Speeches

Mr President, Honourable Commissioner. In fact, in your five-year term, you can now be sure of the essential fundamentals. Anti-Semitism has not disappeared in Europe, it is a long time ago. It is present in all countries, and it is clear that we are going through a major crisis in the Member States of Europe because we are not able to educate our children in the younger generation and in the education systems with an understanding and understanding of the tragedy of the Holocaust. At the same time, however, we must realise that covering up for one phenomenon as anti-Semitism, covering up for Islamic phobia or covering up for another form of hatred is also a path nowhere, honourable Commissioner. There is only one way that is absolutely clear: by analysing anti-Semitism, we must root it out, but we must also root out any form of hatred, especially if it is used for political purposes.

Mr President, I would like to draw attention to the unspeakable slowness of the European Union's railway projects. I will mention Rail Baltica, which was supposed to connect Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The project was created in 2004. Today we have 2024. As Commissioner, I travelled from Shanghai to Beijing with high-speed trains developed by Zeemens and others from EU Member States at a speed of 500 kilometres per hour. And this is an example of Europe having the capacity to build and properly infrastructural. There are many companies, but we need a European strategy that sets out rail investment priorities for the Member States, both in European industrialisation plans and in the context of defence. There is a need to revive the common European railway system.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, it is indeed here that everyone has emphasised the very clear need for a plan of measures to combat quickly and effectively. Here, of course, we must give ourselves a clear answer to the question of how to strengthen the European Union Maritime Agency, how to encourage the Member States to work, because this is also a matter for the Member States, for the management of their ports and their ports, as well as their registers, for their inspections and, of course, for the private sector, which is undoubtedly involved in and mediating this shady transaction. A fortiori, diplomatic measures must also be applied, because we must understand that this is the same as with offshore firms and money laundering. Similarly, those third countries that sell their flags and enable them must also be blacklisted in order to solve this very complex problem in an integrated, rapid and efficient way. But, of course, the responsibility of the Member States is particularly great here.

Madam President, the interpretation was a little bit late. I will continue in the Lithuanian language. Honourable Commissioner, I really welcome your positions on the need for a very comprehensive plan to support the consistent implementation over the next five years of the instruments already adopted under the Digital Tools Act and other legislation. And this is right, but it is very important to note that we have unfortunately lost a broadcaster in the European Union, Euronews. Once upon a time there was an idea that it could be used for information about democracy, about enlargement, about human rights. We are weak enough now. Consideration should be given to a common platform that would also bring together national broadcasters from the Member States, which could contribute to strengthening democracy and countering hybrid attacks.

Mr President, the deputies sitting on the right here pointed to the left, which I will admit, I was born in Stalin's gulag and spent a lot of time deporting. That is why I say to those who say that the European Union needs fences, walls and barbed wire: The European Union is a fortress of human rights, international law and the rule of law and democracy, not fences and all others. There are no representatives of the Council of Europe here, and it is a pity that national governments and parliaments still do not implement the Migration Pact. Once again, the implementation of the Migration Pact is a matter of solidarity and responsibility for the governments of all 27 Member States. And all that the Commission is proposing must also be put into practice. That is why we must say once again that we are defending human rights.

Mr President, dear Vice-President of the Commission Margaritis, back in 2023 the Commission presented a comprehensive approach on mental health, aiming to address mental health holistically. It falls short of providing solutions to adequately address structural issues on the ground, and mental health strategy should also carry a very important point: mental health problems of health professionals. Access to care, waiting times, workforce shortages are not just policy points. They are the daily realities for millions of citizens across the EU and, moreover, affect the mental health of healthcare professionals. Of course, young people are being left behind on an outdated system, and while the current initiative and knowledge acknowledges the problem, it falls short of delivering the urgent action needed. Moreover, we have healthcare professionals on the brink of burnout, with over 80 % of nurses reporting psychological distress. Without investing in expanding their workforce and offering better support for mental health professionals themselves, how can we expect to tackle the growing crisis? Commissioner, there is no point in continuing to build a house on a crumbling foundation without a proper attack, attacking root causes of the disparities. Both the system and those who rely on it are at risk of collapse. I call on the Commission to come forward with a strategy and specific actions to make sure that this doesn't happen, and actions related to healthcare professionals. Mental health is very important now. We are looking forward.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President of the Commission, my colleague Margariti. Excellent, excellent presentation, well-discussed topics and great suggestions. A fortiori, this Chamber must respect the Treaty of Lisbon, which makes it very clear that the European Union is founded on all values: Humanism, democracy and the values of all religious cultures, from Christianity to Judaism, from Islam to paganism. The European Union is rooted in all its roots and all Member States are free, sovereign and therefore tolerance, dialogue and respect for cultures are the only way to further strengthen our democratic way of life. Thank you, Commissioner, and we must continue to strengthen the fight against intolerance.

