Speeches

Madam President, What could be better for someone like Donald Trump than the left, the greens, the extreme left and the left-wing rabies of this House – the last time in Strasbourg Bella Ciao sung when Viktor Orbán was there – to be criticised? I think that's a lot of praise for someone like Donald Trump. Learn, ladies and gentlemen from the left, democracy. The American people have expressed a clear vote – against all the woken madness that prevails there, against LGBTIQ, against wokeness in all its forms. They voted against the fact that multiculturalism, illegal migration and abuse of the right to asylum are increasingly taking on a negative development. They voted against globalism robbing jobs in the US, the same problem we have here in Europe. They spoke out against it. Deep state. You have spoken out against fake news. They have spoken out against the influence of big tech companies. They have spoken out against a politicized judiciary that has also tried to keep Trump out of office. What is forming now between Donald Trump in the US and Viktor Orbán here is the future – whether you like it or not.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen. The entire absurdity of the so-called migration and refugee issue can be seen in a current example in my hometown of Vienna, where a Syrian family receives the sum of 4,600 euros net monthly from the public sector. And in addition to this 4,600 euros that this Syrian family receives in Vienna, there is also a climate bonus, which was paid once last month in the amount of over 400 euros, and also a so-called rent subsidy, so that in total this Syrian family receives 5,500 euros from the public sector, and that is more than twice what a normal worker earns here in my hometown. This means that a very large discussion has arisen here about the fact that those who pay taxes that contribute to the general well-being, on the other hand, finance people who have come to us under the title of worthy of protection and two-thirds - and all statistics show this - are not worthy of protection, do not receive Geneva Convention status, do not enjoy subsidiary or humanitarian protection status. The only solution can be to help these people in their homeland, to keep them on their continent and not let them go to Europe.

Madam President, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, feel most welcome here, and please excuse the quarrels, the meanness, the insults and the lies that are being thrown at you by a left-wing, left-wing, green and socialist side. They do not represent this Europe that makes this continent great. They represent desperation because voters are running away from them. I thank you for being one of Europe's saviors here trying to fend off illegal migration, and for being someone who wants to promote peace here as well. I would also like to thank the Hungarian people, who have given you a majority in order to strengthen your course of reform, and I also apologize to all the Hungarians for the nasty things that have come from them. Madam President, I would also like to address you directly. We are a parliament. This can be done with hard reasoning. Only: I do not see that an incumbent prime minister here is called a dictator, a liar, an idiot and a corruptionist, and that the presidium of the House is silent on this. This is unacceptable to the highest...

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, there is a point in every person's political life where they say: "It's enough, it's over." For you, this point is more than reached. I can only appeal to you: Take the hat. I'll give you three examples. Number one: the COVID-19 madness, which you are responsible for, where 1.8 billion doses of vaccines were bought for 35 billion euros and which is now the work of the courts and the work of medicine. I am pleased that someone like Gerald Hauser, as my new colleague in the European Parliament, will lead the education work here. Point two: This is the story of Ukraine-Russia, where we made the 14 packages of sanctions with which we only met ourselves, where we perpetuated dying and where the only person – Viktor Orbán, who now holds the Presidency of the Council for Hungary – who advocates peace, visits Zelenskyy and Putin to explore how to end dying, is sabotaged by you, boycotted and disadvantaged. All I can say is: Ms von der Leyen, take your hat off – time is up – and give someone a chance to lead Europe into a bright future. They have led Europe to the brink of the abyss.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, One already has the impression that here large parts of the house are imprisoned in a very absurd and distant reality. The only offense that the Hungarians really committed: To have expressed confidence in a majority of the population of a person who is not doing what a left-wing majority of the House wants here, namely Viktor Orbán. Yes, he does not participate in the left-wing migration madness. Yes, he is also one who advocates peace like the Pope, and not a warmonger like a majority here in the house. These are the offenses, nothing else. One can only apologise to the Hungarians for what a majority of this House is doing to the Hungarian people in a way that is unacceptable here. For example, you have attacked Hungary for corruption – in the same breath of a second as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the President of the Commission for €35 billion. How absurd can you be, how hypocritical can you be? I can only appeal to you to treat the Hungarians with respect here, and if the upcoming election is that the Hungarians again have more friends officially than they do.

