Speeches

Madam President, Madam President of the European Commission, are you afraid? Are you scared? Do you feel the weight of demonstrations on the street, popular anger? Because after years of anti-social politics, after years of supporting the genocide in Palestine, after years of submission to the United States, all of a sudden, a river speech. Moreover, an hour and a half to save your skin, to answer – yes, I know well, but an hour and a half, I am already happy that you are here, the last time you left after half an hour – to the popular pressure, to the social mobilisation that we see today in France, Belgium and other European countries. I'm glad you're listening. But I also see the contradiction, because billions of euros, 800 billion for the shareholders of the war, for the multinational arms companies, it will be money that will not go into pensions, that will not go into the fight against poverty, that will not go to the housing of people, and that, therefore, on the one hand, you smile at people, but on the other hand, you are planting a knife in their back. That, we won't let it pass, we'll continue the mobilization.

You have just accused us of the most horrible things. You should be ashamed. Let me ask you, what are your sources? The International Court of Justice has spoken about a plausible risk of genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, Palestinians on the ground, Israeli NGOs and even Israeli genocide scholars and Holocaust experts. So what are your sources? Who are you to deny the genocide? What is it, like 'Trust me, bro'? That's not going to work here. Do better!

Madam President, Madam High Representative, ladies and gentlemen, if there is one thing that is clear, it is that the moral compass of Europe today is not here. The moral compass is among the hundreds of thousands of Europeans who are mobilising against European inaction and complicity - some of you, no doubt - with what is going on in Gaza and what is genocide. It is a genocide that everyone can see, except some of you who continue to support Israel, and the European Union which continues to support Israel with hundreds of millions of euros, with weapons that still pass, massacres that are supported. He's kind of someone who'd go into a school, into a building, and say, "I'm going to kill everyone, and after this building I'm going to attack the school and then it's going to be the hospital." And the European Union comes and says: Here, you want a gun again? Do you need a bullet to help you?" That's it today. Mrs Kallas, you said that you had a lot of discussions with the Israeli minister and that you found a good agreement on humanitarian aid with terms of reference. You forgot to mention that there was no need for famine, because since you had your agreement, there has been famine in Gaza. That's your responsibility, Mrs. Kallas.

Mr President, Commissioner, peace is good. We applaud peace. But you forgot one thing: What did Trump actually say to the Congolese? He told them: If you want peace, you will have to give me your wealth. deal The Congolese, who offer him control of the minerals. This is simply called racketeering. The West – Europe too, for that matter – first ‘sponsored’ Rwanda, the rebels and the war in the East to plunder Congo’s minerals. They are the same ones who then come to offer the peace of the thieves and bring back American mercenaries to control the mines of the Congolese. In Ukraine, it is the same - "Do you want support? Look, you're going to give us your raw materials’ – and in the Middle East too, for that matter – from Libya to Iran to Iraq, any country that wants to control its gas and oil gets attacked, gets bombed. Even the Palestinians are now being cleared so that their gas can be stolen. That is imperialism. We know this very well: Africa is not poor, Africa is impoverished – and this is creating anger today. If Europe does not change its approach, we will be hunted with tar and feathers by the Congolese, by the Africans. Our responsibility is to stop following this imperialist policy, which we have followed by supporting the rebels, Rwanda and other imperialists such as the United States.

I think you need to check your history, the Spanish colonial history and the fight with the United States. There were, at the end of the 19th century, concentration camps set up. But this is okay – you will check; let me ask you a real question. Iran replied to an Israeli illegal attack by bombing Israel. It's easy to condemn Iran, as you have done time and time again. But over the last years, Israel has bombed, what is it, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, of course Palestine, and is illegally occupying Palestine, parts of Syria and illegally occupying parts of Lebanon. Are you able to condemn this? Or do you say 'no, I fully stand with Israeli violations of international law'? Do you have these double standards or do you adhere to international law?

