Speeches

Madam President, Laws against money laundering, against offshore tax evasion and for crypto-asset regulation are the few still sensible EU projects. But how seriously do you take your own plans? Ukrainian President Zelensky, as we know from the Pandora Papers, has received 40 million euros from oligarchs and secured tax-free on offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands and Belize. In addition, Zelensky seems to have wasted hundreds of millions of euros on the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX for military and population of Ukraine certain EU aid money. The money of our German and European taxpayers disappeared in an American Ponzi scheme. Apparently, you do not take the fight against money laundering and crypto speculation seriously, because how else do you explain your support for Zelensky?

Madam President, DORA is a commendable initiative to make our digital market more resistant to terror and hybrid attacks. But it is important not only to protect our critical infrastructure from such threats. To close this gap, I would like to ask you to vote on the ID Group amendments to the Digital Corporate Resilience Act. The European digital market should also be protected for ICT service providers controlled by third countries. We don't need Trojan horses at this time. That's why I'm asking for your cooperation.

Mr President! Italy and Greece bear pro rata the highest debt burden of the OECD. The other highly indebted OECD countries are also mostly euro-area countries. Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the loose monetary policy of the ECB, debt in the euro area will continue to rise. The ECB is trying to reduce debt through inflation. The result: Mass impoverishment, devaluation of small savings and an increase in large assets. Really, our public finances can only be rehabilitated by stopping migration, ending green energy policy and imposing a wealth tax on states with high levels of private wealth. But does anyone want this? No. Therefore, Germany will continue to pay, because the German state is richer than others, because its citizens are poorer. The problem: At some point, the Germans will run out of money. And then what?

Mr President! Since Angela Merkel, Germany has pursued a truly fantastic energy policy: away from domestic coal and nuclear energy, towards solar and wind energy. The result: dependence on Russian natural gas. Now the EU Commission is setting up a grant fund, the so-called REPowerEU, of EUR 20 billion initially, in order to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The foreseeable costs in the long run: Many times the $20 billion. Commission President von der Leyen wants to distribute the money according to the Corona Fund key. This means: Germany gets little; Hardly any Russia-dependent countries, on the other hand, would get much more. The European Court of Auditors replies: Wrong. If the purpose is to reduce dependence on Russia, the extremely dependent Germany should get more. European solidarity means: Germans are paying for the failure of other eurozone countries. However, if our own government fails, the Commission denies us Germans the solidarity so often praised. The EU Parliament even wants REPowerEU funds not to be invested in fossil fuels and nuclear energy, but only in weather-dependent solar and wind energy. This means: Instead of Russia, we become dependent on the whims of Helios and Aiolos, on the sun and wind gods. This does not save the climate, but only creates more dependence on nature, civilizational backwardness and mass poverty here in Europe.

Madam President, At the beginning of October, the heads of government of all European and Caucasian countries, as well as Turkey, but not Russia and Belarus, met in Prague for the first meeting of the European Political Community (EPG), a new body – new but unclear in its purpose and exactly what distinguishes it from the Council of Europe. The only issue: The war in Ukraine. Was the purpose to condemn illegal wars of aggression? Then why was the President of Azerbaijan present, instigating a war of aggression against Armenia? If it was a matter of unity with Russia, Hungary and Macron's stance show: The EU also disagrees. And better Franco-British relations don't need 41 other heads of government. Actually, it was only about shaking hands and non-binding smiles in difficult times. Gasoline and fuel for the Prague trip could have been saved – given the energy crisis, it certainly makes more sense.

Mr President, Commissioner! In every plenary session, this Parliament deplores the existence of the so-called extreme right. Paradoxically, any party that respects the interests of Europeans or freedom of expression, laments mass immigration into the European social system or does not approve of impoverishment and civilisational regression in Europe through green phantasmata is considered anti-European and extreme right-wing. And because they take citizens' concerns and plight seriously, right-wing conservative government coalitions are becoming increasingly popular. According to polls, my party, the AfD, is now the strongest party in East Germany. But all the other parties refuse to cooperate with us because we are elected, but not democratic. According to Brussels, this should be the case everywhere in the EU. Because, according to Brussels, in democracies, only what pleases is allowed – not the citizens, but Mrs von der Leyen.