And be democratically clean accordingly! So, number one. And number two: As the Council debate reverts to the issue of Ukraine: Now there was the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán to the US with Trump, who will probably be the upcoming US President. You can think about both, whatever you like – they speak for peace. And there is also something that I very, very much welcome at the moment, namely the head of Christendom, Pope Francis, who also speaks out for peace on this issue. I demand that we finally go seriously towards negotiations, to end the dying and also to ensure for Europe that there is security of supply with energy here and that the EU is no longer considered a war project here.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Before I talk about the Council debate here, I would like to make reference to something up-to-date. Unfortunately, the President of the Commission is no longer here, but last week she was elected as the lead candidate by the conservative bubble. This is in fact perfectly fine when a political force nominates a top candidate; In this case, it's election fraud. You know, there's no majority here for a transnational list. You know that there are no candidates who could be elected beyond the 27 Member States. You know that this European election does not elect a Commission President or a Commission President, but 720 MEPs. What you are doing with this lead candidate model is lying to the European public that there is this transnational approach that does not exist. Please take note of this. (The President interrupted the speaker.)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, It's good to talk about Europe's defence strategy here. First of all, a sentence that you should let melt on your tongue: You want war? Then send weapons. Do you want peace? Then send diplomats. I have the feeling – in view of what is being discussed here – that a war scenario is deliberately not fuelled here, but at least kept simmering, which is something completely wrong. I recall that we are now having a discussion about sending EU troops into Ukraine. I would remind you – which I think is absurd – that we are now having a discussion about equipping the European Union with nuclear weapons. I recall the absurd situation, from the point of view of an Austrian politician, Sky Shield We want to implement what would be two billion euros in burdens for us. As an Australian, I say: Better, I take the two billion euros, put them in the Austrian army to secure our neutrality, instead of further advancing this warlike history here. I'll stick with it: Austria is a neutral country, and we could, should and should actively offer ourselves here as a place of peace. That would be the ten times better way to advance this saber race here.

– So I don’t believe you or I don’t believe myself now – whoever believes what is completely foolish. It is about the political objective that this Europe, which was built on the principles of generating peace, freedom, prosperity and security for as many people as possible, offers serious peace talks here in such a situation. The negotiations that took place were in Turkey, in a NATO country – perhaps not the optimal ground to bring about these peace negotiations in a NATO country. I'm from Austria. Vienna is the seat of the UN and the seat of the OSCE. We could have tried to bring the parties to the conflict together. Whether peace is really possible or not, whether a negotiation success can be achieved or not, is once secondary. It is primarily about preventing this death and doing everything possible to bring about peace here... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Madam President, Meine sehr geehrten Damen und Herren, es ist schon bezeichnend, dass von Grüner Seite hier Orbán als der große Verlierer der Ukraine-Politik dargestellt wird. This may be a technical discussion as to whether he is now a loser or not. Do you know who is the loser of this whole case for me? It is the mothers, it is the children, it is the parents, it is the bereaved and families of an estimated half a million people who have already lost their lives in this conflict. And that's what I said and meant and asked for from the beginning: not with one wave of sanctions after another, not with money and even more money and more and more billions to spur this belligerent situation here, to pour oil into the fire, but to strive to do everything possible to bring about peace – at least to try to advance peace negotiations here on European soil in such a way that this dying can be ended here. More than 130 billion have already flowed to Ukraine; From my home country it is down to 3.5 billion. Now, with the future 50 billion, it will be around 5 billion for Austria. It's a huge tax reform that could have been done in the country. Americans have only paid half of what Europeans pay. The Americans are doing the business of this more than condemnable war with liquefied natural gas – that is wrong. If you want to pursue your policy in this way, then you also take the US into responsibility for providing more money than you do yourself. In this context, let me also briefly mention what happened last week in Brussels: 1400 tractors, farmers from all over Belgium and from France, who have come not to cause trouble here, but to be asked by a European administration to be able to survive no more and no less than farmers. Please approach these people and make sure that Europe's agriculture has a dignified livelihood and an income to survive. (The speaker agreed to answer a question on the blue card procedure.)

