What Vytenis Povilas spoke about.

—

EN Written Statement

EU-US trade negotiations (debate)

Dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, The EU is a very strong trade power globally. We have a lot of trade agreements with many countries, world-wide. Trump is arrogant and unpredictable, and it is his weakness, but you, commissioner, are reliable and experienced, and that is your strength. We trust you. A deal is possible, the EU goal is to reintroduce tariff levels, explore commercial opportunitie…

17 Sep

2026

LT Speech

Strengthening global health resilience in partner countries (debate)

Watch

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, thank you very much for your excellent response to the question of those who are sowing panic here and who are spreading disinformation even in this Chamber. Your answer was correct, evidence based. And we must once again make it very clear that the countries of the world are waiting for the leadership of the European Union in this Global Health Resilience in…

17 Sep

2026

EN Speech

An EU health workforce crisis plan: sustainability of healthcare systems and employment and working conditions in the healthcare sector (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, we all know that the healthcare workers crisis is not a problem of tomorrow, but of this exact moment. Fewer staff means heavier workloads; heavier workloads push more people to search for other sectors. In the end, it is the patients and citizens who bear the consequences. Medical deserts. It's a really difficult name, 'medical deserts'. Can you imagine how…

16 Sep

2026

LT Speech

Urgent need for EU support to Ukraine against Russia’s escalation of its war of aggression (debate)

Watch

Honourable President, Honourable High Representative. Indeed, very many proposals have been made here, both in terms of frozen assets, access and the possibility of strengthening sanctions. But defending the Ukrainian sky is a crucial part of the agenda today. Winter is approaching, all infrastructure is being bombarded and attacked in order to make the cold and the huge social consequences in cit…

15 Sep

2026

EN Speech

Defence (joint debate)

Watch

Madam President, dear Commissioner Andrius, colleagues, it is important to highlight that defence, public interest and social protection are not in conflict with each other. The purpose of defence spending is to safeguard citizens' well-being, dignity and democracy. Last night, a NATO jet shot down a drone over Lithuania and a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter. In a…

14 Sep

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Watch

Madam President, for years, we in this House have said that access to medicine is not a luxury, it is a right. Across our Union, patients still face delays, inequality and high prices of medicine, but we are also now under external pressure. Trump's most favoured nation policy seeks to close the transatlantic gap in pharmaceuticals by demanding Europe to pay more and threatening our budgets that k…

14 Sep

2026

LT Speech

Government crackdown on the LGBTIQ+ Community in Türkiye: Türkiye’s compliance with its international commitments on non-discrimination (debate)

Watch

9 Jul

2026

EN Answer

Feasibility of a 28th tax regime and its potential to support EU competitiveness (debate)

Watch

My answer is clear: no. We need to understand now, and we need to encourage Member States to cooperate. Cross-border Healthcare Directive requires cooperation. An open method of coordination requires cooperation. Mutual recognition requires cooperation, and of course, also possibilities to encourage Member States to understand that a single market can deliver treatment to people and organise acces…

9 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Feasibility of a 28th tax regime and its potential to support EU competitiveness (debate)

Watch

Madam President, today we are debating the 28th regime for innovative start‑ups and scale‑ups. But underneath this report lies a bigger question: what do we do when 27 national tax systems slow down innovations? If we cannot have full taxation harmonisation, we need a common European layer so that our innovative start-up and scale-ups no longer have to fight 27 tax administrations to grow. It is a…

9 Jul

2026

LT Speech

Evaluation of the Common Fisheries Policy and follow-up (debate)

Watch

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. Thank you for the very constructive presentation of the review of the Common Fisheries Policy. I remember your predecessor, Karmenu Vella, who was responsible from Malta, was responsible for the common fisheries policy and raised the same issues that my colleague Bajada is now raising with regard to the fishing problems of third countries in the Mediterranean…

8 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: EU solidarity and preparedness in global health (debate)

Watch

Madam President, Commissioner, I fully agree with what you just said about the situation related to vaccines, antibodies and so on, but what we see is climate-sensitive disease spread. Of course pandemics and epidemic threats are ongoing, we have no chance to deny it, but in opposite, we have fragile and shrinking global health financing and global health support. Now when we are discussing about …

8 Jul

2026

EN Speech

The EU’s role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the accountability of Israel under international law (topical debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, you just saw a lucky mother with her excellent child. But unfortunately in Gaza the hospitals are destroyed. Hospitals are not battlefields; yet in Gaza, the basic principle of humanity has been broken for too long, colleagues. Since the October ceasefire, the strikes have not stopped and humanitarian access remains conditional and obstructed, colleagues. I am…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

