Speeches

Thank you very much, Mr President of the sitting, honourable Commissioner, colleagues, I will indeed speak as a participant in the struggle for freedom, a dissident who was interrogated seven times by the KGB, who was arrested twice, who signed the Declaration of Independence on 11 March of the 90s, Petra Gražuli. Thus, on the 14th of June of the forty-first year, Hitler occupied Paris. On the same day, Stalin presented an ultimatum to Lithuania and my parents spent 17 years in Stalin's gulags. I am glad that my father was a signatory of the 45th Baltic Memorandum. And thank you to the European Parliament, which on 13 January 1983 adopted a resolution on the freedom of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I am also pleased that there are two names in this House: Simone Weil and Altero Spinelli. And thus, these two names magnificently remind us of what we have to do. For Free and United Europe, the Altiero Spinelli Manifesto. And today we need to make it clear: History owes me nothing, I owe it to history for peace, democracy and freedom.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. I want to say that I was in these positions as Commissioner responsible for public health and food safety, and I was involved in the authorisation of genetically modified organisms or, in this case, genetically modified seeds and imported feed. I want to say firmly that I am now elected by the Lithuanian electorate and, as I did then, I am now firmly of the opinion that the Commission's steps are legitimate, scientifically sound, legislated and in line with the requirements of the Treaty of Lisbon. Rule of law is common to all Members of the European Parliament, the Commission and the public. Here too, the law does guarantee what the Commission is doing. Therefore, I cannot be hypocritical and I support the Commissioner's statement today.

Mr President, dear colleagues. In Lithuania, when the Supreme Council of Lithuania published the March 11 documents, we listened with great attention to the Dalai Lama who visited us. At that time, the adoption of the Dalai Lama by the Supreme Council, or the Lithuanian Parliament, was unspeakably difficult. On the other hand, he risked everything. And in this case, we can say once again that, yes, Lithuania feels a great commitment and a great deal of respect for Tibet. And today, when we are discussing a very sensitive question about the restriction of religious freedom, we, the representatives of a democratic Lithuania, here in the European Parliament, once again stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people, with the Tibetan Buddhist community and, in fact, call for our support, in this case, to actively contribute to the adoption of this resolution.

Mr President, colleagues, as in the previous European Parliament Jutta Haug, Alain Lamassoure and Guy Verhofstadt stated, gross national income-based contributions from Member States are complicated, full of various rebates, compensations, exemptions and full of indigestible calculations. Lack of transparency is clear, and I fully agree with this position. Member States conceive of it as transferred from their national treasuries to Brussels. The European Parliament has no say in the decision on European Union resources. This goes against democracy. Fully funding the European Union's policies with independent sources of revenue – this is only one way to put an end to the practice of Member States' so-called 'fair return' approach. We need an autonomous European Union budget composed mainly of EU own resources. The 1 % of gross national income limit is outdated. We need minimum 2 % of GDP, and it is only one way to fulfil our promises about enlargement, policies, defence, health and other issues.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Maroš, I welcome your statement today. The predictable unpredictability of Trump's policies is a challenge, and Trump's brutal tariff war and nationalist protectionism are a real threat. We must stay united and determined in promoting and defending rule‑based global trade and multilateralism, and, of course, we need to intensify trade with other markets like Mercosur, and modernise and capitalise on the benefits of existing free trade agreements, as with Canada and Mexico. But we must also urgently complete our single market, urgently provide EU‑wide targeted support for impacted European industries and our affected regions. State aid to our industries and small and medium-sized enterprises is necessary. We must buy European goods and services and promote Made in Europe products. Our strategic, industrial and autonomy demands it.

Madam President, we stand at a pivotal moment. The SANT Committee has heard a clear call to forge a competitive, knowledge‑based European Union, and where better to ignite this ambition than the urgent realm of rare diseases? We have about 35 million patients, but only 5 % of identified rare diseases have a therapy. No country can treat those patients alone. Rare diseases can be our pan‑European pilot, a launchpad for Draghi's vision of a cutting‑edge research and innovation union empowered by Letta's 'fifth freedom' for researchers and driven by the transformative paradigm shift Letta envisions. Our current trajectory is not enough. Our policies – fragmented and sometimes overlapping – hinder the crucial leap from pre‑clinical promises to clinical reality. We possess the tools: the multiannual financial framework, the upcoming EU life sciences strategy and the EU Biotech Act. Let us build a pan‑European ecosystem for rare diseases that harnesses technological breakthroughs, invests in pan‑European data‑driven infrastructure for multicentre clinical trials, scales up newborn screening for early detection, and delivers personalised and innovative treatments for our patients. Let's encourage the Commission to act in this direction.