Mr President! I did not understand Mr Tertsch in Spanish because I do not have the power to speak Spanish, but I believe that he was excited about the fact that those who spread critical words here are being turned off by the Bureau and that those who speak here in the spirit of EU centralism are being given more and more time. So let's get to the real issue that I want to address, namely the question of Hungary. I am already a bit suspected of being half Hungarian, after having spoken for Hungary on several occasions, which is not the case. I am 100 percent Austrian, but I also have a high sense of justice, because I believe that the way Hungary and its people are treated here is not honest, not decent. Hungary is a valuable part of the European family of peoples and does not deserve to be treated the way you treat Hungarians. I know that Orbán has a policy against centralisation here. This is a political opinion. I can only agree with him, and that's a good thing! Orbán makes a policy where he speaks out against illegal migration spurts, where he speaks out against asylum abuse. He's right! Orbán makes a policy where he speaks out for conservative values and for the family. He's right! If you want to do something where something is wrong, please dedicate yourself to the things here. Dedicate yourself to the procurement process, for example in the area of COVID vaccines, where communication between the Commission President and the Pfizer CEO is still under wraps...(The President interrupted the speaker.) ... and the hundreds of thousands of euros in the ranks of the Social Democrats, Qatar. Thank you for turning my word off, too.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, It has been around a year since a scandal shook this House – to a degree that this House probably has never seen before, and which was hardly the case in any other European Parliament. Hundreds of thousands of euros have been found in plastic bags with mandates in the ranks of social democracy. Here a bribery scandal of the special class has taken place, as it is really to be condemned in the most shameful way. There has been a phased impression that it is less a parliament than more a large Bedouin tent – and I apologise, not to the EU parliamentarians, but to all Bedouins who do not deserve to be compared to it. I already know: The presumption of innocence applies, and this is also very important for me. But still the question is: How does this house deal with such a scandal? For me it would have been necessary, first of all, to conduct a very in-depth investigation with a real committee of inquiry, including a screening, which mandaters here for desert states would have made special lobbying, particularly positive statements, without being able to justify this anywhere with the facts. Secondly: It would be a good sign for me to say that this house is closed to all lobbyists. I know that not all lobbyists here are bad. I know that not all lobbyists are paid, but a good lobbyist is paid, acts on behalf of entrepreneurs, corporations and on behalf of states, and influences political decision-making and parliamentary decision-making, which should not be the case. There are 705 members of parliament and over 30,000 lobbyists registered. And I say: If we manage to make this house just a meeting place for elected representatives of the people and citizens, then it would be a good signal that we should not leave the door open for lobbyists. We also have to investigate what was in Pfizer and von der Leyen and this procurement. We have many things that cause bad and irreparable damage to the House here, and the question of how you deal with them will also be a yardstick for how the citizens of Europe will decide in the coming year.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, There is little to say about the Spanish Presidency as such. It's a bit more of the same, or you could describe it with the title of a movie: And every day the marmot salutes. It has not been possible to put emphasis on getting the European Union away from its centralism course. It has not been possible to push forward a reform of the institutions, at least in the discussion, to move the European Union back to the people, to the values. They also failed to set accents. They have failed to put emphasis on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, to bring the parties to the conflict together, to end the dying with negotiations and to ensure the security of energy supply in Europe accordingly. None of this has taken place here. In the coming year, however, I expect many positive accents with the elections to the European Parliament that are imminent. And my hope is that a saturated majority of centre-right political alliances could very well move the European Union towards a better future. And the second is: In the second half of the year, when the Hungarians take over the Presidency of the Council, which many of you do not want, I hope that you will all stand by the rules and accept that our Hungarian friends will be able to move the European Union in a good direction, away from centralism and, if there is still war between Ukraine and Russia, to promote peace. Here are the accents that give confidence, now that was not the case. And allow me to make the following observation: When others talk – from the left-wing groups – the talk time is extended, when we talk, it is turned off. This is also true in a... