Speeches

Mr President, you might remember we have named the building of the European Parliament in Brussels after Stefan Zweig, Jewish-Austrian novelist of the last century, and one of his famous novels would be The World of Yesterday. A recent contemporary Austrian novelist named Robert Menasse has just presented and released his new novel named The World of Tomorrow. And what Robert Menasse mentions in a longer elaboration – and they are translating this German language book now into English – is a very clear message. After the Holocaust, meaning after the Shoah, Europe probably can never become what it was meant to become. We must never forget this matter of fact that it can't be undone, what was committed as crimes during the Holocaust, during the Shoah. But what we can do is not only fighting anti-Semitism today, but is rather to foster Jewish life in Europe because it's part of Europe's identity, is part of Europe's history, culture, intellectual basis and much, much more. And if we talk today about anti-Semitism in this plenary of the European Parliament, it's important to keep the attention up for this topic since, as it was mentioned in the conference in the Austrian parliament conducted by the Austrian Parliament's president, Wolfgang Sobotka, last week, our colleague Assita Kanko was also speaking there in Vienna, by Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish community in Austria, said cases of anti-Semitic attacks are exploding. Slogans written on shops of Jews, children being mobbed, monuments destroyed or with graffiti. There is not enough time to talk about everything regarding to this topic today, but education is the key. Education is the key in each kind and form of education.

Madam President, we must not be distracted from various powers in the world who try to distract us from what is really important: to defend our very civilisation against this Russian attack. That means to stand by Ukraine more than ever, even due to the developments in the United States; that means for Europe to become more self-responsible. This is what we need. And this is most important when we talk during a week when there is a 10-year anniversary of the attack against a plane with EU citizens, when there was an attack against a children’s hospital last week. Let’s not get distracted from that, especially during this new mandate in the European Parliament. This will be the period of time when things will be decided for our civilisation.

Madam President, dear representatives of the European Commission, dear colleagues! This very last speech of the current mandate and possibly the very last speech for me in this plenary of the European Parliament, I allow myself to speak in my native language, in Austrian. The topic today is the future European Union in its territory. After all, that's what it's all about, and hand on heart: Generations before us had much greater challenges than we had to unite Europe, to let it breathe with both lungs, Western and Eastern Europe, and even to create an agreement between states and peoples, which in history had met with violence many times and far too often bloody. That's different. Now the challenge of this generation and future generations is that one day the European Union will of course cover the entire European territory. For this, reforms are needed, first inwardly, much more freedom inwardly, away from overregulation and prohibition policy, and stronger outwardly then means, yes, that Switzerland and Norway, also one day the United Kingdom, of course, again belong to the European Union. We are talking about the Eastern Partnership: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In the case of Ukraine, it is important to say that people there must not be misconceived about how quickly this will happen. The danger is, as we have seen in the Western Balkans, because many people there are frustrated because they have been misconceptions for decades. Work diligently forward, work hard to unite Europe – that is what it will be about. It has been a pleasure and an honour for me to be able to serve my home country Austria, country and people and Europe in this way in this European Parliament.

