Speeches

Mr. President, please. Let's face it, this house has become the prisoner of some extremist, out-of-control MPs who are attacking Hungary day and night. The so-called champions of Europeanism and the rule of law now want to take away from Hungary the Presidency of the Council. In doing so, however, it is precisely you who are grossly violating EU law and the Treaty. If there is a problem with the rule of law and corruption, it is here in Brussels and not in Budapest. Hungarian left-wing MEPs are once again enthusiastically participating. It is a shame, my fellow Members, that while they are losing elections at home, they are digging here so that the Hungarian people do not have access to the resources that are rightfully due to them. You do not like the fact that Hungary is on its own path and dares to say no to Brussels if a proposal is incorrect or harmful. We don't like the fact that we say no to migration, that we insist on our own culture, that we protect children and the traditional family model, and you don't like the fact that we are talking about peace. But understand at last: Hungary is a free and independent nation that decides its own way. The European Parliament is not the country's superior body.

Well, I think what's really important is that the procedures against corruption and crime should be useful, should be used and should be efficient. And if a national institution is efficient and it fights corruption, that is good enough and a European central institution will not solve the problem. We have seen this with the Brussels corruption – exactly that example. What we need are efficient steps against corruption, be that at national level or at European level.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Obviously, all anti-corruption actions and measures are welcome, and this is also a very ambitious package of proposals. It is a draft directive with definitions of criminal offences, criminal proceedings and even sanctions against external actors. But interestingly, one thing is missing from this package, one thing we can't find, we can't find the elephant in the room, as they say. This is none other than the most serious internal corruption scandal in Brussels of all time, which started here in this Parliament, when one of the Vice-Presidents was taken by the police and then took others. But we now know that the European Commission is also involved in this matter. One of his directors-general accepted luxury trips, gifts and further investigations were launched. So I suggest that you first sweep around your own house, put this issue in order, put an end to corruption in Brussels, and only then make further proposals! (The speaker is willing to answer a blue card question)

Madam President, I'm sorry. It is important to state that the whole of Central Europe, beyond strength, provides enormous help to the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people. Hungary has already taken in and helped more than one and a half million Ukrainian refugees, and we are continuously sending humanitarian aid not only to the Hungarian-populated areas, but also to the more remote areas more affected by the war. However, it is by no means acceptable for the Commission to impose on Member States, as aid, ill-prepared, ill-considered measures which are constantly being abused by profit-seeking speculators and which cause serious harm to farmers in Central Europe. I call on the Commission to pay much more attention to its number one task, which is to protect the interests of the people of Europe, including European farmers. We cannot advance the interests of other countries, even if they are affected by war. We are still ready to help, but we will not let irresponsible decisions ruin our own farmers.

Madam President, dear colleagues, instead of the ill-conceived and long-indulgent EU position on migration, Europe needs a policy based on strong border control, the elimination of asylum abuses and support for third countries together. The proposal to examine asylum applications outside of Europe has been a long-standing Hungarian position. All that’s needed now is political will to implement it. Initiatives in this regard in Denmark, the UK, Italy and – most recently and most interestingly – Germany are steps, I think, in the right direction. If Europe wants to have real refugees, it has to differentiate between them and economic migrants. The systematic abuse of the asylum system must end and Europe should not tolerate illegal entry into its own territory. While Europe should give support to third countries, that support cannot be unconditional. Third countries must cooperate. They have to prevent illegal migration out of those countries and they have to readmit those returned from Europe.

Madam President, dear colleagues, the proposals of the migration pact, as they are, as they were accepted in the LIBE committee, will evidently not solve the migration crisis or the problem in Europe. On the contrary, they will create a worse situation than what we have right now. They will create an additional pull factor for migrants, and that’s why we need a fundamentally new approach. Colleagues on the left keep talking about saving lives and making sure that people don’t die while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Well, the only way to do that is to make sure that they don’t start to come in the first place, that those boats never leave the coasts of Africa. What we need to do that is the re-establishment, or establishment, of border control; we have to make sure that those who have no right to stay are immediately returned to where they came from. We have to return to legality and we have to observe our own rules and laws. That’s the only way forward. That’s why we say that this pact is completely unsuitable to solve this issue. And I’m asking you, colleagues, to vote against this proposal. If you want a real solution to the migration crisis, you need a new approach. You have to forget using methods that have proven to be unsuitable and bad for this thing. We need legality. We need to respect the borders, defend the borders and accomplish a European policy that supports border control. That’s the way to show solidarity towards our fellow Europeans. We have to make sure the Commission funds, for example, border control efforts, including fences. And we have to make sure that borders are protected. That’s the way forward.