Madam President, Minister, Commissioner, as you have read, Israel wants to concentrate at least 600 000 Palestinians in a camp in Gaza. It would be like gathering three times the population of Charleroi or three times the population of Liège in a camp. The ultimate goal, in the Israelis’ own words, would be to actually see the expulsion, emigration, deportation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Israel is thus openly reconnecting with the worst pages in the history of European colonialism. Indeed, let us remember, long before the horrors of the Second World War, colonial Spain had already set up concentration camps in Cuba, where tens of thousands of people died of hunger and disease. The United Kingdom also built them in South Africa, Germany during its genocide in Namibia, and France, of course, in Algeria. Today, the fact that even these plans for a concentration camp do not undermine your support for the State of Israel is unacceptable. In the meantime, we have had the struggles for human rights, we have the struggles against colonialism. But you remain Israel’s partner, without sanctions. You even continue to treat this country as a privileged partner. This is unacceptable. Today, let’s urgently sanction Israel!

Mr President, Commissioner, the contrast with what you are saying and the outside world is sometimes great. You are talking about a leading role of the European Union for the green industry. After we however Audi in Brussels a CO2-Having seen a neutral factory close, ArcelorMittal is now threatening to give up its Steelanol factory in Ghent. Despite the support of the European Investment Bank: a European subsidy of, I believe, EUR 262 million. If we continue like this, we will soon be in Europe without green industry, without industry, without jobs, without know-how. While Europe is sinking industrially into a swamp, you are actually sticking to a market logic that has actually been undermining our industry for years. What do I see? Still no obligation for multinationals to reinvest their profits, no moratorium on factory closures, no binding rules on what and how to produce and no vote for the people who work there effectively, trade unions, workers, citizens. We need a different approach. Take control of that audience.

Mr President, I propose to push the European Investment Bank to align its activities with the recent report of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese regarding the role certain corporations play in violations of international law. The text of the amendment would be the following: 'urgently calls on the European Investment Bank to stop providing support to companies involved in sustaining the illegal Israeli occupation and its ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza'. You can, of course, oppose this, but it would mean putting the EIB outside international law.

Mr President, Commissioner, for centuries we have been trying to turn lead into gold, because obviously that would make a lot of people very rich. But today, even if you are given gold, you can turn it into lead. Worse still: By giving yourself a good wine, you are able to make acid out of it. Today we have – and you hide it from the people – the largest multilateral financial institution in the world, here in Europe. So I'm like, Ooh, great! With this, we will finally be able to put our infrastructure in working order, starting with the railways, for example. Let us no longer have all these delays, let us have a little bit of quality railways, punctual railways, and then schools! Hospitals! We can invest so that our children are no longer in smaller classrooms, in old buildings, and that there are no waiting lists in hospitals either! We can put money in there! We can isolate houses massively, so that our bills go down!" With the money from this big investment bank, we could do a lot of things. But what is your priority, colleagues? Give that money to the war. Finally, open this investment bank to military funds, so that it can support a military base in Lithuania, a military base German in Lithuania – Congratulations, that’s really Europe’s priority! – or use this money for multinational arms companies – Leonardo and others – some of which are now involved in the genocide taking place in Palestine. Colleagues, is it really more important today to support a genocide in Palestine or to guarantee our children in Europe the best possible classes and schools, with the best possible infrastructure? That is the question. Today, we are making the wrong choice. The European Investment Bank must no longer finance these military expenditures, but it must focus on the climate, on the social, on equal social and economic development for us in Europe.

Mr President, Commissioner, when I hear you talk about the enlargement of the European Union, it sounds nice as an idea, but I think you are passing a little quickly on the real consequences that this can have on workers. Because the minimum wage in Ukraine does not come to 200 euros, I think, in Moldova, it is a little more than 300 euros. In the context of the current rules of the European market, which does not even guarantee that today a worker who goes to work in another Member State is entitled to the same rules of protection, to the same social security as another, what will happen in the context of an enlargement? Quite simply, companies – indeed, there are quite a few so-called letterbox companies – will take advantage of this to bring down, to make working conditions worse for workers across Europe. And that would be the concrete impact in Europe today of enlargement for workers. Don't hide that, don't dream of greatness about how beautiful Europe will be to 200 states. That's not what the workers are going through. The workers now want you to change this Europe; no longer competition, but cooperation, social security.