President of the meeting, honourable Commissioner, colleagues. The initiative to make 6 March the World Day of the Righteous in Europe is of immense value. I was born in 1951 in Stalin's gulags. My parents spent time in Stalin's gulags from 1941 to 1954. They were imprisoned. But I am also educated by the wonderful Jewish savior, Dr. Viktor Kutorga, who testified with a living example what it means to be a savior in tragic circumstances. Today I am observing neo-fascists, all sorts of nationalists who are under the guise of patriotism and who, with one foot, can enter into a new totalitarianism. But let's remember Mussolini's fascists, German Nazis, Stalinists all. They are all enemies to whom the righteous of the world will remind us of what it means to be rights.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, colleagues, of course, we just listened to what was done in the area of the diseases from 2017 when we launched the European reference network, but now we can tell openly it is not enough. We need urgently, we need urgently to introduce not only a European Union action plan on rare diseases, but to keep in mind to have a strategy on real disease, including much more aspects. First of all, we need to provide more systemic and uniform approach, bridging gaps and addressing remaining unmet needs and inequalities. Of course we need to focus on national strategies and include national strategies in such strategic plan on a more comprehensive or more harmonised approach. We need to unite our forces, and we need to think that such European Union strategy would be a second building block of the European health union, because it can help us to make pace with new technologies, new values, new expectations. And of course, we need to also include social aspects of people who are staying with rare diseases – as in cancer survivorship, the same is in the area of rare diseases. We need to include those issues also in our strategy.

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, once again at the European Parliament we discuss the tricks of Lukashenka's regime to further tighten the grip of his power. I totally agree that we should impose sanctions against the individuals running the Investigative Committee. But we should also discuss how we can help each and every political prisoner who is held behind the bars by the regime, especially for those high-profile political prisoners such as Mikalai Statkevich or Maria Kolesnikova. We need to seek a prisoner exchange similar to the one organised with Putin's regime in August 2024. I am not naive – Lukashenka will not stop persecuting political opponents. But I believe that with the right political will, it would be possible to help at least a few of the longest-serving political prisoners. And in no way will it be a concession to the regime, as it was not a concession to Putin during the prisoner exchange with Putin's regime.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, I am delighted to actually see and welcome the highlights of your report. They are actually optimistic. However, I want to point out that a social Europe must also include a Europe of health. And universal health coverage, access to health treatment, and the provision of public services to the health sector are a major challenge, especially for poor people. The most vulnerable people live shorter lives and suffer the most. And they face both a medical problem, a shortage of medicines, a shortage of doctors, and a lack of infrastructure. And therefore, we really need to point out that the European Commission's efforts with the Member States must be consistent, and the further development and further development of the European Health Union is also an integral part of poverty reduction. And, of course, to conclude, I regret that the European Health Programme has been cut, which is a very bad sign.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, a resilient Europe is not built through force. It is built through trust and is based on a long-lasting holistic approach. We must embed civil, military and public health cooperation with the public health workforce as a strategic bridge between institutions, citizens and armed forces. By empowering people, by investing in citizen-led resilience hubs, we will achieve whole-of-society resilience and co-create local responses. Preparedness must start long before the military is called. The goal is civilian deterrence, building such a strong public health system that threats are absorbed, not amplified. We must train law enforcement and the military in public health, so they support, not replace it. And we must stop ignoring noncommunicable diseases and mental health, which silently erode resilience every day. They are not secondary. They are core security threats. Europe must act now by investing in prevention and in the public health system as our first line of defence. I will welcome that strategy.

Mr President, Mr Costa, Mr Šefčovič, Commissioner. I would like to thank you for the conclusions, to say that they are indeed heading in the right direction. But can we make a promise that member states will implement the banking union, implement the capital markets union and complete the unification of the single market within two years? Can we say that the Multiannual Financial Perspective will be discussed and the budget of the European Union will be increased by two percent of the current one percent of GDP and we will adopt a larger list of own resources from now on? The European Union budget must be autonomous, strong, able to finance all projects, including defence and all others. And Ukraine's support must also not be zero, as it is now, but at least all countries would equally make efforts to do so.

