Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, of course every human death is a tragedy and it must be investigated, without any doubt. What I cannot accept, however, in this conversation, in this debate, is that a specific case is being sought here to meet political needs and to serve someone to build his political thesis. I cannot accept that one specific case is being discussed and no other specific case is being discussed. You're talking about police brutality and you're formally discussing it in this room. Who among you is going to have a debate that will condemn the police violence perpetrated by the authorities? For example, this Saturday and Sunday in the Netherlands and in Belgium, where people were shot, there was also police violence. No, you won't, because there the victims don't match the profile you're looking for to make yourself interesting and get political support, which is a disgrace and should be a disgrace. And I ask you not to interrupt me – it is a matter of basic respect, honourable Members. So, colleagues, when you talk about violence, it can't be what you like or what you don't like. Yes, we have seen two specific cases from this week in Bulgaria. Two cases: An elderly, 90-year-old woman is beaten and robbed, a 17-year-old woman is attacked and set on fire by her cousin. When are you going to have a debate here to discuss this form of violence? Isn't the one and the other also violence and violence should not be accepted? Or will we choose the violence that suits your political vision so that you can campaign politically? You will never do this thing because you will not be allowed by those who line up your cards. And that should make you sad and embarrass you.

Member of the Commission. - Madam President, this week, unfortunately, a few more things have happened that may shake the faith of European citizens in this Union, and which are regrettable because of the hypocrisy they bring. For example, in the past week, troops backed by Turkish dictator Erdoğan attacked Armenian soldiers just outside the capital Yerevan. Some of them were wounded, others captured, others killed. This attack was not reported anywhere. There are no declarations, no calls for support, no sympathy, no people to tear off their shirts and protect human rights, such as what happens every time someone hits a target somewhere. Such a thing did not happen, and this is hypocrisy and a double standard. The other thing that is extremely worrying is the continuing insistence of this hall that Bulgarian society be humiliated and accept an attempt to violate and destroy the human rights of people in the Republic of North Macedonia who define themselves as Bulgarians. Here, simply, the neglect of their rights continues, and this is a shame for all those who define themselves as defenders of these rights, especially those colleagues on the left side of the room.

Mr President, Members, I have strongly voted against this resolution because it is a symbol of the extreme left-wing progressive ideology that is being imposed in this House. Not only that, but apparently the hobby of this hall is to blame everything on the government of Poland, which is conservative, which is traditional, which protects the family and traditional values. This resolution, like many previous ones, actually serves this ideology, which claims that almost family and children are some kind of burden that we have to shake off, and that it can be a matter of public discussion and public insistence on whether a family should have children or not. Each Member State has the right to define its health policy and must promote both maternal and child health, and not be propaganda that imposes any nasty, extremely dangerous and harmful ideas. Among other things, this resolution is contrary to the European Treaties.

Mr President, colleagues, the COVID-19 pandemic has rediscovered the European Union's vulnerability to public health, it has shown the European Union's lack of preparedness and lack of experience in dealing with crises, in protecting the citizens of the Member States, and the Member States have had to deal with each according to their abilities, which has cost us thousands of lives. Today, this threat has not passed, but alongside it, the European Union is facing an economic and combined migrant crisis. I supported this report because I believe that in order to counter crises on such a scale, it is necessary to harness instruments at European level. We need to strengthen coordination so that we can help the most vulnerable Member States, which have stood for a long time and still remain on the periphery of the European Union. It is important for Europe to show that it puts the health of its citizens ahead of the political and economic interests of certain countries. In this way, we will be able to restore the lost trust of the citizens.

Mr President, I voted against the report by my colleague Yoncheva because the text contains controversial issues. For example, the implementation part of the monitoring mechanism, Article 14(4) to (6), and the intervention part related to it, Article 22, provide that in situations of disproportionate pressure or ineffectiveness of the asylum and reception systems, and if the Member State fails to implement the recommendations of the monitoring mechanism, the Council may require the Member State to accept the deployment of European Union Agency for Asylum teams. I consider this to be a disproportionate interference in the internal affairs of the Member States and contrary to the Treaties of the European Union. I support reinforced border control actions and support for countries that are external borders of the Union, and this must be tailored to the needs of national agencies and ministries. Furthermore, I am against the obligation for national authorities and the European Union Agency for Asylum to cooperate with non-governmental organisations in managing the illegal immigration crisis. We all know that some of these non-governmental organisations are actually engaged in trafficking and illegal activities in order to bring illegal immigrants into the territory of the Union. This should not be supported or legalised.