Mr President, dear colleagues, if a certain method to solve a problem doesn’t work, then after some time it’s evident that one stops using that method and tries something else. It’s just human logic. The same is true for tackling migration. This debate illustrates that the way the EU has tried to tackle the migration crisis over the past few years has been a spectacular failure. The fundamental reason for the catastrophic situation in the Mediterranean is that Europe basically still tolerates illegal entries into its own territory. And as long as it stays like that, migrants will keep coming illegally. They will pay the smugglers, they risk their lives and this situation will continue. Now we all know that the vast majority of the people coming are not really refugees: they are economic migrants who simply take advantage of the weakness of Europe and of the fact that we don’t even enforce the existing laws and rules that we do have. There’s absolutely no point in talking about solving the migration crisis or creating legal pathways as long as this stays like that. These gaps have to be closed. Right now, the EU should do everything in its power to help Italy to defend the European border, and all who have no right to stay must be sent back to where they came from immediately.

Madam President, the fight against organised crime is a typical area where EU cooperation is a necessary and a good thing. I particularly welcome joint actions and the work of EU agencies in the field of police cooperation. We in Hungary are proud to host CEPOL, the training agency for police officers, which has been doing an excellent job. When it comes to organised crime, illegal migration is undeniably a big part of the problem. First, it includes international human smuggling networks that organise illegal migration into the EU. Secondly, we also see how dangerous criminals and terrorists take advantage of the lack of border controls very often to enter Europe. And, of course, there is another consequence of uncontrolled and illegal migration: the deteriorating public security situation in many European cities, no—go zones and the like, with attacks on women and Jews being the most common examples. We must ensure respect for law and order, effective police cooperation against serious crimes – be it human smuggling, drugs trafficking, fraud or anything else – shall remain a top priority on the agenda.

Dear Madam President, The corruption scandal in Brussels continues. Every week, after the Socialist Vice-President of the European Parliament, new politicians from Brussels are put behind bars for representing foreign interests in exchange for bribes. Now the European Commission has turned out to be up to its neck in the corruption scandal. The Director-General for Transport has accepted at least nine expensive luxury flights and who knows what else from Qatar. According to the data released so far, this amounted to more than 54 thousand euros, 20 million forints. All this at a time when they were negotiating a transport agreement that would benefit Qatar. What is this, please, if not an example of bribery? It is hypocritical and hypocritical that while this Parliament and the European Commission are attacking Hungary with all sorts of trumped-up rule of law accusations, Brussels bureaucrats are swimming in systemic corruption. This completely discredits the investigations of the Brussels institutions against Hungary. I call on you to sweep around your own house and leave Hungary alone!

Mr President, dear colleagues, the shipwrecks on the Mediterranean are heart-breaking human tragedies. Blaming the legitimate border protection efforts of Member States, however, is a very dishonest and a completely wrong approach. The underlying reason for these tragic events, in reality, is the European indulgence and lack of sanction concerning illegal entries into the Union. It is the pro-migration statements, the quotas and the impunity for NGOs that cooperate with criminals – smugglers – that cause these deaths. Italy faces the continuous arrival of more and more ships, with an estimated 650 000 people set to leave Africa just this year, as forecast by intelligence services. It is European migration policy that must be placed on a completely new footing in order to avoid more human tragedies at sea. To stop the vicious circle, the first thing to do is to start protecting Europe’s borders so that there would be no point for smugglers and migrants to even begin their dangerous journey. Also, all illegally arrived migrants in Europe who have no right to stay must be transported back home. Unless we do these things, there will be no end to the tragedies that we have witnessed.

Madam President, dear colleagues, the latest European Council conclusions reflect an important development in the field of migration. Finally, the need for strong border protection has been acknowledged. To quote a classic: ‘Welcome to the real world.’ When all this began in 2015, there was only one European leader who was on the right track. While everybody was talking about quotas and redistribution, he was talking about stronger border control and built a fence. His name is Viktor Orbán. Time has proven him right, while most others were either wrong or not brave enough perhaps to say what they really thought. In that context, it’s refreshing now to see the EPP and Manfred Weber finally follow the path of the Hungarian Prime Minister. You’re eight years late, but better late than never. Hungary has been protecting the EU external border for eight years. We have spent over EUR 1.7 billion on that effort, and still the European Commission has not contributed a penny to the costs of the border wall. We are protecting the entire European Union. We demand a significant contribution by the Commission to those costs. It’s time to pay the bills.