Mr President, Commissioner, High Representative, colleagues, now it’s revealed to the world that the Iranian regime is threatening Israel, the only Jewish State on earth, directly, not only via its proxies, like in the past, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi in Yemen and other parts of the world. The Iranian regime is also threatening us via financing terrorism and Islamism on our continent, in our cities, in our rural areas. I’m questioning why we have not earlier designated Revolutionary Guards as what they are, a terrorist organisation. I have requested that for many years. This very parliament has voted for it with a huge majority in January last year. But the High Representative and Foreign Affairs Commissioner didn’t act as nearly always. So, Mr Borrell, as I have thanked you for holding the role for some years during a different debate in this very last plenary week of this mandate, I really hope for the next Foreign Affairs Commission and High Representative not to follow your path, not to continue with these policies. We have to defend our security, that our Europeans, meaning also ally with our allies.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! When we talk about the Western Balkans Facility today, we should recall that in all six countries of the Western Balkans, the European Union is the largest donor, the largest donor. This is especially true for the citizens of Serbia, who sometimes get a different picture from their own government. No, it's not China, it's certainly not Russia, it's no other source in the world, it's the European Union that supports Serbia the most, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. And it is the European Union that has now passed the longest time in its history without joining, since 2013. And it is the European Union that has even experienced a withdrawal during this time: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And it is the European Union that, since 2008, has managed the longest time in history, now almost 16 years, no new treaty, no EU reform, even though the world has changed. One is related to the other. If we want security for Europeans, if we want a strong Europe in this world and if we want prosperity, prosperity, social security systems, including for future generations, then we need a reform of the European Union so that it becomes receptive at all. And, of course, we need the absorption capacity of the Western Balkan states and all other states of European territory at their various stages. Giving money is one thing, that's in our own interest, that's not gifts. But advancing political reforms in the interests of this generation and future generations is the other.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, High Representative and Commissioner for Foreign Affairs! I am glad that you are there so much in this final plenary week and that you hear the position of the citizens, who are represented in Parliament with democratic legitimacy. We are talking about frozen Russian assets today, and it is important to stress that this continent, this European Union, in particular, is the zone of the rule of law on this planet. Everyone should be able to rely on it, everyone and everyone, that in Europe law applies and law is spoken. All citizens and also all the world. I am sending this forward because Europe will not give itself the nakedness to be accused of not confiscating Russian assets under the rule of law. We defend the rule of law by making sanctions, a bloodless defense against the bloody war of aggression. And we hold the rule of law high in the imposition of sanctions, including in the confiscation of Russian assets, in line with what the Commission President said at the start of the war on 1 March 2022: We have to extend our hand to the other Russia. And it will stay that way. In the spirit of this, it should be said: Not all people in Russia need to be concerned about the confiscation of assets, but where crimes occur – crimes against humanity, war crimes – and where such crimes are supported, assets are to be confiscated there. And of course, like the other aid, they should be used both for national defence and for the reconstruction of Ukraine to help the people of Ukraine. Together we defend our civilization.

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, High Representative Josep Borrell, first of all, let me say, while I disagree nearly in each policy area with you and your policies, no matter whether it was Russia in the past, the Middle East, the Western Balkans, whatever, and since this is the final plenary setting of this mandate, I thank you for your contribution to this European project, and I encourage you to listen to the Parliament and to the people more, so that we can go forward. For the region, the Middle East, we had a positive period of time when the Abraham Accords were spread. It was a time where peace was available, I would say, and we have to go back there. Israel will go back there. I have no doubt on that. And I’m sure that it’s revealed now to the world that the Iranian regime has been behind this for many years, behind Islamism, terrorism, anti-Semitism all over the world via its different proxies. What is the future perspective for the region? High representative, it’s demilitarisation, or better to say, the de-weaponisation of all Palestinian territories, because it’s not a regular State structure, it’s de-weaponisation, then creating a civil society, then make sure that not the whole world for decades have to pour money in like it was in the past, then creating economic strength for the region itself, and then a security guarantee for Israel, the only democracy in the region, our partner state, and then the two-state solution in more than ten years or beyond could be possible. But for the time being, there is no bothsideism. Correct, if I listen to some speakers in this Parliament, what we need is a strong alliance with Israel.