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, In the German-speaking world, we know the saying ‘In the evening, the lazy man becomes diligent’, and that is exactly what comes to mind when I look at the decisions of the recent past, what we have to decide today and in the past days, and what you still want to decide. But before I come to speak of these political madnesses, madnesses, in my view completely misguided measures, I would also like to say a word about the past of these This is Europedebate. When we started this term of office and you brought chaos all over the continent with an insane lockdown policy, when you caused bankruptcies, unemployment, record debts with this lockdown policy, sometimes hugely added some people in the psychological field, when you hired the European Public Prosecutor’s Office with 1.8 billion vaccine doses and now a good part of these vaccine doses rotted – we have the first capital type of failure of the European Union. It continued with the Ukraine/Russia dispute, where in eleven or twelve waves of sanctions the European Union and this House and a majority here have only shot themselves in the knees and produced massive inflation, massive inflation, unemployment, bankruptcies, etc. That's the wrong way. And now that these two capital total failure measures have to be taken into account here, one madness after the next continues. A Green Deal that sounds nice, but in reality causes Europe to completely lose its competitiveness, that with e-mobility, the nuclear economy, we are actually preparing an energy and business field, which is political madness, where you decide with a majority that insects can be added to our food. The only thing left to do is to look at the direction in which this European Union is headed. And if you ask here as a question: This is Europe?My answer is very clear: This European Union is going completely in the wrong direction, and I hope that next year's elections, 6-9 June, will be a turnaround towards a good, free and peaceful Europe. (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Dear colleague, yes, of course Orbán is not the population. But don't forget that Orbán has a majority of the Hungarian population behind him. Don't forget that Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz party have increased in recent elections, and that the trust that Viktor Orbán and his party have in their own people is very, very high and probably unique if you turn your eyes across Europe. That's what's important here. And please note that other political opinions also prevail in this Europe, against which one cannot proceed with Article 7 proceedings or deletion of any funds, but one should seek the substantive and material discourse. This is democracy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am Austrian, so neighbour of the country Hungary, and I can only apologise and be ashamed of the shame and disgrace you bring on the Hungarians. The Hungarians are a valuable part of the European family of peoples and do not deserve to be treated in the way you do here. I have also had a lot to do with Hungary through my political activity here, from ordinary people on the street, in the locals to politics. By the bank decent people, integrity people, honest people; I would like to say: It's often the opposite of what I've seen here. And certainly the Hungarians did not deserve to be treated in the way that it takes place here. Orbán makes three capital mistakes from your point of view. Mistake number one: It opposes EU centralisation. He is right – I do the same. Error number two: Orbán opposes illegal migration. Orbán is right, and he therefore corresponds to a majority of the European peoples who are certainly in favour of it. Mistake number three: Orbán stands up for peace as far as Ukraine and Russia are concerned. You should take an example of what Orbán and the Hungarians are doing instead of continuing the smear theatre that I have to experience here today. (The speaker agreed to answer a question on the blue card procedure.)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Especially to the Greens and Leftists, Hamas and Palestinian understanders here in the house: Do you really think that the right signal is to now triple the payments to Palestine, which then of course also go to Hamas circles, whose rocket camps are filled? No, just as it is absurd that yesterday's President-in-Office Michel highlighted here the great role of the European Union in driving de-escalation forward. This is the same EU that fails to put its officials and mandates on a train from Brussels to Strasbourg, to bring them here, and then ends up in Eurodisney near Paris. Here, too, the European Union as a global player is ridiculous, just as the European Parliament is ridiculous here, because for over eight years, where I am allowed to be a member of this House, it has not even been possible for hot water to be provided here in the house. This is the European Union, and there is total failure at all levels. You can see it in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. You can see it here in the current conflict by indirectly fuelling the conflict, by tripling funds that also end up with Hamas. Speak for peace here. That would be the way to go, and don't pretend you can do things you're not even ready to do in the first place.