Mr President, dear Vera, colleagues, as a former Commissioner, in the time of my mandate, I was fully involved in the creation of new laws: the Medical Device Regulation and the In-Vitro Medical Device Regulation. These regulations aim to create a robust, transparent and sustainable regulatory framework that is recognised internationally and that improves clinical safety for patients and creates fair market access for manufacturers and healthcare professionals. These regulations seek to increase the transparency of the system through the collation of key supply chains to create a central register of supply chain operators and notifying bodies, to allow the Commission to investigate when a notifying body does not seem to be fulfilling its function properly and to allow international authorities to control a notifying body's assessment of a manufacturers' documentation before it is placed on the market. Vitally, under the new directives, notifying bodies and supply chain operators remain almost entirely responsible for pre-market control. I believe the Commission has sufficient tools and instruments to implement the allocated tasks. Now it has to press the European Union's Member States, producers and the notifying bodies to implement the requirements of these regulations. I think the transitional period of 2027 is long enough. And we need to not make additional delays in this process. Please remember: patient safety first. It is our duty really to realise this.

Dear Chair of the meeting. Thank you, dear colleague, Commissioner Margarita. Thank you very much for presenting a truly comprehensive and comprehensive programme. And those who believe that there is only one cure in this difficult struggle are grossly mistaken. Similarly, those who often use the word fight. The drug strategy from 1946 to 2014 was a fiasco, recognised by the United Nations' complex commission, and Kofi Annan has made it very clear that these repressive measures killed more people than we expected. Therefore, truly integrated, science-based programmes based on principles and methodologies now endorsed by the United Nations must be pursued. But there is a responsibility here at the level of all states, and there must be coordination everywhere and at the same time at the level of the European Union. We have to deal with these problems in a complex and coordinated way, not in one-day campaigns.

Dear President! I really want to welcome this United Nations agreement and congratulate both the Commission, the President of the European Parliament and the European Parliament delegation. I am fully aware of the unspeakably difficult, tense work that has been done between many delegations to get the document signed. There are times when goals are not achieved. And now we have a document that proves that multilateralism works. The United Nations system needs to be reformed, but it works, it needs to be reformed, because there is no other organisation that can replace it. It is therefore absolutely necessary to contribute to the further development of this solution and we should do our best to make the United Nations even stronger.

Mr President, Mrs Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the Commission. Congratulations to you. I do support the resolution, but I am a little different, because the European Union must show its enormous strength and influence. All the more so because in the Eastern Neighbourhood Policy we could have had a much greater influence on the democratic development of Georgian society for a long time. Everyone is so scared of Russia. I'm not afraid of Russia, but LGBT rights are being violated in the United States, Hungary and elsewhere. Let us be very clear. And here, in this building, there are representatives who would also violate LGBT rights. So that we have to ensure the problems of the pluralism of Georgia's youth and its progress, especially since their purpose is enshrined in the Constitution. Let us be strong and solidarity-based in Europe.

Mr President, first of all, dear colleague Stella Kyriakides, convey your warmest congratulations to Margrethe Vestager. All of you and we, in the past, have achieved a great victory in the Commission! It is important to note that this is only the beginning. Continue the fight against tax avoidance, tax laundering, aggressive tax planning and the exploitation of enormous lobbying influences to perpetuate unfair policies of tax competition between different tax advantages in Member States. It destroys everything. The European Union needs its own budget. We mean our own resources and the taxation of transnational stock corporations, banking corporations is a resource, and even the profits of transnational corporations are also a resource, so we must move forward and, most importantly, overcome the unanimity principle in the Council, because there will be a lot of trouble in the tax debate.