Madam President, Dear Members of the European Commission - there are several here, which marks a special day; Dear colleagues! It can be a special day for the European Union. Under the motto ‘And yet it moves’, citizens of the European Union can be said today: Yes, we manage to deal with asylum and irregular migration in the European Union – something that people have been waiting for years. In autumn 2020, there was the European Commission’s proposal, and as someone who criticises the European Commission often and much – for good reasons – I think it was a good proposal. Negotiations have taken a long time; they would not have come to an end without Austria’s wake-up call – I should like to say that. Today, this asylum and migration package needs a majority here in the European Parliament. The fact that the extreme right and the extreme left are against it shows that it is a good package that will succeed in combating irregular migration in a humane and appropriate way, especially in the interests of those embarking on a dangerous and expensive journey and in the interests of all citizens.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, I can hardly stand the pictures of starvation and humanitarian crisis of suffering children, women, men in the Gaza Strip. And it’s important that this European Parliament addresses this crisis. And it’s also important to tell the truth about the reasons for this crisis, because there’s an old saying that claims: it’s always the truth, the first victim in each war. And that’s why we have to tell to the people there, and to the people all around the world, who is responsible for that crisis. And this is Hamas, Hamas, Hamas, and additionally, the Iranian regime triggering all of this, and global Islamist terrorism generally. We have to say the truth this time for different reasons. First, Hamas is responsible because it has not undertaken only many, many attacks against its neighbour state – which is not a neighbour state since Hamas is not representing a state – against its neighbour, Israel. But also this incredible terrorist attack, the largest of all times, on 7 October last year. And Hamas is stealing goods, food, aid, stealing it every day for its own purposes, and to put it on the market, not even to put the rest of it to starving people, but to put it on a so-called market. Hamas is responsible, and we have to tell the truth, because otherwise, after this war, we will again have conspiracy theories against Israel, we will again have antisemitism, and we will again have terrorism. The same terrorism that’s threatening us in our cities, in our rural areas, in our urban areas within Europe, threatening Europeans. It’s the same terrorism, Israel is fighting against; it’s also threatening us. So, I can only claim time and again, what we need is demilitarisation of all Palestinian territories. What we need is the creation of a civil society of education, of fighting antisemitism, of economic self-responsibility; not that money must be poured in from all the world all the time, for decades, in that region. Then, maybe one day, a two-state solution can appear if there is a security guarantee for Israel. So let’s blame Hamas, and let’s help the suffering people.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Hand on heart: The former government of Poland was voted out, among other things, because it could not deal with the fact that so many agricultural products came into the country due to the Putin-Russia war of aggression against Ukraine and hybrid warfare against all of us. Although this former government has always played a big role, has known much better than the rest of the world – or at least has done so – but has not been able to provide a solution to the concrete situation and has been presented with the bill in democratic elections. Why am I saying this? Because it is quite obvious that the other effects that do not necessarily have to do with the military and hybrid course of the war, namely the economic effects and especially the agricultural effects, are very relevant for citizens – not only in Poland, but throughout Europe. And who is responsible for the fact that the agricultural market has also come into trouble? It is Putin-Russia, it is the war of aggression, it is the blockade of the sea routes that have so far carried the great Ukrainian agricultural production all over the world, especially to Africa. It leads to famines there, and it leads to the market being, to a certain extent, head-to-head across Europe. So it goes without saying that today we are primarily discussing whether we should even import agricultural products from Putin-Russia and also from Belarus, because Belarus is with the ruler there – Lukashenko – indeed part of the Putin empire, which threatens Europe so much and also threatens its own citizens so much. That is why it is important to bring into the meeting that agriculture cannot be excluded from the bloodless defence of our civilization through sanctions, but must be taken into it, because we do not allow European agriculture to be destroyed by Putin-Russia and his accomplices.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! With regard to sanctions, three aspects seem to me to be important. The first is that this bloodless defense is often against bloody attacks, as is the case in the case of Putin-Russia war, but also bloodless through hybrid warfare against the whole of Europe, that in this case sanctions are always adopted on the basis of the rule of law, because ultimately the rule of law is one of those values that we defend with sanctions. And we defend what the rule of law defends for people: that they can have a dignified life in human dignity and freedom. Secondly, it is important that sanctions are not circumvented and, if they are circumvented, that there are harsh penalties for circumventing sanctions. After all, sanctions based on the rule of law are in the interest of the general public, of the common good. And anyone who wants to circumvent sanctions, including from the European Union and the free world, is in breach of the common good and harms the general public. Therefore, the circumvention of sanctions must also be severely punished and absolutely prevented. And, of course, it is important that sanctions are targeted in what they are meant to do and that they are limited in time until they have taken effect – this applies to all parts of the world. But sanctions remain – the bloodless remedy, often against bloodthirsty violence.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I thank the rapporteur for the good cooperation in the negotiations. I keep stressing: The rule of law is one of the great promises of the European Union both internally and externally. Every person, every company in this world should be able to rely on the fact that in Europe, in the European Union, law applies and law is spoken, that legal certainty prevails. Citizens of the European Union should be able to rely on the same. It was important to me that in this report we should also emphasise the special role of the police in upholding the rule of law, and that we should pay particular attention to the fact that there is an economic dimension to the rule of law that concerns one of the cornerstones of the European Union, namely the internal market, which makes us strong, which gives us prosperity, which makes social security systems possible for us in the first place. If companies from Member States do not find fairness in other Member States, are treated unfairly, cannot rely on legal certainty, then the internal market is at risk. For the first time, there is also a chapter in this Parliament Rule of Law Report as a recommendation for the next Commission report. For the first time, it addresses what is extreme within the European Union. Spanish citizens cannot rely on the rule of law. If their government pardons more than 1 000 convicted persons for buying votes to form this government, some of whom have been guilty of the worst crimes, including terrorist activities, which have frightened Spanish citizens, then this is unacceptable in the European Union and should be addressed accordingly.

