fourth item in the afternoon. I give the floor to Jorge Buxadé Villalba to move the request on behalf of the ECR Group.

Can I ask whether any colleague would like to speak against that proposal? If not, we will go straight to the vote. (Parliament rejected the request) Also for Wednesday, the EPP Group has requested that a Commission statement on ‘Transparency in the funding of NGOs and the protection of EU financial interests’ be added as the third point in the afternoon before the debate on the report by Mr Gozi. As a consequence, the sitting would be extended until 21:00. I give the floor to Monika Hohlmeier to move the request on behalf of the EPP Group.

We now come to the order of business. The final draft agenda as adopted by the Conference of Presidents on 18 January pursuant to Rule 157 has been distributed. With the agreement of the political groups, I wish to put to the House the following proposals for changes to the final draft agenda. On Thursday, first of all, four reports by Mr Dzhambazki, Mr Halicki and Ms Aubry on the requests for the waiver of the immunity of four Members and one report by Mr García del Blanco on the request for the defence of the immunity of a Member are added to the votes. Then, the vote on the resolution on ‘An EU strategy to boost industrial competitiveness, trade and quality jobs’ is postponed to the February II part-session. If there are no objections, these changes are approved. We now move to changes requested by political groups, starting with today, Wednesday. The EPP Group has requested that the debate on the Council and Commission statements on ‘Preparation of the Special European Council meeting of February, in particular the need to develop sustainable solutions in the area of asylum and migration’ be wound up with a resolution to be voted at the next part-session. I give the floor to Jeroen Lenaers to move the request on behalf of the EPP Group.

The LIBE Committee has decided to enter into interinstitutional negotiations pursuant to Rule 71(1) of the Rules of Procedure. The report which constitutes the mandate for the negotiations is available on the plenary webpage and its title will be published in the minutes of the sitting. Pursuant to Rule 71(2), Members or political groups reaching at least the medium threshold may request in writing by tomorrow, Thursday 2 February at midnight, that the decision be put to the vote. If no request for a vote in Parliament is made before the deadline, the committee may start the negotiations.

The ENVI Committee has transmitted a corrigendum to a text adopted by Parliament. Pursuant to Rule 241(4) this corrigendum will be deemed approved unless, no later than 24 hours after its announcement, a request is made by a political group or Members reaching at least the low threshold that it be put to the vote. The corrigendum is available on the Plenary webpage; its title will be published in the minutes of this sitting.

Let me remind you, dear colleagues, that the inauguration of the permanent Holocaust memorial in our House will start at 11:45 in front of the Hemicycle just outside here.

Dear colleagues, kindly remain standing. (The House observed a minute’s silence) We shall now conclude the ceremony with some music. (Chen Halevi (clarinet) and Jenő Lisztes (cimbalom) played ‘Kaddish’ by Maurice Ravel.)

I will now give the floor to His Excellency Mr Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, for his address. President Herzog, the floor is yours.

President Herzog, distinguished guests, dear colleagues, every year around 27 January, the world remembers the millions of innocent men, women and children who were murdered in history’s greatest crime. A crime intended to wipe off a people from the earth. A crime designed to inflict horror on generations. A crime that has shaped our modern European project into an embodiment of the timeless promise: never again. It was a crime that saw six million Jewish people murdered for being Jewish; that saw Roma and Sinti people targeted; that saw LGBTI communities eradicated and so many others humiliated and killed because of their ethnicity, disability, identity, race or beliefs. It is difficult to imagine the horrors of the Holocaust and the actions that led up to it. The fear of mothers and fathers, the quiet suffering of so many. The little children forced to hide in holes, in basements and attics. The Rabbis who remained dignified as they were forced to scrub pavements while crowds laughed and mocked. The impossible choices faced by so many every day in so many Member States. The Holocaust did not happen overnight. ‘Auschwitz did not fall from the sky’ as survivor Marian Turski said three years ago. The alarm bells should have rung before. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks gave a lecture in 2012 where he said one of the things that haunted him about the Holocaust was the horror of the silence. ‘Where were the voices? Where were protests?’ he asked. This was done in living memory. In the age of enlightenment, rationalism, science and art and culture. This did not happen in a frenzy of hate: it took time, it was built up. The dehumanisation process started before the camps. And what was truly horrifying, he said, is the almost total absence of horror at the time. His appeal was for us to ‘resolve that if the moment comes, we will stand up and speak out, so that no one will have reason to say: when we cried, you were not listening; when we suffered, you were silent’. This is why, even if it is hard to describe these crimes, we must keep speaking; why we must never forget. We must speak because ours is the last generation to receive first-hand accounts from survivors of the Holocaust. Our duty becomes even greater when the voices of those survivors cannot be heard any longer. It is our responsibility to remember and to pass down testimonies to future generations, to educate. We must speak because despite decades of effort, anti-Semitism still exists. Hate still finds too many voices excusing it. Too many families in Europe and around the world live with packed suitcases by their door. We cannot allow anyone to find comfort in ignorance. Let me repeat what I said in the Knesset: to be anti-Semitic is to be anti-European. Our first woman President, Simone Veil, was herself a survivor – who grew up to change the face of Europe – and her legacy is present in these halls and buildings. She understood that ‘neutrality only helps the oppressor’. And the European Parliament will always take a side: the side of respect, the side of human dignity, the side of equality, the side of hope. This Parliament is proud that we have not been silent. Not when it comes to fighting hate and discrimination. Not when it comes to anti-Semitism and religious freedom. And we will keep acting to ensure that our communities are not marginalised by exclusion, hatred or indifference. We have not been silent when it came to standing up for our values. Nor when it comes to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the rhetoric used to try to justify it. Neither have we been silent when it comes to the regime in Iran who execute young people standing up for women, life and liberty. Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow marks 78 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. A liberation from evil that proved that despite everything, hope endures. Even when all around is hopelessness. The same hope that led to the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel 75 years ago this year. A nation that has endured, flourished and sustained a democracy despite all odds. President Herzog, as I said in Israel, the bond between the people of Europe and the people of Israel has been forged in the horror of our common history. A bond whose strength lies in its openness, honesty, straightforwardness – even criticism – but a bond that has and will withstand the test of time. And yet, our people share more than history and a promise to remember. We also share a common destiny – and a future that will endure. We will now listen to a musical interlude. (Jenő Lisztes (cimbalom) played ‘Lament’ by Laci Rácz.)

Dear Members, dear colleagues, we gather here today for this solemn ceremony to mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, in the presence of the President of the State of Israel. President Herzog, welcome to the European Parliament. (Applause) Before we begin I would like to invite you to turn your attention to the screens to watch a short video in remembrance of all the victims of the Holocaust. (A video was shown in the Chamber)

Thank you for that. However, and this will happen to all groups, if there is opposition that was expressed – because Mr Złotowski said it and I heard him – then that happens, so that is in the context of the vote as had already been in motion. Therefore the oral amendment cannot be taken, and we vote on Amendment 15 as originally tabled.

Georgios Kyrtsos has submitted a request for the defence of his parliamentary immunity in the context of the complaint he has made against the Greek authorities about phone-tapping. This request is referred to the Committee on Legal Affairs.