Madam President, we are now starting discussions on the 2026 budget and upcoming new MFF, the budget of our Union. Unfortunately, the budget for the EU4Health programme, a key component of the European Health Union, was reduced by EUR 1 billion following the last MFF revision. This is completely unacceptable. We are now facing a range of new challenges, including the urgent need to strengthen our security, defence and so on. For this, we need the strongest, most resilient, autonomous and biggest European Union budget based on consistent and stable own resources. Health, security and the European Health Union are priorities that must be adequately funded to prevent premature deaths, create a strong and resilient workforce and society, and invest in human capital. Let us work together to ensure that we have the European Union own resources to achieve those goals.

President of the meeting, Commissioner. I would like to draw attention in my vision to these two sectors: to the sector Competitive and resilient sector and to the sector Future-proof sector. The two are infinitely related to one very important aspect. These are things that need to be addressed in a holistic way in the vision, when there are terrible challenges that do not depend on agriculture, on farmers, on the situation of farmers – war, climate change catastrophes, terrible disruptions in chains. And then it is necessary to look for in the vision the complex means of harmonization between these two sectors, so that we can ensure both competence and endurance. And I want to say that when it comes to everything, it is very important to note that the unification of direct payments is simply a necessity for all farmers today.

President, Commissioner, colleagues. After the military action of Azerbaijan Artsakh Nagorno-Karabakh, which is home to ethnic Armenians, has disappeared. Only a dozen Armenians remained, all others had to retreat to Armenia. In essence, Azerbaijan has carried out ethnic cleansing, a crime that is a serious crime under international law. Azerbaijan has violated its international obligations, including the Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore, those Azerbaijani officials who did this deserve sanctions. Azerbaijan imprisoned 23 people of Armenian origin and citizens of the Republic of Armenia. They are held in inhumane conditions. Ruben Vardanian was on hunger strike. His condition is of great concern and the EU and other international organisations must make every diplomatic effort to ensure the protection of the rights of Armenian political prisoners and their immediate and unconditional release. I condemn Azerbaijan's decision to close the offices of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which demonstrates Azerbaijan's unwillingness to end this conflict as soon as possible and to accept the demands of the international community.

Madam President, Commissioner, of course, no child should be discriminated against because of the way they were born or the type of family they were born into. It is crucial. It is enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty, Article 2. Please read this article. We are all obliged to fulfil the requirements of human rights. All. It's not a question of religion. Those who are mentioning Christianity, please read the Bible. Abraham and his first son and, of course, Saint Mary's story. It would be good to listen and to understand about what you are speaking. Of course, you know that all families, including rainbow families, should have the same rights in the EU. This includes, for instance, the right to maintenance and schooling, education and others. But it is a pity we see that such a trend is growing, especially in those countries where the far right are trying to violate human rights. Of course, the parenthood regulation is still blocked in the Council. It is also a shame that the Council still, until now, has no chance to solve this problem. It is our duty to implement all human rights.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, colleagues, I heard a lot of misinformation and lies when we were speaking about sanitary and phytosanitary standards. Colleagues, European sanitary and phytosanitary standards are not negotiable! The EU has very stringent standards to protect human, animal and plant health, and any product sold in the EU must comply with the European Union standards. I have been Commissioner for food safety and health, I know very well that it is to remain unrelated and unaltered regardless of a trade agreement. EU animal, plant and health and food safety import controls are very strict, and we can control all third countries. It doesn't matter which agreement it is. I welcome this Mercosur agreement because I was involved in 2019, of course Paris Agreement and trade and sustainable development inclusion is very well done, and we need to go forward and see it.

Madam President, Commissioner, of course, the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and WHO, and the suspension of US humanitarian aid is a shameful and irresponsible decision. WHO plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world's people, including all of us, including Americans, by addressing the root causes of disease, building stronger health systems and detecting, preventing and responding to health emergencies, including disease outbreaks, often in dangerous places where others cannot do. I was in the Ebola crisis and now what does it mean? Pandemics and epidemics. I am a medical doctor. The United States was a founding member of WHO in 1948, and has participated in shaping and governing WHO's work ever since. For over seven decades, WHO and the US have saved countless lives, protecting Americans and all people from health threats. Today, Trump's decision is shameful, and 'MAGA' we will call 'MASA': 'make America small again'.