If I may respond, I highly appreciate parliamentarism – the fact that we have the opportunity to do an exercise like a debate. That’s what distinguishes democracy from the Putin Russia state with its totalitarianism and its dictatorship.

Mr President, dear colleagues, our Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has stated on 1 March 2022, in our special plenary sitting on the occasion of the beginning of Putin Russia’s war of aggression, that, among other things, we have to keep our hand outreached to the other Russia. Well, now, one of the possible faces of this other Russia is passed away. But it’s a tragedy that Alexei Navalny died, but he died for a reason he conveyed to us before his death. He said, ‘If I will die, if they will murder me, that means they are weak and we have to continue the fight.’ And Yulia Navalnaya has visited us in the European Parliament today, which is in itself already meaningful this visit, and she continues to fight. I want to say to those who claim this or that, what Alexei Navalny would have stated would be wrong, who are we to judge somebody who gave his life for freedom? Who paid the ultimate price for the people of Russia, for freedom, for Europe and the world?

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I want to explicitly thank Nathalie Loiseau for her excellent work as a rapporteur on this Syria report, which is crucial and important for the security also of the Europeans, the security of the world and, of course, the future of the people of Syria. I have visited Damascus and the greater Damascus region two years ago. Immediately after that, I have talked to Nathalie Loiseau in order to implement especially the recommendations of international organisations active on the ground in Syria, especially United Nations organisations such as FAO or the Red Cross and others. I had the privilege to talk to – on site – those who had a clear impression on how humanitarian aid works and how it would not work. It works locally, it works regionally, it works when it addresses small and middle-sized enterprises and entities. It works when it addresses civil society and especially the education sector. This is also something we have implemented into this very report of the European Parliament on Syria. Secondly, I want to emphasise that the vast majority of refugees around the world are today Syrian refugees and the vast majority of them – around 80%, as experts tell us – want to go home. They would wish to go home and to have proper dwelling in their very home country, Syria, again, but they are reluctant to do so because they are afraid of violence due to the various tensions within society. Of course, on top of these threats is the Assad regime itself. It’s a threat to the world, it’s a threat to the region, it’s aligning with the ones who are threatening Europe such as Russia and others. This is also what the report obviously addresses, including, among final remarks of the report, also, the Aramaic language, which is a minority language – it’s about to disappear on this planet. We want to preserve the Aramaic language, and we want to have a proper, stable Syria for the future.

I hope we will continue our debate because the parliamentary debate is always worth it. Thanks for the question again. I could make the most important point at least.

Thank you for this question. My personal position and my policy is especially for demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip. After dismantling Hamas, which is taking hostage not only Israeli citizens but the people of the Gaza Strip – the Palestinians themselves – there must be demilitarisation of the Gaza Strip observed by Israel, but not only by Israel, by others. We then need civil society. We need education there. We need to fight anti-semitism. We need an economy which will be capable to help itself, and not be dependent on all the world’s aid all the time. This is what will be needed in the area, or in other words... (The President cut off the speaker) Is it possible to respond to a blue-card?

