What Lukas spoke about.

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Written Statements EN

Motion of censure on the Commission (debate)

The very stability of Europe is at stake! The current European Commission was elected in 2024. Since then, it has proved to be aware of what’s at stake for Europe, especially in the economy and for our security. At the same time, the Commission has been challenged due to crises and geopolitical developments. Its initiatives for the Omnibus-packages show the efforts by the Commission to contribute to Europe’s future prosperity. For our security, the Commission has been a constructive partner of the European Parliament in fostering our defence capability. When it comes to global crises the Commission has been keeping up Europe’s stance. I see the motions of censure against the European Commission as nothing but attempts to destabilise Europe; no matter whether they had been tabled by the extreme left or by the extreme right like recently. As the EU is for the time being to be seen as the most stable part of the world, it’s even more severe when political groups try to destabilise it. For all these reasons my intention has remained as in all the former cases to vote against the motion of censure against the European Commission.

18

Jun

2026

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International Day of Play: promoting children’s right to play (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. We are talking about the right of children to play. Now some citizens will ask: Does the European level need to intervene? I say, no, not when it comes to the individual child, but I say, yes, when it comes to the safety of children, as the Commissioner has already said. Child protection on the Internet, child protection in general is a central concern, of course also a European concern, in which all levels must help. Secondly: Children are not just small adults, just in a different size, but children are children. You have a special view of the world; We can learn so much from children. Children suck up information, have a lot of curiosity. Children learn in a playful way and, of course, children can also be exposed to risks in a playful way – and we address these risks. Children also learn – yes, even gamified, through gamification, as it is now called – online, if these are educationally valuable games. But it is important that children have the opportunity to play even without the mobile phone, without the smartphone, without any digital tools. In other parts of the world – through child labour, crises and wars – children are under great pressure. In Europe, we can avoid this, and yet children cannot use their right to play as we should wish all children to do, because the word gamification is actually an inverted matter of course; We all learn playfully, even adults. And that is the third point. We learn playfully through curiosity, because something brings joy. The fact that not only children play, but also adults, we see in these days by the football World Cup very special. So, let's learn from the children to learn playfully, and let's teach the children to play even without technical aids!

18

Jun

2026

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Joint Declaration on ‘Culture for Europe - Europe for Culture’ (debate)

17

Jun

2026

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Continued crackdown on civic space and fundamental freedoms in Burkina Faso

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, frankly, I have taken the floor on this very debate on Burkina Faso – namely, the 'Continued crackdown on civic space and fundamental freedoms in Burkina Faso' – not only because of our negotiations in the Development Committee and in other areas of international partnerships, but in particular because in my home country, in Austria, we have an extremely active, engaged Austrian-Burkina Faso Society, which kept ties with the population, with the citizens of Burkina Faso even during these troubled times since 2022, and also during these even more troubled times since the beginning of 2026. All over the world, where we see that a regime is oppressing its own people instead of serving its own people, we have to also address the people with our solidarity from the European side, because the values we represent are not only for Europe. They are universal. They are for everybody. They are about human dignity and individual freedom. And that is something that everybody deserves.

17

Jun

2026

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Protecting EU citizens’ data from hybrid threats: the Lithuanian case (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, Lithuania is a success story. Lithuania, if you didn't yet know, is, according to analysis, the state with the happiest youth on earth. Lithuania is an EU Member State that was in history part of the so‑called Soviet Union. Now Lithuania has been attacked – like many parts of Europe – via hybrid means and measures, and among them is cyberattacks. 600 000 – a vast number of data of persons has been stolen by Putin's Russia. This is a huge number given the size of the country. We must not underestimate what that means in terms of interference, especially in the country that is a success story also in terms of digitalisation, of using digital means and measures to preserve not only bureaucracy but also democracy, confidence and trust within a society. A text like that must not remain uncommented by us. This is why it is important that the whole European Parliament is standing behind Lithuania. I thank my dear colleague Rasa Juknevičienė for raising the issue, for putting the issue in the centre of the very European Parliament, and for giving us the opportunity to ensure the Lithuanians of our full solidarity and of fighting back against these attacks from Putin's Russia.