on behalf of the ECR Group. - Mr President, colleagues, in order to have a balance, and to spoil the impression of the two praises in the past two debates, I cannot help but criticise the behaviour in this House today in the talks, in the debate on the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. What is happening here is not a migrant crisis. What is happening here is not a humanitarian crisis. What is happening here is a security crisis. Two regimes organise and direct people to an external border of the European Union in order to disrupt it and threaten the security of the European Union. Unfortunately, the people in this room did not understand it, but threw themselves into domestic political battles. They threw themselves out to clear their accounts and seek some small domestic political gain, criticizing the Polish government. Rather than doing so, they should have supported it – and I continue to say that we must support the Polish Government, which protects the borders of its country and of the European Union as defended by the Bulgarian Government, the Greek Government, the Italian Government and the Spanish Government, no matter who is ruling at the moment. There is no reason not to support these governments because they protect the borders of the European Union.

Mr President, Members, it is rare for me to say two good words in a row about the undertakings of the Commission, of my fellow Members, but that is the case here. Miracles are happening tonight. I congratulate the rapporteur. The report is timely, especially in view of the need to protect small and medium-sized enterprises at a time when every job counts. I am even more pleased that this report lacked the usual ideologies and progressive utopias. So congratulations to my colleague and I wish you success.

Mr President, Commissioner, I usually criticise statements and undertakings by the Commission that seem to me to be outside the treaties on the European Union, but that is not the case here. This is one of the areas where the European Union can achieve something and it can be useful for the citizens of the Member States. Of course, this was not without propaganda and progressive ideology, and it was not without demands for the imposition of equality quotas. And let one thing be clear: when it comes to science, especially an exact science like the one we are talking about, one can, or knows, or understands, or cannot, does not know, and does not understand. Imposing quotas here would be wrong and would blow up the very good idea of achieving something that would be useful for the citizens of the Member States. So, leaving aside this ideology, I can only wish you success.

Madam President, honourable Members, tonight's debate has shown two things. First of all, there is basic ignorance of the treaties of the European Union, which clearly show, based on the principle of subsidiarity, what the internal order is and what the European Parliament can do. Secondly, I would like to raise a question that will be controversial with all those who have spoken so far here. Take it for the purposes of the dispute. What I understand from your statements, honourable Members, is that you claim that justice in your own countries is everywhere subordinated to corporate interests, is corrupt and works against the interests of its citizens. All those who have spoken here actually claim that every single justice, every single Member State, works against the interests of its citizens. And here I ask, Commissioner, who will take responsibility for saying who is a journalist and who is not. If a person claims to be a journalist and writes some false things about someone, should that person be held accountable for his or her words or shouldn't he or she be held accountable for them? Who will make the list of people who define themselves as journalists and those who can say what they want, when they want, without being held accountable for their words?

Mr President, High Representative, colleagues, of course Poland can and must protect its borders. Of course, Poland can and should do everything possible to protect its security, to protect its territory, and hence the territory of the European Union. And the Polish government must be supported in these efforts. But what is happening right now in this room? Instead of seeing this support, instead of seeing a willingness to help the Polish government, we see colleagues on the left in the room trying to use this for their rather miserable domestic political purposes, trying to make their eternal intrigues, to sow their divisions. We are hearing outrageous and crazy suggestions on how to solve this crisis. Most of the proposals are so crazy that they are not worth discussing even. We hear things that are beyond the realm of human reason, and what needs to be done is simply to help the Polish Government, just as all external borders, including Greece, Italy and Bulgaria, need to be helped to build facilities and protect the territory of the Member States of the European Union.