Mr President! Oil prices have doubled since the beginning of 2021, coal prices have tripled and gas prices more than fivefold. According to the International Monetary Fund, prices will continue to rise sharply until at least 2026. One main reason: doubling the price of CO2 certificates and, more generally, the EU's climate rescue policy. It benefits from price increases for energy companies and the EU itself. You now want to partially absorb company profits – so far right. But to whom for the benefit? Not to consumers, but to the EU itself for even more ambitious climate targets. Only the EU's share of global CO2 emissions is around 8%. No other region of the world, not even the United States, shares its climate goals. Our impact on the global climate is zero. You know what? Their goal is not world rescue at all, but mass impoverishment and civilizational regression for Europe.

Mr President! The German government has provided the Germans with record energy prices and now wants to compensate them with 200 billion euros. It's absurd, but not unjust. Immediately, however, Italy's Prime Minister and Goldman Sachs banker Mario Draghi complains that Germany violates competition law and the internal market. That's nonsense. Draghi only likes to leave the Germans – and I would like to add: Northern Europeans pay for all financial and state crises. Nevertheless, Chancellor Olaf Scholz immediately promised Draghi, whom Francesco Cossiga once called a miserable financial servant, more money for Italy and the EU, although Germany still finances the 750 billion EU Corona Fund. Germans have low pensions and the lowest private wealth in the euro area. Only her government suffers from helper syndrome. She is rich and generous because she has been pulling money out of the pockets of the Germans with both hands for years.

Mr President! You don't play with food, children say. However, the EU Fertilizer Regulation makes sufficient harvests a gamble. Because without fertilizer, our agriculture cannot produce food in sufficient quantity or in the desired quality. Green politics is the attack on our livelihoods. Greens oppose the production and consumption of energy, the basis of our civilization. Greens are turning against mobility, without which our economy cannot exist. Greens are now turning against food and farmers. Food is exactly the means of life. The Greens are said to be like watermelons: Green on the outside and red on the inside. Mrs. von der Leyen, on the other hand, resembles an avocado: Black on the outside and green on the inside. There are even hatred avocados – the most coveted variety among greens, by the way.

I don't know what's going on here, because the question wasn't entirely clear to me. There was talk of insult. As far as I remember and look at my notes here, I basically said two things: First, that the accession of Romania and Bulgaria could favour mass immigration. That seems out of the question to me. Secondly, I have said that Romania and Bulgaria continue to be susceptible to corruption. I am referring to Transparency International. I wish it were different, and I would make the same criticism of every other state. So I didn't particularly have Bulgaria and Romania in mind, but the information I found unfortunately seems to support my statement. I didn't mean to offend, and I'm very sorry if you think so.

Madam President, When Bulgaria and Romania applied for membership of the Schengen area in 2011, the EU Council of Ministers refused. Germany and France, among others, expressed concern about shortcomings in the fight against corruption and the rule of law. Suddenly, Macron and Scholz support the accession of both countries and Croatia, even though, according to the Corruption Index of Transparency International, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania have not made progress in the last ten years, but have made regressions in the fight against corruption and crime. So why the green light now? The reason seems clear: With its new EU migration pact, von der Leyen plans to create new, so-called safe access routes for migrants to the EU, which will save them the dangerous sea route. The Bulgarian-Turkish border fence has been an effective obstacle so far. In the future, however, migrants will be redistributed directly to northern and central Europe at the EU's external border. Bulgaria’s accession to the Schengen area will allow non-EU citizens to: Migrants – also receive Schengen visas in Bulgaria to settle illegally in deportation-proof countries such as Germany after their visa has expired. Instead of expanding Schengen to include three corrupt Member States, we should rethink Schengen as soon as possible. We need two major reforms. Firstly, the enlargement of internal Schengen border controls. The coronavirus crisis has shown: This is legally harmless. And secondly, effective protection of the EU's external border. Because what you are planning here are by no means travel facilitations, but new convenient access routes for the mass immigration of the population surplus of the Orient and Africa. (The speaker agreed to reply to a statement using the blue card procedure.)

