What Lukas spoke about.

12

Mar

2024

DE Speech

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Need to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the EU and to ensure stability of EU agricultural production (debate)

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 muc…

11

Mar

2024

DE Speech

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Definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of Union restrictive measures (debate)

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 u…

28

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Report on the Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law report (debate)

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 certai…

28

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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The murder of Alexei Navalny and the need for EU action in support of political prisoners and oppressed civil society in Russia (debate)

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.…

28

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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The murder of Alexei Navalny and the need for EU action in support of political prisoners and oppressed civil society in Russia (debate)

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 Nava…

27

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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Recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the EEAS on the situation in Syria (debate)

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 …

27

Feb

2024

EN Answer

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

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.

27

Feb

2024

EN Answer

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

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 ed…

27

Feb

2024

EN Speech

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War in the Gaza Strip and the need to reach a ceasefire, including recent developments in the region (debate)

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…

7

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Automated data exchange for police cooperation (“Prüm II”) (debate)

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 …

7

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Need to fight the increase of antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred (debate)

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…

7

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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The fight against hate speech and disinformation: responsibility of social platforms within the Digital Services Act (topical debate)

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 …

6

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Quality traineeships in the EU (debate)

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 intern…

6

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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Russiagate: allegations of Russian interference in the democratic processes of the European Union (debate)

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 hy…

6

Feb

2024

DE Speech

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The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

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 Parli…

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Addressing urgent skills shortages and finding the right talents to boost job creation (European Year of Skills) (debate)

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 …

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Situation in Serbia following elections (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Serbia is a wonderful country with a strong culture, with hardworking people. As I keep saying: Serbia could be the Germany of the Western Balkans, the economic engine. It is the largest state with the strongest economy. What happens instead? aggression inwards and outwards. Commissioner Reynders, you are here again for almost the entire plenary…

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2022 and 2023 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, For me, parliamentarism is one of humanity's great innovations. Why? Because this is a political form of cooperation that also defends fundamental rights. And fundamental rights are part of what the European Union is all about. Nowhere in the world is human dignity and civil liberties so upheld, nowhere is democracy and the rule of law so clearl…

17

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The legal philosopher Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde has said that the modern state lives on conditions that it cannot create itself. And what citizens create is free speech, fearless speech. But when hate speech enters our societies, there is a fear of freely saying what one thinks. And defending this freedom of expression also means taking action …

16

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Role of preventive diplomacy in tackling frozen conflicts around the world – missed opportunity or change for the future? (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The world is moving more and more into a phase of confrontation. More and more actors are looking for confrontation. It is the cooperation that has made Europe strong, internally. And it is also the cooperation that Europe is supposed to make as a contribution to this world. That is why I am grateful to my colleague Željana Zovko and all the co-…

16

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Humanitarian situation in Gaza, the need to reach a ceasefire and the risks of regional escalation (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! You have to keep in mind what is really happening: A state is attacked, an entire society is attacked by a terrorist act with more than 1 200 deaths – children, women and men. And then this state defends itself. He defends himself with an army that is the most watched army in the world. No army pays so much attention to how it operates, when it doe…

16

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Keeping commitments and delivering military assistance to Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Vice-President of the European Commission, ladies and gentlemen! An important choice for the world was the primary election of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Iowa, because it highlights what can be expected in a negative case for 2024, namely a re-election or re-election of the former U.S. president. An important choice was the one in Taiwan, which is sharply criticized by…

15

Jan

2024

DE Speech

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Revision of the European Labour Authority mandate (debate)

Madam President Regner, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The European Labour Authority is important if it is doing the right thing. We see that there is a lot to do on the continent of Europe, in our Member States, and that it takes a lot of hands to get the job done, especially in times of economic crisis, even a recession in some parts of Europe. At the same time, we are experiencing labour s…

13

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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European Defence investment programme (EDIP) (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! An important preface to today's debate on the Defence Investment Programme, which is so important: What has made Europe strong is the cooperation of the states of Europe. What has brought us prosperity, made peace possible and defended freedom is cooperation. Today we live in a world where other forces on this planet are increasingly seeking con…

13

Dec

2023

DE Speech

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Planned dissolution of key anti-corruption structures in Slovakia and its implications on the Rule of Law (continuation of debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Current developments show that elections have meaning and that every vote counts. In Slovakia, we can see that the rule of law is under serious threat shortly after elections. We have seen in Hungary for years that booksellers are no longer allowed to sell books, for example, in a very specific case where companies – including those from my home…