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, If sanctions were a suitable means of ending death in this conflict, I would have been the first to say: Let's start with these sanctions. If the sanctions had been a suitable means of ensuring energy security and price stability for us, I would have been the first to say: Let's start with these sanctions. I said the opposite from the beginning, and I was right. We have imposed eleven waves of sanctions on the Russians, and the situation has gotten worse again and again. Today we have a gigantic development in the area of inflation. We have an associated gigantic development in the area of poverty in Europe. The business is done by others. The business is done by the Americans, where we now get their energy, the business is done by the Russians via detours, via India, via China. We buy Russian energy anyway. The overall situation is one that cannot be more absurd. So I stick to what I said from the beginning: Please let us work to force peace negotiations here, to ask at the table to guarantee price stability with us and thus to end the dying.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, If I project myself into your political world of thought that only a large entity like the European Union is also able to solve the great problems of our time, then you really can't get out of laughter. Because since 2015 you have been trying to solve this crisis of illegal migration with the same possibilities and instruments, and to this day you can only attest to political total failure. And in today’s debate: "Need for a swift adoption of the asylum and migration package" – where they try to solve the problem with the same tools as then, namely with a forced distribution, you will not get any further today. We have the situation that eight million people have come to the continent more or less illegally, a good part of them have no right to reside here, neither under Geneva Convention status nor for humanitarian, subsidiary or other reasons, and yet these people, even if they lose the residence permit, remain here for more than 80%. Anyone who comes to Europe in any way stays here. That can't be a solution. The only solution? My colleague from the AfD has already said it: One No-way-Politics like Australia and help for the local people, but not bringing them all to Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Whenever the European Union takes up the issue of freedom, you get the impression that you are asking your dog to take care of the sausage. That certainly doesn't work. We have seen this, for example, in the Digital Services Act, where today we are in a situation where chat messages are threatened by a snooping by political authorities, where we are in a situation where the authorities to be created here are supposed to control what is fake news and what is not fake news, what is propaganda and what is not propaganda. I do not know how to come up with the idea of establishing such a thing through political authorities. I am a radical advocate of diversity of opinion, plurality, democracy. This means, however, that authorities can never judge what is true and what is not true. There are the limits of criminal law. In what we are debating today about freedom in the media, I cannot come up with the idea of setting up a European authority to judge whether or not the media have the appropriate freedom of representation. I am afraid that you want to muzzle the alternative media here, that you want to open up even more terrain to those who want to be considered as system media here. I think that's the wrong way. If the EU wants to do something good, it is to secure peace, freedom and prosperity for as many as possible and not to take freedom, as in this case.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, In the German-speaking world, there is the saying ‘Eigenlob stinkt’. And what is being celebrated here in terms of self-indulgence is completely out of place in the face of a pitiful factual situation and the disastrous state of the European Union. Give me the opportunity to document the failure in this short period of time only in the three key areas of why European unification took place at all: Peace, freedom, prosperity – the three basic principles of European integration. Peace – after more than 11 packages of sanctions, after a call for more and more belligerent clashes, after weapons ordered there, after a multitude of funds ordered there to keep the war going and after never really putting the word peace in the mouth, never really actively admonishing peace negotiations – is a central failure in this area. Freedom: Take a look at what is happening in Europe right now. Digital Services Act This happens, for example, and with the withdrawal of cash that is progressing. People are to be controlled more and more, chat messages are to be controlled. You want to bring in a truth authority what fake news is and what is actually truth in the eyes of the European Union. Madness, it can't be like that! Last point of prosperity: With inflation in the double-digit range, after a ludicrous lockdown policy we had in the corona phase, after ludicrous payments to the Ukraine area, Europeans are now paying the bill for it. The Americans do the business, the Russians do another business, we pay. So also in the area of prosperity: Total failure. It would be appropriate to remain silent instead of continuing this self-indulgence.