Mr President! This parliament wants to fight the supposedly Russian, so-called anti-European and anti-Ukrainian propaganda. This raises, inter alia, the following question: When is criticism of the EU and the Ukrainian government anti-European and anti-Ukrainian propaganda? Here are three facts and three questions for you. Firstly: Radek Sikorski, former Polish Foreign and Defence Minister and currently a member of this House, thanked the US on Twitter for sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines. He and his wife have close ties to the White House and the Biden administration. Do you really think Mr. Sikorski is spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda or has been paid by Russia? What if he had other donors? Secondly: The European Parliament rightly wants to curb money laundering and tax evasion. But Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has received $41 million in offshore accounts from oligarch Kolomoyskyy. We know this from the ‘Pandora Papers’, which reveal secret offshore accounts of 35 heads of government. Are they Pandora papers Is this anti-Ukrainian propaganda? Thirdly: According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine is by far the most corrupt country in Europe. Is this anti-Ukrainian Russian propaganda? All these facts are concealed by Western governments and state-affiliated media. It seems to me that our problem is more state-funded pro-EU opinion-making than Russian EU criticism or anti-Ukrainian propaganda.

Madam President, in Princeton, Ursula von der Leyen blatantly interfered in the Italian elections. She said, ‘if things go in a difficult direction – and I’ve spoken about Hungary and Poland – we have tools’. Put bluntly, she threatened Italy with Article 7 legal proceedings and the withholding of EU funds. It’s not normally my style to use coarse metaphors, but there’s a time for figures and another for calling a spade a spade. The unelected, anti-democratic EU Commission, which is violating the EU treaties left, right and centre, is criticising fairly and democratically elected governments as undemocratic. I’m afraid, though, it rather resembles a seasoned prostitute chastising women for pre-marital cohabitation as right old slappers.

Madam President, Commissioner! In the summer, major damage to the ecosystem occurred in the Oder region on the German-Polish border. Tons of dead fish and shellfish as well as countless birds and beavers. Probable causes include man-made water pollution and heat, which led to low water levels, increased water temperatures and excessive salinity. Polish officials already attribute negligence or even guilt to German authorities or companies. However, water-ecological studies point to polluters upstream of the Oder. The first tensions seem to be beginning. EU environmental law has clear guidelines: the ‘polluter pays’ principle and the minimisation of damage. Therefore, the scientific investigations should be completed before blaming. This is because if two Member States cannot agree on the proper use of a few hundred kilometres of river and are almost overwhelmed, it does not look good – it is not good that 27 Member States agree on the management and future of 4.5 million square kilometres of the EU.

Madam President, I would like to raise a point of order based on Rule 144, which provides that matters concerning breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of Annex IV. Now, Annex IV, paragraph 2, states that ‘motions for resolutions shall not exceed 500 words’. The wording in the annex is clear and prescriptive: shall means shall. Yet most resolutions tabled consistently exceed the word limit, and not by a small margin. The joint motions for resolutions are even worse. The ID Group therefore requests that the Rules of Procedure be respected and that motions for resolutions that exceed the word count be deemed inadmissible. For this part session, of all the motions tabled, only three comply with the Rules of Procedure, namely the ID’s own motion on Nicaragua and both the ECR’s and the EPP’s motions on Uganda and Tanzania. We therefore request that all other motions for resolution be deemed inadmissible, and we only proceed to vote on those three.

Mr President! In March of this year, Bulgarian ex-Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was arrested on suspicion of corruption. 24 hours later, he was a free man again. The prosecutor's office and the courts confirmed that the evidence was insufficient. So far, so good. Then Manfred Weber and his EPP would indeed be right for the first and perhaps last time. It is also true that according to the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International Bulgaria is the most corrupt EU member state. Nevertheless, this Parliament does not want to do anything against Bulgaria – as we see here in the emptiness of the Chamber – unlike Poland and Hungary, which are each subject to so-called rule of law procedures under Article 7. The reason is obvious. Bulgaria may be corrupt, but its new government is strictly on the EU course, adhering to the insane climate and pro-migration agenda, unlike Hungary and Poland, which represent the interests of their own people and prefer to protect the economy rather than climb like Sisyphos climate summit. Conclusion: In the EU, only those who oppose the rule of law are considered enemies of the rule of law. Those who are politically compliant will also remain impunity. Whether accidentally or intentionally, I have probably one minute more than planned. But actually everything is said. Perhaps it should be noted that a lot – actually everything – has to change here, and then it goes uphill again.