Madam President, Commissioner, you know very well, through excellent work, better regulation – not deregulation, not less regulation, but better regulation. We know how it is difficult to achieve, especially keeping in mind that jungles are rooted at Member State level. My first proposal is, yes, it would be good to see, to encourage, Member States, the Council to look into better regulation. Second, we need to have a single market. Now we do not have single market in every area – a lot of tariffs, a lot of barriers between and within Member States. We need to press very much. Third, we speak about investment competitiveness and the Draghi report, but where is our banking union, our capital markets union, which allow us to be much more effective in using investment in our industry? Finally reskilling means thinking about the social pillar for Europeans and this is very important.

Madam President, Commissioner, Council, it is clear that ever since the ICC issued an arrest warrant against PM Netanyahu and a former Israel defence minister, Trump issued an executive order to impose sanctions against ICC staff and their family members. Autocrat Putin in Moscow is very happy with this Trump decision and maybe Salvini and Meloni also. The threat of imminent sanctions is already affecting the work of the ICC. The EU is in a position to at least partially shield the ICC through immediate activation of the EU blocking statute. And of course those attacks against the independence of the ICC and ICJ as a key international justice institution are unacceptable and we need to use all our diplomatic tools, also globally, to act in defending independence. The Rome Statute must remain in real protection of justice, peace and security.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable colleagues. The title of our debate is about the strategic and overarching policy of the European Union in the Middle East. However, I am much more offended by the absence of short-term actions. Trump's statement about the establishment of a riviera in Gaza is an object of cartoonists. But the silence on the part of the Commission and the silence on the part of the Council of the European Union, without saying that this statement is at odds with all the international conventions, is an even more horrible cartoon. As a former Commissioner, I find it difficult to accept this silence. And this is the answer that, right now, we need an extremely strong voice from the European Union against all violations of international law conventions, the Genocide Convention and all violations. I would like to give you the courage to do so.

Mr President, Commissioner, Member of the Council. Indeed, I agree with the European Commission's assessment of the situation. Unfortunately, the health sector is currently facing a huge labour shortage crisis – a huge one – in all European Member States. And not only are there unevenly distributed institutions in the health sector, but we even see medical wastelands in individual countries. Medical Desserts so-called, where people say that doctors there are both nurses and nurses, firstly, too few, secondly, they are too far away from people's place of residence and, thirdly, they are too old. This triad is truly terrible, and the inability of Member States to coordinate, plan for health resources, plan to attract young people to these professions, address recruitment, resolve conditionality is a huge challenge, and we must continue to strengthen the European Health Union together, bringing this crisis to the forefront.

Madam President, the European Union's response to Trump's actions is to take immediate retaliatory actions, both within the WTO and by using our trade defence instruments, imposing tariffs and pursuing remedies through the Enforcement Regulation, the Anti‑Coercion Instrument and the Safeguarding Regulation. We cannot afford to let Trump divide us. Only the unity of our actions will determine the success of our response. We will pursue our own agenda, developing global standards on issues like climate change and clean industry, defending rules‑based multilateral cooperation and developing our trade agreements with Mercosur and other partners, as you mentioned. Now is a very difficult time for our patriots, our sovereign groups, because they see how difficult it is to speak about about the conservative agenda and far‑right ideas.

Mr President, Syria. Sudan. Ukraine. Gaza. Coming at the end of a long list of failures by the international community to prevent the abuse of human rights and mass atrocities, makes one thing clear: the direction of the human rights initiative today is no longer a question of advances and setbacks; it is a question of whether human rights will manage to remain relevant to international politics, and whether they can retain their places as rubrics of international law and institutionalised diplomacy between states. The European continent and the Middle East are at war. The authoritarian regimes, the far right and populists are inciting hatred, and social divisions create difficulties in solving humanitarian crises. The President of the United States suspending funding for humanitarian programmes deepens humanitarian crises, especially in the area of persons missing in wars and conflicts. The European Union must strengthen the global system. We must ensure that, even in time of military conflict, warring parties respect their human rights and commitments.

Mrs Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, Commissioner. Naturally, the great achievement of containing inflation, the tremendous achievement of guaranteeing the stability of the euro. It is essential to continue to draw our attention to the extremely complex international environment. The current administration in the United States is threatening tariffs. The Commission, in Jean-Claude Juncker’s time, already had experience of how to counter the Trump tariff war. Now we also need to think about it. There is a need to think about maximising efforts to create a banking union in the European Union. Otherwise, we will not manage the fraudulent activities of the banks very much. The introduction of a digital euro must be encouraged, and it must be done extremely quickly, because in this case we have to face up to the real situations of tariff wars, price wars that are threatening us. Meanwhile, joint efforts between the European Central Bank and national banks need to be strengthened.