Madam President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues, friends, I will continue in my mother tongue because I think we need to use, for our neighbouring country, our own language – Lithuanian – because Lithuania is a neighbouring country with Belarus. Mr President, dear colleagues, this is not the first time that the European Parliament has debated political prisoners in Belarus. And it must be stated that in that country their situation remains extremely sad and even threatening. At the moment, more than 1,300 people in Belarus are considered political prisoners. The Belarusian regime continues to undermine human rights, international norms and even basic rights. And just to keep control of this regime in their hands. Within the European Union, Member States should make every effort to secure the release of political prisoners. And I support the main points of the resolution that talk about this. But although we do not consider Lukashenko de jure President of the United States, but we know that he de facto Controls the situation in the country. But one humanitarian option to save at least some political prisoners can be used. Even warring countries are able to carry out exchange operations for POWs. Recently, Western countries conducted a prisoner swap operation with Russia. Serious thought should be given to whether the same swap operation could be carried out to free Belarusian prisoners such as Maryya Kalesnikava, Mikalai Statkevich, Siarhei Tsikhanouski and others. My suggestion would therefore be to consider such a humanitarian option.

Mr President, dear Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, thank you for being here. Dear colleagues, the upsurge of Mpox cases in a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of continental concern. The current upsurge of Mpox in parts of Africa is an emergency not only for Africa but for the entire globe. The multi-country outbreak of Mpox is spreading rapidly via sexual contact across a range of countries where the virus has not been seen before. The WHO declared the current outbreak of Mpox a public health emergency of international concern. At the EU level, the ECDC has collected rapid scientific advice for public health authorities in the EU on its website, particularly related to information on: travelling to areas with ongoing Mpox transmission, diagnosis and isolation of cases, infection prevention and control measures, contact tracing, vaccination and others. It is clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop the outbreak and save lives. Dear colleagues, this outbreak shows that international pandemics are not over. The EU should continue sufficient financing of the EU4Health programme, sufficient financing of HERA and the ECDC, sufficient investment in vaccines production, and continued creation of a strong European Health Union. During this term of the European Commission, health should be high on the political agenda of this Commission and this House, and solidarity is needed. Health is not a national competence. It is an international concern and the challenges are global. We need to have a global health strategy. We need to achieve a pandemic treaty and have much stronger instruments addressing the global challenges which we are facing now.

Mr President, dear colleagues. Indeed, an attempt to freeze the conflict is disastrous for the European Union. And that formula – to support as much as needed – is not ambitious enough. Support should be provided as effectively, as much as possible, as quickly as possible and as coordinated as possible. That is why an increase in the percentage of financial support from all the countries of the European Union would be a good response. One cannot afford to support more, the other less. Solidarity, unity and strength! On the other hand, there is a clear need to curb the aggressor and defend the principle of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity. For this, it is necessary to act in an integrated manner so that the Zelenskyy peace plan can be fully implemented. There is no doubt that restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine need to be removed. Ukraine must use them in the way it needs them most. Greater, faster and more effective integration of Ukraine into the European Union is a goal. The strengthening and creation of the European Union's defence is an objective. And the more effective, broader international diplomacy in isolating and restraining the aggressor is also the goal. Only complex, effective and strong measures can help us achieve a great victory and achieve peace, and at the same time defeat Putin's regime in Russia.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues, we are indeed talking about an extremely difficult subject. Anti-Semitism has a tradition in Europe for thousands of years and, worst of all, it manifests itself in the most terrible Nazi bestialism. The Holocaust is an incomparable crime with no one, because it touches the foundations of human existence. Anti-Semitism is what is happening in Palestine. It is clear here that Netanyahu's actions in the Gaza sector are only fuelling and pouring fire on anti-Semitism. It goes without saying that there is no such thing as accusing Israel of committing genocide. No! But it is clear that we need to realise that this promotes hate phenomena. On the other hand, there are hate speeches in this room too, which, under the guise of defending oneself, suddenly begin to propagate anti-Islamism. These double standards can't go anywhere. We must defend human rights and fight against hate speech, against all forms of hatred.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues, when you listen here to very ultra-patriotic speeches, you sometimes feel that this ultra-patriotism seems to be the last refuge for scoundrels. There is such a phrase, and it must be said that these speeches increase the fire of hatred, not anything else, but even more. In solidarity with the victims, the victims of Solingen, I want to tell those others – remember Breivik, who shot an enormous number of his compatriots in Norway. It had nothing to do with Islam. Terrorism has nothing to do with anything. It is a very complex human phenomenon. It is therefore very clear that the answer must be to implement the migration asylum pact. In the new multiannual financial framework, there is much more funding for Frontex, border protection, as well as support for third countries, social problems. There is a complex here, and only cross-cutting measures can help to resolve this, because the European Union is a Europe of human rights and of the solidarity that we have organised. And here the governments of the European Union need to be reminded...