Madam President, Commission President, we expected a speech on the State of the Union and got one on Ukraine, the blessings of public debt, the green religion and the fantasy economy. Tatsächlich herrscht in der EU Stagflation mit über 9 % Inflation und dem niedrigsten Wachstum der entwickelten Welt. Für Deutschland erwartet das IFO—Institut nun Rezession und eine Inflationsrate von zeitweise über 10 %. Die Schweiz indes hat 3,5 % Inflation und 2,6 % reales Wachstum. Das zeigt: Hyperinflation ist vermeidbar und solides Wachstum in Europa noch möglich. Unsere Stagflation ist also nicht Folge von COVID oder Ukrainekrieg, sondern hausgemacht durch undurchdachte Sanktionen und einen Green Deal, der Energie unbezahlbar macht und null Einfluss auf das Weltklima hat. Jetzt soll der EU-Migrationspakt noch dutzende Millionen Migranten zu uns holen. Jeder Einzelne davon kostet uns nach einer dänischen Studie über 600 000 Euro. Das Geld dafür druckt die EZB, und Geldmengenzuwachs und Euro-Verfall bedeuten noch mehr Inflation. Fragt mich jemand: „Was können wir jetzt noch tun?“, sage ich stets: ganz einfach – genau das Gegenteil dessen, was deutsche Bundesregierung und EU-Kommission seit Jahren machen. Das wäre der allzeit billigste Aufbauplan und die einzige Zukunft für NextGenerationEU.

Mr President! Last year, the ECB expected inflation to be below 2% in 2022. Now we have over 9% in the euro area and over 20% in the Baltics. Switzerland has 3.5%. ECB President Christine Lagarde publicly rejected such comparisons as disreputable. But it is not the comparison that is objectionable, but the ECB's monetary policy. Switzerland has shown: Inflation of almost 10% was avoidable. However, the ECB does not want price stability at all, but pursues monetary government financing. This is why it is now also compensating for its delayed interest rate hike with higher bond purchases by the southern states. 9% inflation in wage repression and mini-interest means citizens lose 8% of their income and savings annually. What is happening here is one of the greatest raids in history, and this time against our own citizens.

Madam President, I wish to welcome Prime Minister Mitsotakis to the European Parliament. I would like to congratulate you, Mr Mitsotakis, more than once. First, on paying off your debt to the IMF two years ahead of schedule. However, the euro is quite another matter. It has not served Greece well. Greek inflation stands at 12%. Rents in Athens are up about 17% and petrol prices are approaching EUR 3 per litre. Almost 30% of Greeks are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. One million Greeks work in the tourist sector, but the rental costs of sunbeds in exclusive resorts in Mykonos now equal the monthly minimum wage in Greece. Price rises of up to 110% for Greek hotel rooms far exceed those in other holiday destinations. Lay—offs in the Greek tourist sector therefore seem inevitable. Second, I would like to thank you for your efforts in protecting Europe against the ongoing migrant invasion. Last week you decided to triple the length of the border fence with Turkey and you prevented smugglers from offloading over 1 000 illegal migrants on Greek islands. Third, I applaud your resolve in resisting aggressive posturing from Ankara. Greece’s territorial integrity should be sacrosanct to the EU, more self—evidently so than that of neighbouring non—EU countries. On the other hand, Prime Minister, I firmly disagree with you on the expansion of the European Empire. With the highest inflation rate since the 1970s, this is not the time to waste energy and money on making the Western Balkans ‘fit for 55’. Rather, we should focus on the Greek pension of EUR 384 per month and the 14 million Germans who live near or below the poverty line. Further, your government recently decided to follow Germany in ordering F—35 American fighter jets. Instead, you could have favoured European options to protect European, not American, workers and jobs. Finally, at a recent press conference on demographic change, you seemed to adopt the logic of replacement migration, commending the integration of populations from Asia and Africa as a viable alternative, or as a viable solution to low fertility rates, instead of favouring imaginative family policies, Hungarian style. The truth is that European governments have failed us for 40 years. Even Europe’s richest countries were never rich enough to allow most families to raise two or three children in modest comfort. They are now importing millions of migrants which will rarely work and usually live on welfare. Sadly, our EU leaders are destroying our welfare state through the back door – and European culture and civilisation with it. Prime Minister, I implore you to resist von der Leyen’s ‘great replacement’. Greece was under Ottoman rule for centuries. You have no reason to adopt Germany’s guilt complex.

Madam President, The ECB expects inflation to reach 6.8% this year, 3.5% next year and 2% in 2024. That is 12.8% over three years or 4.3% per year on average – well above the ECB’s 2% target and a whopping 4.3% above the EU Treaty price stability requirement. The ECB thus devalues savings by just over 4% per annum and net income by around 3%. At the same time, property prices in the euro area are rising by 10%. However, the ECB is barely raising interest rates. Conclusion: The ECB has led us into stagflation, expropriating ordinary citizens and granting large assets double-digit growth rates. Let's call things by name: The ECB has failed in monetary policy. It is nothing more than the henchman of plutocracy.