Madam President, Commissioner, NATO is still, it must be said, led today by someone who behaves a bit like an international gangster. Mr. Trump threatens to destroy Iran, occupy Greenland, invade Panama. And now they are also demanding a war against our own people by breaking our pensions and social security to put 5% of our GDP in the war. 5% would be in Belgium 6,000 euros per family per year. I don't know who in our country has 6,000 euros to give to the war every year. Colleagues, you need to change your disc a little bit: You say it's to defend us, but NATO is already spending eight times as much on weapons as Russia. Should we spend twenty times as much to be safe? Europe alone, without the United States, already has four times as many warships, three times as many tanks and twice as many fighter jets. So tell the truth: This money is not to defend itself, it is to attack! Today perhaps in Iran, tomorrow China, that's what we have to say. I will tell you: I don't want to sacrifice our people, our social security on the altar of war. We're social security, not your world war.

Mr President, Mrs Kallas, Yaran Ghasemian, a two-month-old baby who has just been killed by an Israeli bombardment of Iran. Parnia Abbasi, a young poet, 23 years old, her little brother Parham, barely 16 years old. A life ahead of them, dreams of hope, but Israel decided to kill them, in Iran, in Tehran. Where their bombs are now also hitting journalists and hospitals. You call it targeted bombing? I call it war crimes. Israel wants to do to Iran what they are doing in Gaza. What about Europe? While you were still a little uncomfortable with your support for Israeli crimes and genocide in Gaza, there you assume. German Chancellor Merz who does: Ah, they're doing the dirty work for us! What, killing kids, that's the dirty work you want Israel to do for us? But what is this Europe that assumes the criminality of its imperialism? It's a shame! Today, break with Israel or you too will be condemned by international justice.

Madam President, now we insist on having a vote on a resolution as well on this because Israel illegally and criminally attacked Iran this weekend. Illegally because you cannot just attack another country. I know Israel is in the habit of doing it, but it's still illegal. Criminally because a lot of civilians, including children, were killed and nuclear power plants were deliberately targeted, creating in this way the risk of a nuclear catastrophe with mass civilian victims. Now, this is terrible and so I was saying, like we did when Russia attacked Ukraine: the European Union will condemn this. But what do I see? No, Ursula von der Leyen even insists on the right of Israel to defend itself. To defend itself – what? They're the ones attacking. They're the ones having the news. They're the ones threatening to transform Tehran into Gaza. So we need a vote on this. We cannot just not condemn this and keep on supporting criminal actions that are against international law and against human rights.

Madam President, more than one in four Europeans is forced to skip a meal for financial reasons. Nearly 39 million Europeans cannot even afford a piece of meat, fish or vegetarian equivalent every other day. The price of our food does not increase because there would be too many mouths to feed, no, it increases because it is absolutely necessary to feed the purse. That is the problem. Families therefore think three times before spending 1 euro, see the price of the cart that explodes and, in the meantime, there are markets in which speculators play with our food as if they were at the casino. The cereals market, for example, is now controlled by four giants, four monopolies that set prices and make considerable overprofits. Regarding cocoa, coffee, olive oil, prices are rising not because of shortages, but because of speculation about potential shortages. We can no longer leave our food in the hands of these monopolies and speculation. We must now dissolve these greedy monopolies, regulate prices and prohibit all speculation on our meals.

But you're wonderful, you, really, you're wonderful! Firstly, you do not care whether the President of the European Commission is here or not. What kind of MP are you? Aren't you interested in the Commission's responsibility? What are you doing here? Secondly, in relation to weapons for Ukraine: My point is that today we are sending weapons to Ukraine, but we are not even sending humanitarian aid – we are not even guaranteeing it – to the Palestinians. They can die! When we asked for a debate here, you voted against: You don't even dare to talk about it! That's your complicity! Don't make movies about Ukraine and human rights, while in Palestine you want to see people die!