The Brdo Declaration, adopted as a result of the summit, is yet another document full of clichés, empty talk and nothing to say. There is a lot of talk about European values, about the rule of law, about fundamental rights, etc., etc., etc. I am outraged by the hypocrisy and duplicity of the colleagues who have spoken so far. Dear colleagues, I say this out of decency, you are talking to me about a compromise. What compromise, my friends? We repeat and show you drastic violations of human rights in the Republic of North Macedonia, denial of the right to national self-determination, deletion of Bulgarian historical, military and cultural memory. We prove it with pictures, we prove it with footage, and you talk to me about compromise. With what compromise, with the memory of our ancestors do you want to make? With what to compromise, with the fact that in the Republic of North Macedonia there are Muppets ruled by Belgrade and Moscow, and you pretend not to see it? And these puppet governments there try to prevent the Bulgarians from identifying themselves as such. Is that what you want us to compromise on? Isn't your rule of law, your supreme value European was the right to self-determination and to define everyone as they feel? Why do you deny this to the Bulgarians in the present-day Republic of North Macedonia? Don't you see these processes? A week ago I showed you pictures, photos showing how Bulgarian military cemeteries were turned into an outdoor toilet. Dear Commissioner McGuinness, I do not see you, but I sincerely hope that at the moment you will not knit terlitsi, decide sudoku or arrange solitaire, but listen to me and I insist that you answer me. What will the Commission do to restore the Republic of North Macedonia the Bulgarian military monument over the town of Kavadarci, turned into an external toilet? I insist, I showed you the pictures, you saw this thing. If Belgian, if French, if English, if Italian military cemeteries are treated in the same way, will you still want a compromise and why do you constantly want a compromise that is solely at the expense of our memory, the memory of our ancestors? Why not turn around, it will be much easier for you? You want to start negotiations immediately with the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Albania. Great, well, turn to those under the direct command of Belgrade and the Kremlin in Skopje and tell them the following thing: Restore all memorials, Bulgarian military cemeteries that you destroyed in violation of the Geneva Convention, stop your policy of violence and harassment against people with Bulgarian national consciousness, then change your textbooks and remove from them the tales of hatred. Here are the basic things that can be done. You, colleagues, pretend that you do not understand what we want from the power in North Macedonia. We want the rule of law for local Bulgarians, we want to guarantee the right to self-determination for local Bulgarians, we want to preserve our cultural and historical heritage. This is what we want, dear colleagues, nothing more, nothing less. If you have not understood it yet, your place is not in the European Parliament, but in another institution, with a more pronounced profile that can help people who do not understand how to say simple sentences to them. But I'm sure you understand, and you just want us to compromise, because that's what you've decided, and that's very stupid. This policy drives the peoples of the Balkans away from the idea of a single European Union. You are the biggest enemies of the idea of the European Union because you are trying to humiliate an entire people and an entire nation, and we cannot understand why you are doing this. It makes no sense to try to humiliate an entire nation. Mrs McGuinness, I hope I have drawn your attention and I insist on a clear and precise answer: When and under what circumstances will the European Commission compel the Government of North Macedonia to restore the destroyed Bulgarian military cemeteries? If you don't know, there's a Geneva Convention. This Geneva Convention, honourable lady, also treats military cemeteries and holds every state to protect military cemeteries and to respect the memory of fallen soldiers. And at the last minute, let me draw your attention to all your policies in the Western Balkans. She's deeply wrong. You pretend that you do not understand the great influence of Belgrade and its role in the destabilization of the whole region, you pretend that you do not see the great role of the Kremlin. Do you know where the Kremlin is, do you know who lives in the Kremlin and who works in the Kremlin? If you do not know, I can tell you, but if you do not know how the conflicts in the Balkans arose, read a little history and see the role of the Kremlin in the Balkans, which continues to this day. And you advocate for this role, you are very much for freedom, you are very much for democracy, you are very much for the rule of law? Why are you going against these principles? Why don't you speak up and force these governments to actually do what needs to be done? The path of humiliating an entire nation to open the door to the puppet governments of the Kremlin and Belgrade is profoundly wrong. In this way, you are instilling severe disappointment with the idea of the European Union in the Bulgarian nation. So, dear ones, if you want the negotiations with Macedonia, force the authorities there to respect the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