Mr President! Poland has paid very well for its veto against the introduction of a global minimum corporate tax rate of 5%. For this reason, the EU Commission has now released Poland's multi-billion-dollar national recovery plan. As a result, Hungary, the last country still waiting for its money from Brussels, is blocking the tax deal until the hypocritical EU objections are abandoned and Hungary's recovery plan approved and the billions transferred to Budapest. The EU refuses EU funding to states. The flimsy reasoning: Violation of the so-called rule of law. But the high value of independence from the judiciary and the media degenerates into a plaything or bargaining chip in the political bluff poker. This in itself is a blatant violation of the rule of law and our democratic understanding of the state. Furthermore, Poland and Hungary are now still using the unanimity principle on tax issues as a pledge against the Commission's blackmail attempts. If this principle is abandoned, Brussels will finally have its taxation without representation, Taxation without representationestablished as the cornerstone of our political order.

Madam President, Inflation in the eurozone is 9%, in Switzerland it is below 3%. Nevertheless, the Swiss National Bank raised the key interest rate by half a percent, the ECB is only a quarter of a percent in prospect. So why does the ECB do half or even quarter things? There are three reasons for rampant inflation in the eurozone: firstly, the Green Deal, secondly, the energy price explosion caused by the Ukraine sanctions against Russia, and thirdly, the unrestrained expansion of the money supply. The ECB cannot and does not want to lift the sanctions. The ECB supports the Green Deal, and the ECB will further expand the money supply to subsidise the debt of many eurozone countries. Conclusion: The ECB does not want to act.

Madam President, I am not going to speak for two, or two and a half, additional minutes, but maybe a few seconds more. I’m counting on your indulgence. Frau Präsidentin! Premierminister Plenković, meinen Glückwunsch zum Euro-Beitritt! Aber die Eurozone hat seit Jahren kaum Null- oder Negativwachstum. In der Hochtechnologie und den Wachstumsindustrien sind wir hoffnungslos abgeschlagen hinter China und den USA. Die Inflation grassiert und liegt bei 9 %; in der Schweiz liegt sie bei unter 3 %. Den deutschen Sparer allein kostete der Euro 2021 rund 160 Milliarden Euro – unbezahlbar, volkswirtschaftlich desaströs und auf Dauer vertragswidrig angelegt, denn die Eurorettung vollzieht sich seit Jahren im offenen Widerspruch zu den Artikeln 123 AEUV, 125 AEUV, 127 AEUV und 310 und 311 AEUV. Der allen Katholiken wohlbekannte und damit auch Ihren Landsleuten geläufige Thomas Morus rügte einst seinen meineidigen Widersacher Cromwell mit den Worten: „Der Einzelne mag versucht sein, sein Heil für die ganze Welt zu geben, aber für Wales?“ Sie nun geben Ihr Land auf für den Euro. Eigentlich sollten das nur Länder, die sich selbst längst schon abgeschrieben haben. Das will ich nicht hoffen für Ihr Land.

Mr President, at the launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe, I offered Guy Verhofstadt a wager for any sum that the Conference conclusions were prearranged and would call for more EU integration, less unanimity, more migration, more fanciful green humbug and more EU debt. In short, they would call for a federal EU state. Mr Verhofstadt declined the offer, for he well knew that all I predicted would come true, that the Conference process was a farce. To achieve a federal state, the EU requires Treaty revision. However, 13 Member States, including the Czech Republic and Sweden, have rejected Treaty change. The ID Group welcomes the declaration of the 13. We will support any initiative to bring the EU back to reason, prosperity and democracy, and to save us from a dysfunctional EU state.

Madam President, According to a study by the Zurich University of Technology, reforestation of the earth's surface is the most effective measure for climate rescue. A third more forest area worldwide would absorb two-thirds of the industrially produced carbon. Germany ranks 21st in the EU with 32% of forest land. With 10 percentage points of afforestation, Germany and the EU could make their contribution to climate rescue. Instead, the EU is forcing the green transformation and deindustrialisation. With a share of 2 and 8 % of global CO2 emissions, our impact on the global climate is zero. The result can therefore not be the climate rescue, but only the end of our competitiveness. You want this, because otherwise you are also talking about afforestation here.