Mr President, Mrs Von der... Oh, no, she's gone? Really? The President of the European Commission is asked to be there for two hours this week and she leaves after half an hour? What kind of contempt is that? A worker should try: be paid full-time and get out after half an hour at work. Frankly, congratulations! Today, I heard you say that the occupation, we do not like – (reacting to non-micro words) ah yes, we have to work from time to time, I know that, perhaps, for some Members, this is also a problem – so let's talk a little bit... you said that you are against illegal occupation, against bombings, against massacres, against child abductions and that, therefore, we will increase sanctions against Russia and send more weapons to Ukraine. All right, all right. I too am against illegal occupation, for respect for sovereignty, for international law. So I don't understand why you continue to support Israel. Famines, massacres, genocide: A good part here applauds, refuses even to debate it, and we continue to deliver weapons. (Reacting to non-micro speechYes, you too, Madam, are indeed complicit in this policy. Be ashamed!

Mr President, Commissioner Šefčovič, I read your remarks in the press and I sometimes wonder: is there a Eurovision contest for being Washington's best lapdog? Because, honestly, Trump threatens us and your reaction is: well, we might import more shale gas. Yes, that's going to cost us very, very dearly, our workers will pay more, it's going to pollute our planet, but we'll do it. Please be nice to us!' The agricultural produce: I think you spoke about more beans on the EU market. Why do we want to reward him, or China? You say, 'yes, let's be tougher on China'. This will mean increased prices for European consumers and less access potentially to technology for our economy. I think if you really want to react to what Trump is doing – and what you would do if you were attacked by, I don't know, China with a trade war, or Russia or whatever – you would invest in our own infrastructure. Why don't we take, I don't know, public energy companies? They can guarantee cheap, affordable energy to industries and to workers. Or diversify our relations also with China and with all these other countries that have been mentioned? That is the strategy and that is what we need.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to request the postponement of this resolution on alleged discrimination or attacks against Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for various reasons. First, the title gives the impression – we can see the inspiration of the extreme right – that if a Christian is killed by a terrorist group in Congo, it is serious, on the other hand, if a Muslim or someone of another religion is killed by the same terrorist group, it would not be serious. But the bottom line is that this initiative comes from news that 70 bodies were found beheaded in a church in Congo. However, I read today in the Congolese press that this news would be denied. So, before this House adopts a resolution potentially based on false information – which, incidentally, is no longer even in the resolution, because... we don’t know! – I would like to ask for the postponement and say: "Let us not divide the Congolese people on the basis of possible false information.

Mr President, the Commissioner must keep his feet on the ground. In Belgium, both ArcelorMittal and BASF have suspended green investments for the future of our industry. One of the main reasons for this is, and will continue to be, energy prices, which are still skyrocketing. Nevertheless, the European Commission has still not come up with real solutions to the high prices. The solutions are being sought again at and in the private sector, but the energy multinationals will only make investments where and when this yields enough, and not because it is essential for the future of our industry or our climate. As a result, production is shifting to regions where energy is affordable, while jobs are disappearing and factories are closing. This is not an inevitability, but a political failure. In order to get the engine of our industry back on track, we need to make massive public investments and take back public control of our energy sector.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am ashamed of the title of this resolution. In eastern Congo, the entire population is risking their lives on a daily basis because of Rwandan-backed rebels. There are 10 million victims, and the Congolese are angry, not least because the European Union continues to cooperate with Rwanda. What are you trying to do here, right and far right? Blurring tracks, hiding foreign interference and dividing Congolese among themselves on a religious basis. You pretend that in the DRC it is Muslims who are waging war against Christians. Why? Because you want to divide the Congolese to better plunder their resources. This is a classic colonial strategy. In the Great Lakes region, the Belgian colonizers, at the time, had imposed this division between Hutus and Tutsis, with all the dramatic consequences we know today. It is not a religious war, but a war for resources. Don't hide it and stop military cooperation with Rwanda. Take responsibility. European complicity must stop today!

Madam President, High Representative Kallas, you speak about a balanced approach, but balanced on what? On war crimes? On genocide? On the killing of 15 humanitarian workers? On mass graves? On the killing of children? And what would that balance be, exactly? Some nice words for the Palestinians. More weapons for Israel. Nice words for the Palestinians. Weapons for Israel. That is not balanced. That is complicity in genocide. I mean, in the face of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, I have never heard you speak about a balanced approach. There are 40 EU sanctioned regimes and not one on Israel, which stands accused in front of international courts of genocide. The ICC asks the arrest of Netanyahu. And yet, no EU sanctions. Stop this complicity now. Adopt sanctions. Palestinians need acts, not words. These empty words, they have not saved one single Palestinian child's life. Stop this now. Act!