Mr President, dear colleagues, time and again during our plenary sessions, the representation of the very citizens of our very European Union, our High Representative, the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, does not show up. Again he does not show up. Otherwise, he would know about the decisions of this very Parliament on the current Middle East crisis. The decisions were always on behalf of the EU citizens on the side of Israel, our strong partner, the only democratic rule of law based in the region, defending itself, defending also us against terrorism and terrorist threats all over the world, confronting the Mullah regime in Tehran of Iran, which is threatening all the world. And otherwise he would not be able to say what he actually said in a recent interview in the newspaper El País that our Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, would have represented anyone but herself with her completely pro-Israeli position and visiting Israel in the most crucial days. Actually, our Commission's President represented what the people of Europe think in their majority, represented by this Parliament, which has decided it took that manner and direction. And this is what the High Representative and Foreign Affairs Commissioner should be aware about. I disagree on a lot with our Commission's President when it comes to bureaucracy, to the inside, when it comes to the new era of prohibition, to the inside of the European Union, but to the outside, Ursula von der Leyen is strengthening Europe. Josep Borrell is, unfortunately, weakening Europe, only remembering him also his visit to Moscow before the current Russia aggression. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to thank my Portuguese colleague Paulo Rangel for his work as rapporteur for this important report. The Presidency of the Council is no longer represented in this debate tonight, but this can only be a sign that the report has been so well negotiated in the European Parliament that it can be sent on a good journey and no longer viewed critically. The fact is that policing has become more difficult, especially since the migration crisis, then the pandemic crisis. Everything we are discussing these days as societal phenomena and challenges – here in the European Parliament, too, we are often negotiating – also has to do with policing, which has become more challenging. Police data exchange not only makes it possible to search suspects, including missing persons, more quickly and automatically, not only facilitates the fight against many types of crimes, including terrorism, but police data exchange also gives police officers the opportunity to do what human police officers need. For what cannot be done electronically and digitally, there are now more opportunities for the police officers. Police work is often also relationship work, and policing is creative work – it must also work in a networked way across Europe’s borders. If data exchange works across Europe's borders, then we see how important the European Union is for all of us to be safe, and what it means that we are making progress in policing and technical networking.