Madam President, Members, I have asked for this debate because European citizens and taxpayers deserve to know who is to blame for the prices they are currently paying. And the culprits are in this room, not everyone, partly in this room. Longstanding lobbying in favor of Chinese producers of solar batteries and windmills is to blame. It's the denial of nuclear power. It is the fault of the claim that we can do economy only with wind fins and solar batteries. It is also the fault of imposing huge taxes on our only sovereign source, namely coal, in favor of the exporters of gas, who import and sell it at high prices. And now I am listening to excuses, it would be very fun to listen to these excuses if European citizens did not pay. We hear excuses for how the wind didn't blow all the time. A colleague discovered that the sun was not shining at night. Bravo, colleague, extremely observant! For this outrageous behaviour in general, this room has earned the Darwin Prize, collectively, all categories, without competition. The price is paid by European citizens. What needs to be done? A moratorium on trade in emissions that enrich various traders, the development of nuclear energy and the insanity of the Green Deal must be terminated.

Madam President, colleagues, social networks are a battleground and disinformation is a weapon in this war. It is good that you finally understood this fact and again, again, like everything here, it is half-hearted and does not say everything that needs to be said. A whole government, that of North Macedonia, is waging a war of disinformation against its citizens, against the people in this country who have Bulgarian roots and Bulgarian origins. Falsifies history, replaces, replaces monuments, tombstones, fights a full-scale war. Here, however, this is neither heard nor seen, and some of you pretend to have heard us, seen us, or smelled onions, as the wise Bulgarian people have said, and then someone complains that there is disinformation. There are, yes, and it is state-sponsored and state-organised by such states, with the help of their aides – Belgrade, the Kremlin you still want. This is the real misinformation that is not seen or heard here. On the other hand, I hear you want regulations. It is wonderful, but by regulation you mean to silence every voice that is in defense of national values, national self-determination, national self-awareness, traditional family. This is what you call the fight against disinformation. As long as it is so, as long as there is this double standard, you will lose this war waged by much stronger forces hostile to us.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, Erdoğan's funding of so-called money for sheltering illegal migrants is one example of the very blatant political incompetence, irresponsibility, reluctance and, I would say, political impotence of both the European Commission and the European Parliament and the European Union in general. Millions of euros from the pockets of European taxpayers are pouring into Erdogan's pockets so that he can finance his little illegal dirty wars in Syria, in Libya, in Nagorno-Karabakh and wherever you think of it. Both the people here and in the Commission succumb to blackmail and fear, because dictator Erdoğan can do whatever he wants at any moment and he does it. What does paragraph 8 of the opinion of the Budget Committee say? – Is extremely concerned that when trying to monitor humanitarian projects, the Commission is hindered by the refusal of the Turkish authorities to provide any data. Commissioner, you give millions to Erdoğan, he puts them in his pocket and he says, 'Look at your job!' and you say, 'Well, okay.' Great, good, but it's European taxpayers' money, it's not someone's own money, and it's a stark sign of failure, a vivid proof that there should be zero migration and no concessions to dictators like Erdogan.

Member of the Commission. - Mr President, colleagues, there is no doubt that any violence must be persecuted, punished and reprimanded. It's all violence, no matter which gender it's committed by. But if a man listens to you, he will get the impression that men are only violent, only they commit violence and all men commit violence. It's your right to believe it, even though it can't be true. However, I have heard several times that the most important thing was the interest of the child. The interest of the child is best known to his parents, because they are the ones who created him, they gave him birth, they educate him and raise him. It is their responsibility and therefore they should do their best to keep the child in the family with their mother and father. It is very presumptuous for someone who does not have children to say what the interest of parents is, even more than presumptuously I would say. Finally, two words regarding the propaganda that is being exposed here, because in fact this debate is political, not legal. In addition to interfering with the competences of the Member States, which is completely unacceptable, the Istanbul Convention is constantly mentioned. Our country, our Constitutional Court, has accepted that the Istanbul Convention is contrary to our Constitution and cannot be ratified. No matter how much you call, no matter what you call, colleagues, it is not your job to change the Bulgarian Constitution. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but it's a fact – it's ours and we decide how to run our country!