16

Jun

2026

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Reinforcing development cooperation to address irregular population movements and their root causes in partner countries (A10-0147/2026 - Lukas Mandl) (vote)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, Europe needs to be seen as the strongest soft power on earth. In humanitarian aid, in development aid, when it comes to European businesses, European reliability is the largest on earth. Europe will stay strong in these fields and Europe will remain reliable to other parts of the world. At the same time, Europe has to tackle, as the report calls it, 'irregular population movements'. It is important that we put the one thing to the other, because no person on earth should be uprooted from its home against its will. And this is so important that we contribute to both – to development aid, to our soft power, as well as to tackling irregular population movements, for the sake of the Europeans, and for the sake of the people who must not be uprooted. I want to thank, in particular, the negotiators of the political groups for constructive negotiations, tough negotiations, of course, but for seeking common ground and, actually, for achieving common ground. I want to thank everybody contributing to a compromise which led to a proper result, a stable result and a strong message from this very European Parliament that we can send today. That is why I humbly ask the colleagues in this Chamber to give their consent to this report.

16

Jun

2026

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Achieving digital sovereignty and resilience for Europe, in light of recent developments affecting access to advanced AI technologies (debate)

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! Europe's digital sovereignty is important for the future. Not because Europe is supposed to close itself off, but because Europe needs to develop more outwardly in order to live Europe's cooperative approach, also against the confrontational approach that so many parts of the world are trying to take today. You will have heard of Anthropic – possibly the strongest application of artificial intelligence available today, and it was only last week that the US decided that Anthropic should no longer be used outside the US. This is another warning signal for our European innovative strength and thus for our future economic strength and for the opportunities of young people in Europe and also for the civilization of our kind with social protection systems. All this depends on companies in Europe being able to develop and train their artificial intelligence applications. It is also a subsidiary process, a process of subsidiarity, that the individual company, the individual organization, trains its own AI applications. We need to get young people, especially girls and women, excited about science subjects. We must reduce regulation, of course, keep the ethical framework for Europe, and we must make it possible to invest in Europe, including through the internal capital market, for artificial intelligence on our continent.

20

May

2026

Answers EN

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Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

Thank you for the question and for giving me the opportunity to even dig deeper into the issue. We are also protecting migrants with the right to asylum – including women, especially women – and fighting illegal migration is very important in order to preserve the very, some would say, 'holy' right of asylum for the small minority with an asylum right. We also fight illegal migration for each and everybody. So, we fight illegal migration also for women in Afghanistan. I totally agree that this regime has to be fought as much as the one in Iran. Each and every Islamist terrorist or other terrorist regime, or criminal regime such Putin's in Russia has to be fought. We should not make a small difference here. The diplomatic expression for what is needed is 'backchanneling' because we talk to everybody on earth, but not with politically, democratically elected people. We will not give anybody the honour to have that.

20

May

2026

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Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, I can only time and again refer to the UN initiative HeForShe, which I recommend to each and every male person caring for the common good, because women's rights are not an issue for women alone. Women's rights are an issue for every sane and sober person, and this is what we have to care for, especially for women in Afghanistan so oppressed by the regime, the Taliban regime. Islamists all over the world oppress women. Islamism and Islam are different things – as I always emphasise, one is terrorism, the other is religion, deserves freedom of religion. When women are oppressed, it can't be justified with religion. It is a harmful, aggressive, violent ideology, and this is what we have to fight. The Taliban will not achieve one thing – they will not achieve that we stop fighting for women's rights and they will also not achieve that we stop fighting illegal migration. We fight both, we are the European Union, we stand to our values in each and every regard. This is not only true for Afghanistan, but also for the Syrian regime where we quasi legitimised much too directly the new leader there.

20

May

2026

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Repression and execution of protesters, dissidents, political prisoners and religious minorities in Iran

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, it's a late hour in the European Parliament, and we address again the Iranian people with our full solidarity against the threats by their own regime. It is impressive how the Iranian people – a large number of them definitely – are fighting this regime. And it will be important not only for these people and generations ahead in Iran, but for the whole world, that the mullah regime will come to an end, that there will be established democracy, rule of law, a parliamentary system. This is what each country deserves. This is what Iran deserves, the Iranians deserve. But the world will need it, because the Iranian regime, the mullah regime, is not only threatening its own people, killing its own people, but killing people all around the world via its proxies, terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah, Hamas. Also in Europe, the Iranian regime, the mullahs, are active with their Islamist terrorism. I always emphasise Islamism and Islam is not the same. There is a huge difference. The one is terrorism, the other is religion, deserving freedom of religion, a very important part of our civilisation, which we must uphold via connecting the dots. It is the same regime that's threatening the Global West and its own citizens.