Madam President, dear colleagues, the need to take action against any kind of violence against women is beyond dispute. There’s no debate about that. Today's debate, and the debate about the Istanbul Convention, however, is really not about this. It’s about instrumentalising the fight against violence to push a radically left-wing political agenda. It’s about imposing the concept of gender on Member States and forcing, for instance, the absurd idea that it is a human choice to be a man or a woman instead of a biological fact. The reality is that the Istanbul Convention, as an international agreement, has spectacularly failed. It has failed because more than half a dozen Member States rejected certification exactly because of its radical ideological content. And still the European Parliament and others fail to accept the sovereign decision of these Member States. And, unbelievably, they now want to force the convention on them by pushing the EU’s accession above their heads. That is unacceptable. The European Union cannot make decisions against the explicit will of several of its own Member States.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, this debate, first of all, is not about real civil society organizations. There are thousands of them working in Europe for people. It’s not about them. It is about the political manipulators that have taken the EU hostage. It’s about the shady NGOs that produce politically—biased reports, which are then copy-pasted into European Union positions and documents. The current corruption scandal highlights the severity of this issue. Some of these NGOs – to whom the EU has left the doors wide open and has given them thousands and millions and millions of European taxpayers’ money – it turns out that they are really front organisations involved in criminal deals and activities. That’s the real scandal here! The Commission should have demanded maximum transparency from these NGOs – as the EU Court of Auditors demanded years ago, in a document. Instead of that, NGOs are continuously given privileges and exemptions. That must stop immediately! We cannot allow NGOs to continue manipulating European positions – especially on topics such as human rights and the rule of law. It is time for transparency and accountability!

Madam President, dear colleagues, with this debate the European Parliament once again is making a fool of itself. Month after month, the left is trying to prove that the biggest threat to Europe is the extreme right. Well, do you seriously believe that the laughable attempt of a bunch of German cooks and veterans poses the biggest security threat to Europe today? You can’t be serious about that. In early December, a migrant stabbed two schoolgirls in a small town in Germany. One of the girls died, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Crimes committed by migrants are on the rise across Europe, from France to Germany, from Belgium to Sweden. Let’s talk about the attacks on firefighters, the ambulance and police by migrants during the New Year’s Eve celebrations in big cities in Germany. What about Cologne in 2015 where thousands of women were harassed sexually and robbed by migrants? Let’s recall the violent street riots in Paris and Brussels during the World Cup. Let us say it out loud: illegal migration and its consequences, that’s the real security problem and threat to Europeans today.

Madam President, I'm sorry. The Spanish Minister of Justice said here in the European Parliament last week that it is perfectly okay for a politician to be appointed to the Constitutional Court because it is a body of a political nature. He said this after appointing his former minister, a Spanish socialist politician, to the Constitutional Court. Now imagine what would have happened if this had happened in Poland or Hungary. Politicians who are constantly hypocritically concerned about democracy and the rule of law would have immediately initiated proceedings, sanctions and so on. Interestingly, Spain is not subject to a rule of law procedure and the European Commission does not want to withhold EU funds from Spain. Simply because there is a left-wing government in power that accepts all the madness of Brussels without criticism. What is this, please, if not a classic case of double standards? It is time to recognise that the use of the rule of law for political purposes is wrong and is destroying European cooperation. The same rules apply to everyone, even the Spanish Socialist government.

Mr President. Minister, Commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, of the 234 migrants who arrived in France on board the NGO Ocean Viking ship, only six are still under the control of the French authorities, or perhaps four today. The others were released and – what a surprise! – immediately disappeared in France. This is the terrifying result of a policy of open borders: hundreds of undocumented people, wandering freely in Europe, representing no known threat to the security of European citizens. The message sent by this case is disastrous for Europe. The more ships we allow to dock, the more ships will follow. Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini proved years ago that borders can be defended – also on land and sea – if there is political will to do so. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is right: the only common solution is the defence of the borders of the European Union, the blocking of departures of migrant boats and the opening of hotspots outside Europe. Let's be clear: Europe’s doors are not open for everyone and for everyone. Order and security must be restored.

