What Lukas spoke about.

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EN Written Statement

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 …

9

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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Joint communication on humanitarian aid (JOIN(2026)0025) (debate)

Madam President. Commissioner, you're the first commissioner in this House who has kept within the speaking time. You were even briefer and said a lot while doing that. I'm really impressed by that, and that's a big contribution to parliamentarism. Dear colleagues, the European Union is the strongest soft power on earth, and we have to remain in that role because we contribute to a better life for…

8

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda: EU solidarity and preparedness in global health (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, it is again an outbreak of terrible sickness. We have Ebola in many parts of Africa, even one case on European soil. We have seen the hantavirus spreading over springtime. I want to emphasise one important point, because this is the very beginning of one or the other sickness, and we do not know where it will lead in either case. But I have already observ…

8

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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The EU’s role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the accountability of Israel under international law (topical debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, this crisis must not be forgotten. Hamas is still around in Gaza. It is not yet gone. People are still under pressure. This terrorist organisation even was not ashamed to put children on the line, to put women on the line, to put their own civil society, the civil population, at risk. And they are still around. So I can only one more time advocate for deweap…

7

Jul

2026

DE Speech

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EU-Mexico (joint debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! EU ‑Mexico is now on the agenda – it sounds like a football match in days like this, but it is not this time. The EU is also in the race with many teams, including the team of Belgium, the home country of our European capital. This time it's about cooperation, and that's what I'm committed to over and over again. In a world full of confrontation…

7

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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Implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the 2026 High-Level Political Forum (A10-0187/2026 - Lukas Mandl, Pierfrancesco Maran) (vote)

Madam President, colleagues, the United Nations are more needed now than in decades before. The world needs the United Nations. At the same time, the United Nations need a reform. There is an urgent need for a reform. I thank the co-negotiators here in the European Parliament, especially Pierfrancesco Maran, for tough negotiations, but constructive negotiations to receive a good result for next we…

18

Jun

2026

DE Speech

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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 con…

18

Jun

2026

DE Speech

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

17

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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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 …

17

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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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…

16

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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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, …

16

Jun

2026

DE Speech

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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 …

20

May

2026

EN Answer

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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 …

20

May

2026

EN Speech

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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, t…

20

May

2026

EN Speech

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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…

19

May

2026

EN Speech

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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 ev…

19

May

2026

DE Speech

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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 blocke…

19

May

2026

DE Speech

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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 affec…

29

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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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 counter…

29

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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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 h…

29

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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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 t…

28

Apr

2026

DE Speech

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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,…

28

Apr

2026

DE Speech

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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 Unio…

28

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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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

EN Speech

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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 funda…