19

May

2026

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Recommendation on the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (debate)

Mr President, High Representative, dear colleagues, when I listen to the extremists in this House, to the far left, to the far right, and how they talk about the United Nations and multilateralism, I'm even more convinced that multilateralism is important. The United Nations is obviously in urgent need of drastic reform, but it has to be in place. Humanity will need the United Nations more than ever in the future, and this is why we have to positively contribute to its reform. I always remember a high representative from the system of the very United Nations, a senior official of the United Nations talking to us during the high-level political forum at the UN seat in New York, saying that the problem would be that the United Nations would have become an NGO or acting like an NGO in itself. And I think this impression from the inside is also an impression I share from the outside. So if we can manage the UN making what it is supposed to do, not acting like an NGO – because there are NGOs on the planet – but acting on behalf of multilateralism in a positive sense, this will be good for every human being on this planet.

19

May

2026

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EU governance under pressure – institutional responses to global challenges (debate)

Mr President! Dear colleagues! The in-between applause in the speech of the former Austrian Chancellor here in the European Parliament today arose when he spoke of the defence union that we need. A good sign. Two weeks ago, an important European government – every government of a Member State is important, Germany is big – made clear with the German government: The unanimity principle, when blocked, is thus unsustainable. An important step. Why? Because the European Union has always evolved through new treaties, in structural terms. In human terms, of course, through generations before us that have done a great deal, on whose shoulders we stand, proverbial. And now it is up to us to do something so that the European Union not only exists, but develops more strength externally in this world, makes more freedom internally possible for citizens. And that is why it is so important not only to think about treaty reform again, but to work on this treaty reform. We in the European Parliament can negotiate, make good compromises across political and national borders and make good decisions. But we also need movement in the second chamber of European legislation, in the governments of the Member States. And that will be so important that a treaty reform will bring that about. And future generations will ask us: What have you done to implement Plan A of a united Europe? Plan B would be a Europe of different speeds, also a plan. Plan A is better.

19

May

2026

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EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

Madam President, Madam Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, ladies and gentlemen! Austria's former Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, who is being included in the European Order of Merit these days, yesterday pointed out here in the European Parliament that almost every day, somewhere in Europe, authorities at various levels - local, regional, of course also at state level and European - are affected by cyberattacks. We must take seriously the fact that our European way of civilization, freedom and human dignity is being attacked – and in times like these, of course, also by digital means and now, and from now on, especially by means of artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, we have become the continent of consumption in the field of digitalization and also in the field of artificial intelligence. But Europe must be the continent of innovation and production, and there is a lot to do about it. Not because we want to separate ourselves from other parts of the world. On the contrary: We want to cooperate, but on a firm, own, independent and also self-confident basis. There is a plethora of measures to be taken. This starts with investments that we need to loosen up through a single capital market. This also starts with the training of young people. This starts by also engaging girls and women in science and technology professions, so that we can unlock the potential that is in Europe, for our security and also for our prosperity on the way to recovery.

29

Apr

2026

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New Chinese law on ‘ethnic unity and progress’ and the intensified suppression of ethnic identities

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, to be very clear, the Strategic Compass of the European Union identifies and defines China in three dimensions for the European Union: as a strategic partner and economic competitor, and also as a systemic rival. As everybody who has ever had encounters with Chinese officials knows, this systemic rivalry is something very much disliked by our Chinese counterparts. But this very debate today, and the reason for this debate, shows there is a different system, there is systemic rivalry. It is just unacceptable from a European perspective to have minorities persecuted. 'Assimilation' is unacceptable from a European perspective, also due to Europe's history and the values Europe represents. At the same time, we live in a world of more and more confrontation. Europe's success story is based on cooperation internally, and I think Europe's outreach to the world must also be one of cooperation. Especially in these times where more and more world powers seek more confrontation, we have to be able to defend ourselves, we have to be more resilient, we have to be more independent, and we have to increase our independence and our diversification of risk, especially when it comes to China. But we also have to reach out our hand for cooperation where it is possible, where reciprocity is possible. Of course, this applies also to China – because China will be around, China will be an influential factor for Europe, and if we want the best for Europe and for the world, this cooperation on a positive basis will be important. And if we want to change something about the persecution of people, of minorities, of ethnicities, of religions within China, the cooperation approach will also provide better leverage.

29

Apr

2026

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Sudan’s abandoned humanitarian crisis: three years of conflict (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, since April 2023, the crisis in Sudan is by far the largest humanitarian crisis we have on Earth. We should ask ourselves from time to time why other smaller crises with maybe more political impact, more clear ideological roots, are more present in our political debates than this largest crisis on Earth, where people are suffering – children, women and men have been suffering since April 2023. Each year, here in the plenary of the European Parliament, we do not only discuss the crisis, but we also foster the humanitarian aid from the EU side, which becomes even more important in times when aid investments are cut all over the world. It's again the World Food Programme, the WFP – unideological and helping starving people – that continues to assist over 3.3 million people each month, the majority of whom are facing emergency levels of food insecurity. In February alone, the WFP distributed a lot of food and USD 12 million in cash. But the World Food Programme depends on funds from States, especially from EU Member States that fund it. To help in this crisis is not only a human question, which is clear and would be enough to decide in the right direction, it is also a question of Europe's security and Europe's dignity to be among the supporters.