Mr President, colleagues, I also join in thanking my fellow rapporteur Vitanov for his work on this subject - congratulations, fellow Member! I agree with you that the principles set out in his report on the need to protect fundamental rights in the use of artificial intelligence in criminal matters and the use of the police and judicial authorities in criminal matters are useful. As I already stressed in the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs, artificial intelligence and related technologies would have multiple benefits in reducing the level of crime, combating trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of children, analysing data, etc. But even when we have to praise them, colleagues, we come to paragraph number 9. It highlights that many of the currently used algorithm-based identification technologies make disproportionate errors in identification and classification and thus cause harm to people who are disadvantaged due to racism, persons belonging to certain ethnic communities, LGBTI people and so on and so on. Colleagues, do any of you suppose that artificial intelligence is a racist, misogynist and a person who hates LGBTI people? I have often heard in this room that some people outside spoke out against this Union and tried to destroy it. No, folks, you don't have to! Such paragraphs and such statements do much more than all the enemies of this Union. Think about it!

Mr President, Commissioner, it is very funny that you are engaged in needlework and knitting. Honourable Members, there have undoubtedly been many mistakes in the management of the health crisis, but as regards vaccines, the process of developing, purchasing and distributing these vaccines, I believe that the European Commission has a great responsibility and the way in which it has tried to reach people. Each of our countries has its own specifics, and in each of our countries there is a different way of speaking, a way of persuading people. However, this did not happen. This should show us that the approach of common solutions, so invented somewhere in a cabinet, without taking into account the nation states and their capabilities and peculiarities is wrong. You will say that the statement is speculative, but I will refute you. At the beginning of the campaign, the Commission published its contract with one of the companies that developed the vaccine. Britain did the same. The difference in volume and detail between the two contracts is impressive. Astra Zeneca with the European Union – 18 articles and 34 pages, while the British – 31 articles and 46 pages. The two texts also diverge in their key moments. We all remember the Brexit debate. We all know what the mood was against those who announced their departure, but it became clear anyway that those who were against the bureaucracy in the Union were rather right. Once again, in a crisis, the Union acts cumbersomely, incompetently, and this affects people's health. In the UK, they have vaccinated and turned stadiums into vaccination centres. With us, this was just beginning to happen. And that's a problem. Imagine the delay we are talking about when Macron himself, who is the leader of this federalist group, admitted his mistake. I will give you another example of Hungary, which, as they say, is also very vilified in this room. Hungary refused to follow Europe-wide lines and did its job much faster. Strong nation-states were able to cope more quickly and more organizedly. In a few months it will be one year from the start of the mass vaccination and it will be seen very clearly what is the difference between the two countries. What we need to know is that quick solutions need to be found, not to run away from any other such issue. I heard you, Chairman.

Madam President, it is commendable that you have made the effort and desire to bring to the fore issues related to the waste of European funds and corruption in European countries. It is a little more inexplicable to me, however, that lately you have been constantly discovering this corruption only in countries, or mostly in countries, whose governments you do not like or the policies of these governments we do not like. These are the eternally accused Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia. They're the bad guys, they're the corrupt ones, everyone else isn't, they're as clean as tears, and they've never smelled anything of corruption. Is that so? Of course not. Dear, is there anyone in this room who thinks that there can be corruption with European funds at the local level? That here those who are appointed and elected by you, commissioners of various kinds, inspectors, have no idea what is going on in the Member States and there are just bad people stealing the money without knowing it here? Is that so? It is not because either you have appointed the most incompetent, the most incompetent, the most incapable people in the world, or these people turn a blind eye when it comes to the corruption of governments that are friendly to you, that implement federalist policies, policies to protect the communities that are invented there every day, and so on, and so on, and so on. Suddenly it turns out that corruption exists only in bad countries, there are no good ones. Mrs. In't Veld, you said you were coming to Bulgaria. You're always welcome. We will be happy to see you there, but to learn about corruption in Bulgaria, you do not need to come to Bulgaria. What you need to do is ask in your own group a few things. Ask, for example, what the expression ‘I distribute portions, I distribute portions’ means and find out who said it, Mrs In't Veld. This will help you a lot to understand these processes. As far as the American state is concerned, yes, Americans have reason to let or not let whomever they want into their territory, but I would remind you all, however, that even the European Convention on Human Rights in its Article 6(2), if I am not mistaken, says the following: ‘Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be innocent until proved guilty by a final judgment’. So be careful with the lists, because today makes them one, tomorrow can make them another, and then things can get bad. Corruption is proven in court by a judgment that has the force of res judicata.