Madam President, dear leaders, High Representative, first of all, you're the minister of foreign affairs – a little bit – of the European Union. You know that the International Criminal Court asked for the arrest of Israeli leaders, yet you go to Israel and your first words are: We are very good partners. Ms High Representative, what 'very good partners'? In crime, in genocide, in ethnic cleansing? These words are a shame for the European Union. They should never be uttered again. Then let's be clear: Here, together with the European Union, we are creating a more dangerous world. Why? Because our actions do not follow our words. We often talk about children’s rights, but how can we talk about it when, at the same time, we support Israel, which kidnaps hundreds of Palestinian children every year? How can we talk about democracy when we do not have a word of criticism about a presidential election in Rwanda that sees the president elected with more than 99% of the vote? How can we talk about justice when we talk about Saudi Arabia, which executes hundreds of prisoners? How can we talk about sovereignty when we do not dare to denounce the illegality of the US presence in Syria, nor the illegality of the Israeli presence in Lebanon and Syria? How, finally, can we talk about peace when our countries themselves have invaded many African or Arab countries? We are talking about a rules-based world, but in reality we are undermining all international law, which, not only is absolutely unacceptable, is dangerous for our citizens. Indeed, how can we ask other countries to respect the rules when we ourselves violate them or accept their violation by our allies, because, all in all, they guarantee profits to our multinationals? This is unacceptable! The European Union needs to fundamentally change its foreign policy towards a policy of peace and justice in the world.

Mr President, I am going to touch on something that has not been discussed and that has made headlines in the various newspapers: it is the fact that, as every year, there is a salary increase for the European Commissioners, and in particular for the President of the European Commission, Ms von der Leyen. I remember when I landed here a few years ago, it was around €30,000 a month. When I told people this, they would say to me: No?! Isn’t that possible?!” Today, apparently, it is going to exceed EUR 34 000 per month. We in the Left Group have been calling for a halving of the salaries of European Commissioners for a very long time, so that they are aware of people's priorities. Because, of course, it has an impact on the budget choices we make. Afterwards, it is easy to say, when you earn so much, that you are going to take money from the Cohesion Fund, intended for European citizens, and give it to the military industry. My question today is: "Is there a ceiling?" We are at €34,000 per month for the President of the European Commission. Is there really a ceiling? I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that this ceiling must be imposed in order to have a Europe that serves the interests of the people and not just the few rich.

Madam President, can I first ask the Council to stop laughing? You are laughing here, while we are talking about the death of I don’t know how many Palestinians, of a starving population, and you are laughing and making jokes! It’s not funny! Palestinians are human beings, too, and you should be ashamed! This is the hallmark of this European Union today: a contempt for the lives of Palestinians! Because yes, you managed to make a speech by saying: Ah! The situation in Gaza is getting worse...", not to mention why it's getting worse. Why is it getting worse? Well, because Israel blocks all humanitarian aid, all food, and even electricity. What does this mean? Without electricity, there is no desalination of water, and therefore no drinking water. So people, families, children don’t have drinking water, and you’re here laughing! How is that possible, Minister? How is this possible, please? So today, this European complicity and disrespect for the lives of Palestinians must stop, because it will pay cash! I promise you!

Mr President, the Commission comes up with its Clean Industrial Deal and then claims that the solution is for everything. Let's look at three crucial factors: Firstly, energy prices. Energy prices remain high and you do not come up with a mechanism that guarantees that there will be a stable, low price for all companies. You will not come up with a massive public investment package that we say "we will take back into our own hands and control over energy prices". Secondly, there is another problem of industrial policy. That is that in recent years we have given a lot of public money, tax money, to companies that have put it in their own pockets, to shareholders without guaranteeing jobs in Europe. The Commission is also failing in this respect. What guarantees are there for the workers, for the workers? Thirdly, you now also want to weaken the social and environmental responsibility of multinationals with regard to raw materials. This means that we will see more looting in eastern Congo, that we will encourage Rwanda even more to start the war there. That's not the solution. We need a public industrial policy.