Speeches

I will ask you to take a look at the conclusions of the National Audit Office and there you will find the words about the fundamental and systemic violations. Try to read them and then you can interpret them. Second point: your party appears to have been in the ruling majority since September 2024. Am I wrong? I'm probably not wrong. Now that you have left the coalition, you obviously have a chance to politicise, but that politicisation does not solve the problem of freedom and the application of Article 5 of European media freedom, because it applies not to the Administrative Director, but to the Council and the President of the Council, because they are the guarantors of a free press. Lawyers can help you explain this.

Dear Chairman of the meeting. This debate is very timely. I think, of course, it is intended for the internal situation of Lithuania, because it is nice that everyone who has spoken the Lithuanian language so far. I will say very clearly that the discussion here is not about the violation of freedom of speech at all, nor about the constitutional violation, respected Dainiau, and other things. We will certainly be able to say that there are many legal analyses, not just those carried out by one expert group. There are many of them. Now the facts are such that would force everyone to listen to the fact that Lithuania consistently occupies high positions in the world rankings of press freedom. 2025 Reporters without Borders Lithuania ranks 14th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, and the overall score has increased. Next: Freedom House Lithuania is also classified as a free country with a vibrant media protected from government pressure. These are facts. You can read them just now. I recently visited... The Venice Commission visited Lithuania this week. Its findings will also be available to you. So I answer that the fact that the National Audit Office carried out an audit and revealed huge cases of corruption, bribery, violation of the law makes it necessary to talk about administrative problems that the government has to solve. Freedom of the press is a cornerstone that we have defended and will defend throughout our lives.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. First of all, let me thank Denmark and Iceland on behalf of Lithuania, especially Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and Icelander Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson. They were the first to recognize the three Baltic states and their independence. Then the Baltic people stood unarmed, although the Soviet troops of the Soviet Union were around hundreds of thousands, but the force of the people showed that there is something to be said today: 450 million Europeans are a huge force! And we need to send a clear signal to the American Republicans, because there are also like-minded people there. Because our strength is trade bazooka, and I call on the Commission to take action as soon as possible, because the introduction of a tariff against eight means against us all. The response must be as strong and rigorous as possible.

Mr President, colleagues, the current clinical trial rules in our 27 Member States make it extremely difficult to implement multi-country clinical trials. They are costly in both time and resources and impede the growth of medical innovation. Today we had discussions on the Critical Medicines Act and the 28th Regime for innovative companies, and I would like to advocate for each to be created, as well as for multi-country clinical trials. This framework would unify a currently diverse regulatory landscape that exists among our Member States by streamlining the approval process for new therapies and technologies for all patients. We could reduce bureaucratic hurdles that stifle innovation. A cohesive ecosystem would not only enhance the efficiency of multi-country clinical trials, but also improve patient access to groundbreaking treatment, and also restore EU leadership in global health innovation without encroaching on the Member States' rights to set up their own requirements. At the heart of this regime is the need for a robust digital infrastructure that facilitates real-time data sharing and communication among all stakeholders by leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which can enhance critical design and patient monitoring, and significantly reduce such loss of time and effectiveness.

Madam President, colleagues, we need to ensure that all patients in Europe – it doesn't matter where they live – can rely on access to a medicine they need when necessary. It is our obligation. This act aims to strengthen our security of supply by reducing dependencies on third countries and supporting resilient, diversified supply chains. We must step up investment in European manufacturing capacity, while ensuring that public funding is used in a responsible, transparent manner, keeping the interests of patients at the core. We must keep not only availability but also affordability as part of joint procurement. Addressing fragmentation in the market is a very challenging issue. I want to stress that attacks from the extremist side of this room on the European environmental and chemical legislation in the area of pharmaceuticals production are unacceptable. Ideological attacks do not strengthen health security. Europe needs medicine that is available, accessible, affordable and sustained to all of us.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. Indeed, my Lithuanian colleagues have already mentioned the numbers, the frequency of attacks, and the difficult situation on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. However, I would like to draw your attention, Commissioner, to the fact that international aviation has suffered losses, not only in Lithuania, but also in international aviation. In other words, all aviation in the European Union has suffered losses, both flights to Munich, flights to Frankfurt, flights to Brussels and flights to Riga. In other words, we have not only the problem of Lithuania, but we have the problem of the economic losses suffered by the whole region. On the other hand, it is clear that we in that country are fully aware that we need effective and rapid additional financial support to deal with the current crisis, which is in fact the case.

Mr President, Commissioner. So many good ideas have been said here, so inspiring that we will definitely ask Romana Jerković to get her involved and make the report very strong – a powerful report! But my suggestion is also as follows: Some have mentioned that this year we lost 280 million euros as a result of deaths. Message to Ministers of Economy, Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Finance of the Eurogroup! Tell them clearly that they have to discuss what huge losses they have suffered this year and deduct those millions from their budgets. Because if we want to talk about prevention, we need to turn it off from spending, make an investment in it, and calibrate it into financial instruments as one of the biggest investments in innovation. So, congratulations, you will receive our great support.