Dear Madam President, Those who initiated today's debate seem to be playing the role of guardians of the rule of law here, but in fact they have now become the main enemies of freedom. They represent everything that has gone wrong in the EU: intolerant, aggressive, lecturers and condescending. They ignore the decisions and will of the people, and they cannot forgive the fact that Hungarians, and more and more others in Europe, do not ask for their own policies, do not ask for their dangerous proposals. They demanded that Hungary negotiate. Now that we've negotiated and agreed, they've become even more frustrated because you've never really worried about the rule of law. Every accusation that Hungary has been under attack for years has been a crappy lie. A cynical tool in the hands of obsessive political clowns like Daniel Freund, Katarina Barley and Petri Sarvamaa. You want the Hungarian people to not get a penny of EU funding. We reject this shameful blackmail, they are trampling on the foundations of European cooperation!

Mr President, dear colleagues, what is this debate really about? It’s not about the whitewashing of anybody; it’s really about the intellectual terror waged by the European left against everybody who dares to disagree with them. They would label as an extremist anybody who is against Islamist migration, who defends the traditional family or defends children from LGBTI propaganda. It shows how hysterical and intolerant the Socialists, the Liberals and the Greens have become. They now openly disrespect the democratic decision of the people. The Swedes or Italians elect a Conservative government, and here they are unleashing a vicious attack against them, just like hunting dogs. Let me be clear: being pro-European does not mean being left wing, and it is certainly not the prerogative of the left to define what constitutes pro-European or who is a good Conservative or Christian Democrat. This debate, by the way, is also an illustration of the failed political strategy of the EPP. Mr Weber, who is curiously absent from the Chamber now, has manoeuvred his party into a spectacular dead end. This is what happens when you give up your principles in the hope from the left of, I don’t know, positions or soft treatment by the press. They will never be satisfied with you. You should not follow this route.

Thank you, President, dear colleagues, free movement between Member States without internal border controls is one of the most tangible achievements of EU cooperation. If one has to summarise why it’s a good thing to have the European Union despite all its failings and imperfections, then the provision of this fundamental human freedom to our peoples is certainly one of them. So it is ever more important then to ensure that this freedom is granted to all who fulfil the necessary criteria. Now, Romania and Bulgaria fulfilled the necessary conditions more than 10 years ago. Four Member States, however – the Netherlands, Germany, France and Finland – have blocked their accession, citing mainly rule-of-law concerns. Now, those concerns, if they were real, should have been addressed directly and immediately. The more than 10-year-long delay, however, does give one the impression that perhaps other reasons played a part. Reasons related to commercial interests, internal political matters, or perhaps just double standards so often applied by the West against eastern Europeans. We haven’t really heard any convincing argument yet of why to keep Romania and Bulgaria out and excluded. It is high time to pay this old debt and allow these countries to join the Schengen area immediately.

Dear Madam President, There are crucial moments in the life of every political formation. They often come when there is trouble. The current crisis shows that Europe is not on top of the situation. As a result of the war and misguided European sanctions, energy prices have skyrocketed, inflation, unemployment and a severe economic recession are looming. Millions of European families and businesses are affected, and even in this difficult situation, the extremists sitting here continue their ideological extortion and incite dissension. Together with Hungarian left-wing MPs, they are making the most absurd accusations just to ensure that the Hungarian people do not receive the funds they deserve. The fact is that in fair negotiations between Hungary and the European Commission, an agreement was reached on the use of EU funds. There are no professional or legal issues left that could not have been resolved, but it does not matter to you here what measures we are taking, because you are carrying out a political mission that, in your own words, aims to starve Hungary and any other government pursuing a conservative national policy. See the shameful attacks on Poland or the outrageous message to the unformed Italian government. Nothing will be enough for you as long as there is a Christian democratic government in Hungary, so you are constantly pouring oil on the fire, attacking, lying and threatening. I firmly reject this on behalf of millions of European citizens. And your shameful political activity will be judged by future generations and history books.