Madam President, the state of the Union today can be defined by one sentence: ‘It would be comical if it were not tragic’. The European Union is facing several crises – migrant, economic and health. Instead of deciding them, the Union engages in an economic lobbying called the ‘Green Deal’, and therefore every time, every day, in every report, there is a call that goes against the traditional family and promotes something new and something different. In this regard, Mr. Timmermans, this mask very much opens you, bravo, congratulations. It shows that you are concerned about the really important issues and as the European Union deals with these things, our competitors are developing and advancing. While here we are calling for deindustrialization, in China factories are working and selling to us and seizing our jobs, this is happening, dear ones. This happens because when there are weak people, they are creating difficult times, and the policy you are leading, honourable Madam President, is weak, and this is visible to everyone, both inside and outside. You cannot choose what the rule of law is, you cannot pretend that you do not see human rights violations. This Union will return and become a geopolitical factor, and will only be strong when it returns to its foundations, its Christian beginnings, the protection of national identity, zero migration and the protection of national self-determination.

Member of the Commission. - Mr President, colleagues, in the next period, more than 14 billion will be distributed under this instrument. True, it's not as big a sum as we found out lightly in Afghanistan, so that everyone can then escape from there shamefully, but close, from the European taxpayers. This money will go to Turkey, to the Western Balkans. This Turkey, which violates human rights, which keeps families, journalists, children in prisons, which invades the territory of foreign countries, this neo-Ottomanist and illiberal Turkey, which supposedly everyone, in a fairy tale, rebukes, but will again pour money there. Staggering hypocrisy and inexplicable duplicity. When we talk about the Western Balkans, nothing different. Macedonia, North Macedonia, a state that brutally, openly violates human rights and during this census currently violates the right to self-determination, violates the right of the people there, of the Bulgarians there, to self-identify as Bulgarians, and otherwise everyone talks about the rule of law. Honourable, it is also the rule of law to define yourself as Bulgarians, I mean. Last but not least, I would like to express my disagreement with the fact that you have replaced illegal immigration with unregulated immigration. A game of words, which again says nothing, cannot be unregulated, it is illegal.

Madam President, honourable Members, we are discussing the situation in Afghanistan, which is without any doubt a failure, a grave political failure and a disgraceful escape. A war that was fought without knowledge, without any idea of what was going on in Afghanistan, without any idea of what the situation was like there, and a war that ended in a disgraceful escape. I heard someone here just now say from my colleagues that they couldn't abandon the people and the women of Afghanistan. Well, dear ones, you abandoned them. You lied to them, fought some war there, then fled with the planes and they fell off them when they were trying to save themselves. And this was a disgraceful escape that you should probably be ashamed of, but I doubt anyone would think about it. Now I hear that illegal immigrants have to come to Europe. Well, whoever wants to take them, it's okay, take them, I don't have any problems with that. Whoever wants, instead of negotiating with Saudi Arabia, which trades billions of weapons for oil, to accept them, there is nothing wrong. However, I know what my fellow citizens and compatriots want and I know their concerns. That is why we will fight and push for zero immigration in Bulgaria and for the protection of our state border. Whoever has ordered this music, let him be so good as to pay the bill.

Madam President, one of the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency will undoubtedly be the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans. We, of course, wholeheartedly support such integration. Personally, I even believe that both the Republic of Albania and Montenegro can be full members of the European Union, as they say – immediately. What worries me, however, is the situation in the Republic of North Macedonia. You know perfectly well, and if you do not know, I will remind you that human rights continue to be violated in this country: local Macedonian citizens who identify themselves as Bulgarians are persecuted by the police, harassed, fined for their beliefs. The language of hatred against Bulgarians and everything Bulgarian in North Macedonia continues, the violation of rights continues. When we talk about pressure and when I see here that colleagues are trying to put pressure on Bulgaria, is it not hypocritical to keep silent about the violation of human rights, the abuse of the position of the government of North Macedonia, the attempt to denigrate Bulgaria in any way, including through paid publications in your media? Yes, of course there must be enlargement, but the Republic of North Macedonia must condemn its communist past, it must end the violence against Bulgarian citizens and the violation of the human rights of Bulgarians in Macedonia.