2025 Commission report on Moldova (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, thank you for the excellent report, Sven Mikser. I cannot stress enough the importance of opening all negotiation clusters for Moldova and Ukraine. Article 49 of the Treaty of European Union clearly states that unanimity is required only for the opening and closing of accession negotiations. But what is the European Council doing? The endless unanimity silos…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

2025 Commission report on Ukraine (debate)

Watch

Madam President, dear Commissioner, colleagues, the European Union proposed clear possible timelines in the Ukrainian accession to the EU. I can tell you: in June 2026, the opening of all six clusters; until the end of 2026, substantial progress in all negotiating chapters; beginning 2027, start of closing all chapters. And where are we now? Only one cluster was opened. It's a shame on the Council…

6 Jul

2026

LT Speech

Air passenger rights (debate)

Watch

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable colleagues. First of all, thank you to the rapporteur Novakov and Virginijus Sinkevičius for the very good work and for the very good overall search for compromises between all political groups. I will not repeat those achievements - on the rights of persons with disabilities, on families, on children under 14 years of age, on better information an…

6 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Order of business

Watch

Madam President, Ukraine finished technical screening on all six clusters months ago. The Commission planned to open all six clusters in June. Now, we are here in July and only one cluster is open. Only one. The other five sit in a drawer marked 'not yet' because the Member States are lacking the courage and political will. Yesterday, it was Budapest. Today, Warsaw who finds a new reason to stop t…

18 Jun

2026

LT Speech

Circularity requirements for vehicle design and management of end-of-life vehicles (debate)

Watch

17 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Protecting EU citizens’ data from hybrid threats: the Lithuanian case (topical debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, protecting European Union citizens' data from hybrid threats is of paramount importance in this digital age. When data is compromised, citizens lose confidence not only in their governments, but in the very system designed to serve them. Unfortunately, Lithuanians have experienced exactly this during a recent breach of the national Register Centre. Although …

16 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Russia’s unacceptable provocative actions and drone incursions into Romania, the Baltic states and Finland (debate)

Watch

Mr President, dear Vice-President, colleagues, Russian drones are not lost. They know exactly where they are flying. Over the whole eastern flank, this is a systemic provocation, and the European response must have a common pan-European answer. I want to name one specific vulnerability: the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania. There, the nuclear waste that is stored in temporary above-ground…

16 Jun

2026

LT Speech

The role of the EU in efforts for peace and stability throughout the Middle East after the announced deal between the US and Iran (debate)

Watch

15 Jun

2026

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Watch

Madam President, colleagues, the European Union formally opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, covering the core values on which this Union is built. Ukraine has been delivering reforms under fire. Now it is time for us to deliver in return with adequate financial support. Estimates suggest Ukrainian accession alone requires an extra EUR 186 billion over seven years. The current …

21 May

2026

EN Speech

The Union’s preparedness for and response to health emergencies: the case of the MV Hondius and the hantavirus warning (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, thank you very much indeed for your very excellent presentation. Of course, let me say to the room, to our Parliament, that we had a Zika outbreak, we had Ebola, monkeypox, COVID-19. Now, once again, hantavirus. It shows how important it is to have in our hands a European solidarity mechanism, EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a strong ECDC and, of course, budget. Commissi…

21 May

2026

LT Speech

European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Stop destroying videogames’ (debate)

Watch

Dear President of the meeting, Commissioner. There are a lot of right arguments here. It is quite obvious that this is an unfair practice on the one hand, that it is a business model, that there is an opportunity to have new and new customers all the time. This is unfair profit and piracy. But it's also important to understand that it's both intellectual protection, creators' rights, and cultural …

20 May

2026

LT Speech

Rights, support and protection of victims of crime (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner. When I was a member of the Seimas, I had to visit prisons, children's prisons, women's prisons. As Minister of Health, I had to propose solutions to protect the rights of victims. It is very painful because the European Union has ratified the Istanbul Convention, but there are countries that not only do not ratify, but withdraw the Istanbul Convention. There are countri…

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Recent proposals to fight poverty in the EU (debate)

Watch

Madam President, dear Commissioner, welcome. A very nice strategy. Please go forward. But please keep in mind the slogan, 'One Europe. Health and social justice for all, and one market'. You need to send such a narrative around all 27 Member States, because it's about the social component, which is so important in your file: children and poverty. You know that the social determinants in health sho…