Madam President, I'm sorry. It is disgraceful that part of the Parliament, together with the Hungarian left-wing MEPs, continues the political slander campaign against Hungary even in this war crisis. Don't you think we have more important things to do? Don't you think that we should be dealing with the crisis, the economic uncertainty that has arisen as a result of the war and the misguided sanctions in Brussels? Tens of millions of people in Europe are faced with unpaid bills at the end of the month, with economic problems, companies being destroyed, insecurity and unemployment threatening, and instead you are attacking Hungary with lies for the hundredth time. Based on the past few years, we can say: You can negotiate with Hungary, and you can agree that if the agreement is the goal, but that is not the goal of you, you want to blackmail, not agree. They want to blackmail me because they cannot accept that the Hungarians said no to the Hungarian left for the fourth time this spring and said no to the Brussels lecture. Therefore, they are fabricating false reports, sending false fact-finding committees to Hungary and threatening to impose sanctions, but finally understand: For us, the national interest will always come first, even if you don't like it. Hands off Hungary!

Dear Prime Minister, Dear Madam President, The Czech Presidency takes over the leadership of the EU at a time when we have been facing unprecedented economic and security challenges for decades. In this situation, we cannot afford divisions, unnecessary internal disputes. We expect the Czech Presidency to show sobriety and focus on real problems. Member States now need all the tools and resources. Therefore, we ask you to help all Member States, including Hungary and Poland, to receive the EU funds they are entitled to as soon as possible. Not only because the Eastern Member States are facing the biggest refugee crisis in the Union's history and are hosting the refugees, but also because we are facing an economic recession and an energy crisis. The focus of the Czech Presidency on security of supply is encouraging, as energy supply is not an ideological issue, but a physical one. Is there an energy source or not? And the people of Europe want to wash, wash, heat and travel, and the leaders of the Union must represent the interests of the people of Europe. Thank you very much, I wish you every success!

Mr President, dear colleagues, the European integration of the Balkans is a story of missed opportunities. We all know that the current war in Ukraine is not the first war in our lifetime. Chilling images of the Yugoslav war in the 1990s burnt into our memories. Back then it was the United States, in the end, that brokered peace. Because Europe failed to do so. And still the EU does not seem to have learnt from that lesson. Instead of speeding up the process, Brussels keeps on lecturing those countries – this report being a good example. The EU should stabilise and pacify the region, and a real prospect of EU membership can do that. However, the proposition of sanctions, for instance, against elected leaders, leads nowhere. It’s not the right thing to do. Political threats create distrust and are counter—productive. Moreover, Bosnia Herzegovina lies exactly on the Balkan migration route. Therefore, its integration into the EU with enforced border protection would contribute to stability for the local people as well as for Europe as a whole. We cannot waste any more opportunities. The EU must give membership—candidate status to Bosnia—Herzegovina now.

Madam President, Commissioner Johansson, dear colleagues, what happened in Melilla last weekend is a real tragedy that evokes the sympathy of us all. Those lives should not have been lost. Border guards, however, cannot be blamed for protecting borders against illegal entries. Blaming those who are only doing their job is the wrong approach. Instead, we have to name those who bear the real political responsibility for such tragedies. Let me make this very clear: the political responsibility lies with pro—migration politicians, pro—migration NGOs and other advocates of an open society who have been encouraging illegal migration towards Europe for many years. Those forces constantly attack the legitimate border—protection efforts of Member States and create the false impression that people can illegally come to Europe and then just stay. The only result of their fanatical actions is that lives are constantly put at risk in the Mediterranean, in the Balkans and elsewhere. If we want to avoid similar tragedies, pro-migration political actions must come to an end.

Mr President, Minister, President, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome the long-awaited decision to approve Poland’s recovery plan. This confirms that all previous accusations were nothing more than political hysteria created against Poland’s right-wing conservative government. Once again, it is unacceptable that the leftists in this Parliament question the accuracy of this decision and continue their ideological attacks. It is high time for the European left to realise that petty ideological debates have no place at the moment, when we are facing a terrible war in our immediate neighbourhood. The war in Ukraine has shaken us deeply and created an entirely new political and security situation. Moreover, Europe is facing an unprecedented economic, food, energy and refugee crisis. We must therefore deal with these issues in great unity and with unwavering strength. It is quite irresponsible – a real suicide, I must say – to pit Member States against each other in the current situation. What we need is mutual trust and respect, not reckless explosions against leaders and governments defending their sovereignty, beliefs and national interests. Finally, a few words in Polish to show my respect for Poland. Polska jest silnym i zdrowym demokratycznie państwem. Powinna bezzwłocznie otrzymać wszystkie fundusze unijne, które jej przysługują.