Madam President, Ladies and gentlemen, as a representative of a faction that is so demonized by you and critical of migration, let me state one thing clearly and clearly: Everyone has the right to be saved if they are in distress at sea, and we have a duty to save that person. That's not a question at all. Only the political debate we have is different. Should a person who is rescued or can sometimes be rescued be brought back a few kilometers to the Arab-African coast or should he be brought 500 kilometers away to Europe, Italy, Malta or wherever? This is the discussion we have to have here. Since 2015, 7 million people have come to Europe. That's a crowd larger than the state of Ireland, to be clear. From my point of view, especially if I look at the situation in France now, the regulation can only be one: Let's help the people in the regions, let's help the people on the ground! There is no need to bring all these people to Europe. This is the right way, which also means that we no longer have to hold these debates.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted that this series of debates will continue to run under the title ‘This is Europe’. Because if illegal migration continues, as has been the case here towards Europe since 2015, this series of debates will soon be called ‘This is Arabia’ or ‘This is Africa’ and no longer ‘This is Europe’. More than 7 million people have come to Europe since the Arab Spring in 2015. The vast majority of these people do not have the status of refugees under the Geneva Convention or the status of beneficiaries of subsidiary or humanitarian protection after a detailed examination. People have come here as hope seekers and have disregarded all the rules. It is the case, for example, that of those who are illegally staying here in Europe, around 80% are asked to return to their homeland, but do not. These migratory flows have also led to a cultural transformation in the major European metropolises. Look to Paris, look to Munich, Brussels or my hometown Vienna. And not only a cultural transformation, but also – and this cannot be concealed – massive security problems. Let's mention it again: Bataclan Theatre, Brussels Airport, up to what happened last week here in France with the knife attack. Ladies and gentlemen, I conclude: Europe can only have a future if we continue not to be targeted by illegal migration and also honestly tell people that we are ready to help them in their regions, but do not let them all in to Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, About a year before the upcoming European elections is also a good time to take stock, because in the past four years pretty much everything has been done wrong, which you can only do wrong somehow. From the coronavirus phase, where a wave of bankruptcies, unemployment and psychological suffering was produced with a ludicrous lockdown policy across the continent, where the European Public Prosecutor's Office is now busy with the procurement of vaccines and where the starting point for the further problem was created, namely as the whole transitioned into the Ukraine crisis, where one is hit by more than 10 waves of sanctions, namely the Europeans themselves. Putin – who should have been sanctioned – moves to India, moves to China. The Europeans who have said they no longer take the cheap Russian gas, buy from the Americans who do the business, and pay the Europeans with over double-digit inflation rates. This is a wrong policy from front to back. I believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that with the coming European elections here, the majority ratios in the house can also change accordingly and that we can guarantee a future for Europe and not what you have done, namely permanent failure.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, It takes a decent amount of black humour to step on the lectern like my previous speakers and praise the state of Europe in the sky. The fact is that the two major factions of the House are in veritable trouble here. In the case of the Social Democrats, the authorities invade, arresting quasi-mandates more or less from the hemicycle. Cash stocks are found at home – in plastic bags – and confiscated. In the other large group, the European People's Party, the European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating this vaccine procurement around Corona. I'll get back to that. In debates like today's, it would be good to practice something like self-reflection and not to incense oneself in such a way that it already slips into the humorous. Whenever big decisions were to be made, whenever the right path should and wanted to be sought, you turned wrong. It started in 2016 when the British said: Thank you, it's enough for us, goodbyeLet's go! They should have reacted by shifting more competences to the Member States, not scolding the British for saying they were leaving, but treating them with respect and dignity. You missed that. They have also failed to make the right decisions in the 2015 migration crisis, which continues to this day. Not only labour market problems, not only social problems, not only cultural problems have reached this continent. We have also left a lot of terror and crime on the continent, because we are already remembering it. All I can do is remind you: Brussels, the capital of Europe, where the airport was blown up, with over 30 dead, here in Strasbourg the Christmas market a few years ago, when there was an Islamist attack, or – because we are in France – Paris and the Bataclan Theatre. Don't you remember that? Draw the right conclusions from this misguided policy. Corona: They buried all the rules of a free Europe and pursued a policy where lockdowns triggered bankruptcies and psychological problems and the whole continent was maneuvered into a problematic situation – completely unnecessary, as we know today. There are still many examples where you turn wrong on the Ukraine-Russia issue instead of wishing for peace to fuel the war. I say: You didn't bring much together. We now have insects in our food. Bravo of this European Union ... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)