29

Apr

2026

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Topical debate requested by a political group (PfE) (Rule 169) - Commission interference in democratic process and elections (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, thanks, actually, for participating in our debate, Commissioner, and for not interfering in a democratic process or elections. Participating in a debate is what every Commissioner is supposed to do, this is the whole point and the whole meaning of the democratic process. Dear colleagues, what sore losers they are, because they are now imposing and suggesting that it's the Commission that interferes in democratic processes and elections after losing the election in Hungary. No, the ones who took the decision in Hungary were the Hungarian citizens and, especially as an Austrian, I'm very thankful to them because it strengthens Europe in its entirety. It strengthens central Europe, it strengthens the bilateral relation between Austria and Hungary, that we will have a decent government in the future, and we will have a majority in the Hungarian Parliament with colleagues who will take decent decisions in the very centre of the political spectrum. It is Trumpism that has been voted against in Hungary. It is the political centre that has been voted in favour in Hungary by the citizens. That also means that maybe the climax of extremism is already over – of right extremism as well as of left extremism, of Trumpism as well as of wokeism. The decency of the political centre, the State's responsibility of the political centre is what the Hungarians voted for, and I am very hopeful for Europe in its entirety that this future will sustain and will be good for every generation. But since the extremists have put on the table this idea of the Commission interfering in democratic processes and elections, let us ask the question for a second – who is actually interfering in democratic processes and elections in Europe? Exactly, your friends in Russia. Putin's Russia is interfering in our elections, and you are part of this interference. That's a matter of fact, that's what we have to discuss. Don't be such sore losers, accept the democratic decisions, such as the one in Hungary, and try to observe the political centre with decent and straight, responsible decisions.

28

Apr

2026

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Monitoring the application of European Union law in 2023, 2024 and 2025 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The application of EU law is our topic today. And hand on heart: We had years when it was not easy for the users of the right we created here to apply the right one hundred percent because it was too complicated because it was too much. Because we did not follow the liberal principle of Montesquieu, which said: If there is no need to make a law, then there is no need to make a law. This principle has often been betrayed at European level. And in this period we have taken a different path. We have stopped some of what was becoming, and we have scaled back some of it by deregulation, as I say, by simplification, as others say. And we have managed, through better majorities here in the European Parliament, to give people confidence that the European level manages to focus on the essentials. And the important thing is enough work for all of us. The people's representation of Europe will not run out of work. Parliamentarism has enough to do for security, for the economy, in view of the geopolitical situation, in view of the economic difficulties. We need to move towards recovery, not more regulation. At the same time, two things are clear: Many parts of the world look to Europe because Europe creates regulation on many issues that is beneficial to people who are fit for purpose and humane. And that creates something that is not yet possible in these parts of the world. We are also a positive role model in some things. And it is also clear that sometimes the implementation of EU law at Member State level and at other levels is even more complicated than it actually comes from the European level – gold-plating That's what it means. It is not always in Brussels to look for problems when problems arise with the application of EU law.

28

Apr

2026

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The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! EU citizens have freedoms like hardly anyone else in the world. This has been made possible by European integration and must be defended time and again. And to defend that is the principle of the rule of law. This is not some abstract, cool entity, but it means that every human being is worth the same amount. And we can do that in the European Union. We are also the most reliable partner for others in the world. We need to see the positive developments: In Poland, an anti-law regime could be overcome, in Hungary, an anti-law regime could be overcome. When I remember, in February 2022, during a rule of law mission in Poland, I could see how bleak the state of the jurisprudence there was. In Hungary, we have witnessed for years how companies from other parts of Europe have been harassed. And now there is a blossoming, a spring for Europe, in Hungary, in Central Europe, for all of Europe.

28

Apr

2026

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Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2024 and 2025 (debate)

Thanks again for this important report, and it is good that Europeans have fundamental rights.