Madam President, dear Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, Through a memorial project in my hometown of Gerasdorf, I learned a lot, for example about what Jewish fellow citizens feel when it is written on a memorial plaque – that was the case elsewhere – from history that people were murdered, but it is not written that it was Jewish fellow people who were murdered there, in the Holocaust, in the Shoah. Why is this so important? Because anti-Semitism is directed directly against Jewish people, because they are Jewish people, and anti-Semitism damages the entire society, lowers the groundwater level of mutual trust, of quality of life. There is no way to relativize anti-Semitism. There is also no reason to explain anti-Semitism, because it has no rational reason. It is pure hatred of people who cannot escape this hatred unless we all work to fight anti-Semitism. I would like to bring to your attention only a few figures from the time before the current major anti-Semitic riots also in our European capitals and throughout Europe: The anti-Semitism study commissioned by Austrian Parliament President Wolfgang Sobotka shows that more than a third of the population say: I am against the fact that people keep warming up the fact that Jews died in the Second World War. Or the Fundamental Rights Agency's anti-Semitism study says: 89% of Jewish people surveyed said they were victims of anti-Semitism. This has to alert us. Especially after the recent anti-Semitic riots in Europe, we must not move on to the agenda. And it must certainly not happen that the victim of the Holocaust, the Shoah, is commemorated, but in the same breath the right of Israel to exist is questioned, the development of Jewish life in Europe is not protected and promoted, and current anti-Semitism is not combated. One is related to the other. It is in Europe's vital interest to protect and enable Jewish life.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! A Parliament is a place of free speech – free speech is even protected by numerous safeguards. And yet, if you break the rules, the President here in Parliament will call someone to order; We just experienced this right now. And if I were now still scolding and arguing against others, then the call to order would probably be even sharper. And that is what upholds freedom of expression in our societies: Of course, there are rules. Freedom is always the freedom of others. The freedom of others to express their own opinions. And upholding that requires limits for those who use verbal violence. Freedom of speech is not the right of the strongest. Freedom of expression means listening to each other or at least giving space to those who may have a different opinion. Hatred, hate crimes on the internet, as they hardly exist in the real world, because this hatred is spread on the internet, in an anonymous setting or in a physically distant setting – this must be stopped, this must be stopped in order to uphold freedom of expression, in order to defend freedom of expression. And honestly: We parliamentarians are not the first victims of hate crimes, but those who cannot defend themselves, who do not have a public, who do not use this violent language; They are affected, and for them we fight hate crimes.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! We live in times of labour shortages and a rapidly changing attitude towards work. However, this also means that young people who work hard, who do more than what they absolutely need, who go the famous extra mile, can also do a lot – for themselves and for society. And, of course, they also deserve decent pay for it. Now it is the case that interns are not yet fully in the work process. But in order for them to be fully in the work process one day, it is important that they can complete the internship. And they do something in the internship, and that is also worth money; That's why decent pay is so important. What is true of what I just said? To the teaching. At least in Austria – in my home country – we have dual training – a highly successful model with low youth unemployment, with well-trained professionals who also repeatedly win international prizes for their expertise and specialist work. The same should be true for internships. The apprenticeship is not only paid for by the company, from the employer's side, but also by the public sector and accompanied by the vocational school. And even an internship cannot be done by the company alone, at least in many cases, but also here, young people need the support of society together and can thus come on a good path.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! Europe has a parliament for the first time in history since 1979, and it is a parliament in which the great European continent, yes, the European Union, is represented. But it is spoken for the continent by those who are democratically legitimized. It is the most exciting political arena in the world, and it is a target for espionage and hybrid warfare, as the experts call it. And today we are discussing the case of a colleague who appears to have been contaminated by Russian intelligence activities. We must be aware that these dangers exist. We have to protect ourselves. We must protect democracy by protecting parliamentarism. We must also have a special committee against foreign interference in the next parliamentary term or set up a fixed committee against it. We need parliamentarians who are not bribery or blackmailable. We need parliamentarians with character. And we must be aware that, in addition to those who can be influenced and against whom there are attempts to influence – and we all know that there are – there are also ideological persuaders who unabashedly sing the song of the autocrats in this world, who unabashedly sing the song of the autocrats in this world. Appeasement We want to fight the perpetrators of violence in this world. They call themselves communists, quite blatantly, also in my home state of Austria. They are right-wing extremists, some of them right-wing extremists, and they put this on record. There are democratic elections. The vast majority of citizens can defend themselves against this song being sung by autocrats and violent offenders.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. It is important and right for the European Union to support Ukraine in its self-defense struggle. It is existential for the European Union, for Europe, for the whole free world. And the year 2024 will show that the European Union has to do it on its own. At the same time, what the President of the Commission said at our special meeting here in the European Parliament on 1 March 2022, immediately after the start of the war of aggression, is important, namely that we must keep our hands outstretched to the other Russia, as she said. But we don't know the other Russia yet, no face, no name. This will not happen in 2024 either. We have to stand together, we have to stand with Ukraine. We must not mislead the people of Ukraine into thinking that this will come to an end quickly or that EU membership will come to an end quickly. Ukraine will be free. Europe will be free, democratic, rule of law – and it is worth every effort to do so.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Let's face the facts. Forecasts for economic development in 2024 do not point to a rapid improvement. That means there's a lot to do. This is why there is also a shortage of workers, because not everything that needs to be done can be done. And if, despite the bad economic situation, there are orders that cannot be completed, then this is not a good forecast for economic development. It therefore needs the best working conditions so that young people and all people like to work, like to get into the work process. It also needs a move away from populism, which says there could be a reduction in working hours. Europe is the place in the world with the best social systems. However, maintaining this requires a great deal of added value. We have to fight for it, we have to fight for it. And we have to turn away from the idea that with less work, more could be achieved. It's the other way around, the conditions have to be right. It is now three-quarters ten, as we say in Austria. This is where we work, in the European Parliament. It has to suit everyone and everyone as work is done, but there is something to do around the clock.