Speeches

Mr President, besides Lampedusa, some of the latest news about migration in Europe. The Swedish Government is now talking about the deployment of the army against criminal gangs of migrants because the police are no longer enough to handle the situation and maintain order and protect citizens. Illegal migrants have used firearms against Hungarian and Croatian border guards recently. The Schengen zone is in critical danger because of illegal migration. More and more internal border controls are reinstated because of it. Meanwhile, the German Government has happily admitted that it funds organisations that tacitly cooperate with criminal gangs of human smugglers and then transport these people into Italy. Now, just to make it clear, migration is destroying the European way of life. It creates insecurity for our citizens and it must be stopped. Now, some of you may be multiculturalism maniacs, despite all the clear evidence against it, but that’s your problem. But we’re never going to let that happen to our countries. We Central Europeans did not join the European Union to now endanger our freedom of movement, to now endanger our culture and the security of our citizens. We cannot defend our way of life. We’re going to protect our countries, our people and our culture.

I think that the real danger to the European Union and to the Schengen zone – which is, I agree with the Commissioner, the greatest achievement of this cooperation – is illegal migration. If we do not protect our external borders, then it’s obvious that we cannot have anymore a Schengen zone where movement is free. This is the real danger. Illegal migration must be stopped. Borders must be controlled. And I think it’s a scandal that the German Government is paying for ships that are basically cooperating with human smuggling networks – criminals. They are not saving anybody, they are transporting people into Europe illegally and they want everybody else to pay the price of that. We don’t want to be confronted with a situation that is now in, for instance, Stockholm and other parts of western Europe, where they cannot deal with the situation caused by illegal migration. That’s my opinion.

Mr President, dear colleagues, it is obvious that the current conservative Polish Government is a thorn in the eye of the pro-migration leftist political forces in Brussels, and they are so desperate to remove this government that they are organising a debate here to attack them with pathetic lies just 12 days before election day in Poland. Clearly, it is an attempt to interfere in the Polish elections from outside. They magnify a petty visa case that had been dealt with by the authorities well before this manipulation started. Now, this is wrong and it’s not going to work. This is where the EPP, Donald Tusk and the PO are getting it so wrong. You really think that you’re going to win elections with the help of this leftist neo-Marxist arena here? You’re not going to do that. Similar attempts have been made against Hungary several times and they didn’t work. In fact, they backfired. The Polish nation is one of the oldest in Central Europe, with a statehood dating back to over 1000 years. They have fought for centuries for independence, for the right to decide about their own future. So I’m sure that the Polish people will reject this latest cynical attempt at interfering in their national sovereign decision. Long live Polish independence! (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)

Madam President, I'm sorry. Europe’s large carnivore population has increased significantly in recent years, which, as previously endangered species, is both good news and today serious problems have emerged across the continent due to overgrowth and a complete hunting ban. Wolves and bears no longer only decimate farm animals, but also appear more and more in inhabited settlements and attack humans due to reduced living space and increased numbers. The increasingly frequent and dangerous bear attacks, for example, have been experienced by us Hungarians in Transylvania and the Szeklerland for a long time. They cause considerable material damage to farmers and often result in serious, permanent injury or even death to the attacked person. Only professionally based game management can provide the answer to this situation. There is a need for a non-excessive approach, a balance that takes into account both the protection of human life and the protection of large carnivores, as well as the aspects of agriculture and livestock production. Accordingly, it should again be possible to hunt overgrown large carnivores in Europe. In close cooperation with hunting, game management and professional organizations.

Madam President, we see the current State of the Union quite differently. Brexit, illegal migration, COVID, the war in Ukraine and the ensuing economic crisis would all have required capable leadership and the right decisions. Instead, we see ad hoc reactions, grandiose self-congratulatory statements, and consequently the loss of credibility. The pointless centralisation efforts in all policy areas in Brussels or the shameful ideological jihad against conservative governments all create division and weaken Europe. Also a huge corruption scandal in this Parliament and the scandalous vaccine procurement by the Commission must be tackled head on – we’ve been waiting for your text messages, Madam President, for over 863 days now, still counting. Not to mention the intolerably slow disbursement of RRF money to Member States, or the failed sanctions policy – sorry to say – that hasn’t really helped Ukraine in any meaningful way. It hasn’t brought the end of the war any closer, but it’s hurting the European economy and European people. Europe must find its way back to unity and credibility by accepting itself first as an alliance of free Member States and then defining its own strategic interests in the world.

Mr. President, please. It is very rarely discussed here in this House how the European institutions, Parliament and the Commission are complying with their own rules. How is the rule of law in these institutions? This report, this report, is a refreshing exception in this regard. Despite the fact that we have witnessed the biggest corruption scandal of all time in recent months, we rarely talk about it. One of the vice-presidents and several members of this parliament were taken away in handcuffs, and soon afterwards it turned out that senior officials of the European Commission had also abused their position and power to a great extent, accepting gifts and other financial benefits for themselves in an unacceptable and indefensible way. But the biggest scandal, of course, is the purchase of vaccines that Ursula von der Leyen allegedly texted. And how interesting, later, these texts - just these texts - disappeared from your phone. They're all different, only these texts aren't there. This is scandalous! There is no legal basis and no credibility for the European institutions to teach others about the rule of law and the fight against corruption until they have put their own house in order. Count the money and follow the rules.

Madam President, dear colleagues, let me first underline that family law belongs to the national competence of Member States. Therefore, Italy and its government has the exclusive right to decide on marriage, on adoption and all other family law issues. It is more than right also that when such laws are enacted, certain higher moral considerations prevail. Our European culture is based upon Christianity and Christian values, which entail certain moral obligations and restrictions on human action. We must not attempt to create a world where the laws of nature and life are completely disregarded. We must not allow humans to become objects, and we must not let children become products or goods to buy for a certain price. It is cynical that those on the left of this House who regularly pose as warriors of human rights now simply call for the legalisation of practices that trample on human dignity. We should all accept that life and birth are sacred and humans are not the masters of life and death.

Mr President, thank you very much. Dear Colleagues, Poles are a proud nation, confident, successful and able to follow their own path without constant lessons from the West. I oppose the constant attacks on Poland and demand more respect for Polish voters. Mr President, I continue in English now and a word to my colleagues in the EPP, the PO who are behind this latest attack, you are mistaken to think that if you fail to win elections at home then the thing to do is to come here to Strasbourg or Brussels, get together with all kind of radical left wingers and attack your own country and your own countrymen here. It’s not going to produce a majority for you because the Polish people don’t like this attitude. Just like the Hungarians also reject this attitude. You should win elections based on your own merit. Stop attacking your countrymen here in Strasbourg in a European Parliament. It’s the wrong thing to do. Long live Poland.

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!