28

Apr

2026

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Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2024 and 2025 (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, I want to thank you for the excellent negotiations we had. They were tough, I can tell you, but they led to a result that is on the table today and that is of utmost importance. As the Commissioner has just stated, fundamental rights are not an abstract ideal, he said, and I could not agree more. I think many people would ask what is the whole point of fundamental rights? It might sound a bit abstract. I think fundamental rights and the values behind fundamental rights are like the seed that, in the long term, bear the fruits of our freedom. And these fruits of freedom are opportunities, are equal rights for everybody, men and women, our chances for children – it is our very civilisation as we have it. Of course, we have to develop it, but we can also compare it to other parts of the world and we can see that the values behind fundamental rights would be nowhere in today's world as much respected as in today's Europe by the European Union. This is a big achievement of generations before us and we have the big responsibility to hand over to future generations also a civilisation of that kind, based on these values that also are enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Commissioner has also stated, among other things, the rise of antisemitism in Europe. This is something of utmost concern. Over the last years, in each country, we know the figures in each country, we know that it is online and offline. There is not one kind of antisemitism which is less harmful than another kind of antisemitism. There is left-wing extremist antisemitism, right-wing extremist antisemitism, there is Islamistic antisemitism – you know that I always distinguish Islam from Islamism, religion from harmful ideology and terrorism, we have to do that all the time as Islam is a religion very much also earning the rights of freedom of religion. There is also anti-Zionism in our times. Israel is put out as the Jew among the states and actually – the time has stopped, Mr President, can I continue to speak? Is it part of my rights to continue to speak?

27

Apr

2026

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Financial literacy and the rise of finfluencers in the context of the savings and investments union (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Some time ago, I saw a post from the European Commission that said: We need to mobilise Europe's savings for Europe's competitiveness. Someone wrote it, commented: My savings, the European Commission certainly does not get them. And I would like to say to these people: Well, of course. The European Commission should never get your savings. We, as parliamentarians, would be the first to oppose it. We are the opposite of the European Commission. We are the citizens' chamber, the representation of the citizens. And we want the savings for Europe's competitiveness to be set in motion because we need the recovery, because we are lagging behind China and the US. Growth in China has been 12 times higher since the pandemic, and seven times higher in the US. There is a lot in Europe, but it is not invested in the capital market. People need to be informed. We need to pay attention to our language. And we need to set the right framework conditions so that we can invest well in a good economy for future generations in Europe.

26

Mar

2026

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Global Gateway – past impacts and future orientation (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner Jozef Síkela, ladies and gentlemen! We live in a world with more and more confrontation. We are experiencing global players who are losing their reliability, who are no longer reliable. Europe is different. Europe has many challenges in the so-called Hard power, in our defense capabilities, in economic growth, in many ways. But Europe can do a lot, Europe is reliable. Europe is a reliable partner for others around the world, and the Global Gateway expresses and sums it up. And this is a strength that we must seek to create more cooperation in this world full of confrontation, because inwardly Europe has become strong through cooperation. Generations before us have created this, and we carry it into the world. And it will carry, and our partners know that, and through the Global Gateway we are building even closer partnerships. Ronald Reagan said, "The best social programme is a job." I say, "The best development cooperation is economic cooperation." Thank you, Jozef Síkela, for going in this direction as Commissioner. We need to help humanitarianly, we need to help development, and we need to work together economically to make it work sustainably.

11

Mar

2026

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Case of Elene Khoshtaria and political prisoners under the Georgian Dream regime

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, Georgia is an enormously important European country, a country we will not lose sight of and one that is important for the future of Europe. Georgians feel European, they think European, they have European aspirations. My very first visit outside the EU after the election in 2019 led me to Georgia. I was meant to participate in a conference in the Georgian Parliament and to speak at this conference on the premises. It did not take place because riots were on the streets because, already at that time in 2019, a Russian representative had sat down on the Georgian Parliament Chair's seat, and that's what the people couldn't accept. This is what I experienced there: they want Europe, they do not want to be a Russian satellite state. We will help the people of Georgia, we are on their side.

11

Mar

2026

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Multilateral negotiations in view of the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, 26 to 29 March 2026 (debate)

9

Mar

2026

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Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission (debate)

Thank you, I appreciate it. We are already exercising the parliamentary debate as it is meant for Parliament. So thanks for this additional question. Well, among many things that should be looked at, I always put it in the framework of more strength to the outside and more freedom to the inside. This is what the future structures of the European Union should provide. I think the number of issues where the unanimity principle would apply must be much, much smaller. This number must decrease in order to make the European Union ready to react and act stronger to the outside and to the inside. And a very last point. There are already rumours and discussions, even open discussions, about the core Europe or something like that. I think this is a fallback position that must be discussed, but it would be better if the European Union would be reformed and enlarged in its entirety.