What Lukas spoke about.

11

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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2022 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, first I want to emphasise that we must never forget that the worst crimes in mankind’s history were committed by Austrians and Germans. And given that, I want to remember that we have commemorated today in this very European Parliament, the massacre of Srebrenica is a part of many war crimes in the wars of the former Yugoslavia. That’s why many of us are wearing t…

11

Jul

2023

EN Speech

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Relations with the Palestinian Authority (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, this is called a report on the relations with the so—called Palestinian Authority. So first and foremost we could question whether this is really a priority given the geopolitical situation, but OK, let’s talk about it. I had the privilege to be co—negotiator on a report on a so-called two—state solution half a year ago, and I managed to put into there the languag…

10

May

2023

EN Speech

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Belarus: the inhumane treatment and hospitalisation of prominent opposition leader Viktar Babaryka

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the situation in Belarus has disappeared a bit from public attention due to this brutal and unjustified war of Putin’s Russia. But the situation in Belarus is still bad. It became even worse. There are political prisoners we are talking about today, there are people accused of something even if they only conduct their right to fight for freedom, and then the…

9

May

2023

DE Speech

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2022 Report on Kosovo (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, On European soil, we have become alarmingly aware of what is the difference between the aggressor and the attacked, between the perpetrator and the victim, in a war. It is important in the history of Europe, even if we are talking about the Republic of Kosovo, to see that this is a country that had to free itself, that had to pay a high blood du…

9

May

2023

DE Speech

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2022 Report on Serbia (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! About ten days ago I was allowed to visit Serbia, I was allowed to visit Belgrade, and I experienced a lot of hospitality, good conversations. I was allowed to visit the largest Orthodox church in the world, which is the largest because unfortunately the Hagia Sophia cannot currently be used as a church. But we are not provoked by the Erdoğan re…

19

Apr

2023

DE Speech

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The risk of death penalty and execution of singer Yahaya Sharif Aminu for blasphemy in Nigeria

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Nigeria is the largest country in Africa. Nigeria is the seventh most populous country in the world. Nigeria is an important economic partner for us and a major goal of our development cooperation. But those in Nigeria who operate such a system of injustice as the one that puts this young man on death row should know that in the future the European Union will…

19

Apr

2023

DE Speech

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Repression in Russia, in particular the cases of Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I keep reminding you of what Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in this Parliament on 1 March. On 1 March last year, shortly after the start of Putin’s Russia’s war of aggression – militarily against Ukraine, hybrid against all of us – she said in this special session of the European Parliament on this occasion: We must extend our hand and let it …

19

Apr

2023

DE Speech

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Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCa) - Information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets (recast) (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Money means trust, trust in a product or a service or a work performance, of course trust in the fact that something good can be done with the money and that there is then creditworthiness in the return of this money. That is why it is so important to me that the title of this debate is not called cryptocurrencies, i.e. cryptocurrencies, but cry…

18

Apr

2023

DE Speech

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The need for a coherent strategy for EU-China Relations (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, High Representative, ladies and gentlemen! It is important that the European Union, as the title of this item on the agenda says, develops a coherent strategy towards China. The strategic compass that we adopted not so long ago speaks a clear language, sees China as a strategic partner, as an economic competitor and as a systemic rival. All three dimensions must be cons…

30

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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2022 Rule of Law Report - The rule of law situation in the European Union - Rule of law in Greece - Rule of law in Spain - Rule of law in Malta (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Being a citizen of the European Union means something that has weight. Being a citizen of the Union means living in a democratic system governed by the rule of law. And that is anything but self-evident. This is something that the European Union upholds. And that is something that is consolidated and further developed in the annual Rule of Law Repo…

16

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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Lack of actions taken by the Commission in the context of the duty of sincere and loyal cooperation (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! In a democratic parliamentary system, it is normal that there is a constructive rivalry between the representatives of the citizens here in the parliamentary framework and the representation of the State sector, the executive branch of the European Commission in the European Union. But it is important that we live that, because that also keeps thin…

15

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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Iran: in particular the poisoning of hundreds of school girls

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. What the free world has so far failed to achieve with many attempts – with the nuclear deal, without the nuclear deal, with sanctions, perhaps sometimes with half-heartedness or a bit of naivety – and, I respect that, is now creating a civic movement, actually a civic movement in Iran, namely to bring this diabolical regime to the brink of its existence. This is…

15

Mar

2023

DE Speech

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Combating organised crime in the EU (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, It is important that we debate the fight against organised crime here in plenary, in the European Parliament, because organised crime is even worse than simple crime. It's not just a crime here, it's a crime there. Organized crime means networking, and organized crime means that more is still being destroyed than by the immediate individual crime, but trust i…

14

Mar

2023

EN Speech

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Deterioration of democracy in Israel and consequences on the occupied territories (debate)

Mr President, I feel that I want to ask the question today how many Members of the European Commission are left? There are two of them today, so twice as much as it is usual in this Chamber. Well, the issue is maybe not the most important issue for the EU. The State of Israel will celebrate in a few weeks 75 years of its existence and to be honest, I feel strong sympathy with Israel, for many good…

13

Feb

2023

DE Speech

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Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in European Parliament elections - Electoral rights of mobile Union citizens in municipal elections (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for the delay in the foreign policy debates I have just come from. However, it is important for me to comment on this democratic debate, because the right to vote is a civic right – one of the most important civic rights in our democratic systems, which are so under pressure from inside and outside. And it is also a right of EU citizenship, becaus…

2

Feb

2023

EN Speech

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Preparation of the EU-Ukraine Summit (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, it has been nearly a year that Putin’s Russia has waged war militarily against Ukraine, but hybrid warfare against all of us – the free world, especially Europe – was already ongoing for many years – also in February last year – and has been ongoing now for many years. But Europe defends its citizens, its freedom and wants to achieve peace with unpreceden…

18

Jan

2023

DE Speech

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Terrorist threats posed by far-right extremist networks defying the democratic constitutional order (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Historically, right-wing extremism has shown its bad face throughout Europe and caused a lot of suffering, in parts of Europe also left-wing extremism. Next week, in the European Parliament, we are going to do what is usual and right, and what is particularly important, year after year: International Holocaust Remembrance DayThe Day of Remembran…

17

Jan

2023

EN Speech

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EU response to the protests and executions in Iran (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, the Iranian regime is a threat to the inside and to the outside, and it has been a threat to its own people, to the region, especially to Israel and to the world, actually, for many, many years. And the free world has done a lot in order to seek the one or the other opportunity to calm down the tensions within Iran and to calm down Iran as a player on the…

17

Jan

2023

DE Speech

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The establishment of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, What we will discuss and decide today in a resolution is the plan to set up a special court against those responsible for the war of aggression against Ukraine. It is less than a year after the start of this war that we are addressing this special court, and it must be the European Union in a global comparison that is launching this initiative w…

14

Dec

2022

DE Speech

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Defending democracy from foreign interference (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to thank Commissioner Johannes Hahn for the clear words with which he initiated this debate. No year before this year has shown more clearly how dangerous disinformation can be and how vulnerable a developed civilization like ours is when disinformation is carried into our society from the outside. We must also co…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Annual implementing report on the EU association agreement with Georgia (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I had the privilege to visit Georgia with the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of this very parliament earlier this year, in April. Mr Olekas, our colleague, who is also present in this debate, was always a part of our parliamentary endeavour there. We were standing at the border to the occupied territories, Abkhazia and South Os…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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Prospects for the two-State solution for Israel and Palestine (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, I called the resolution we are discussing today the ‘as if’ resolution. We are doing it as if Israel were not the strongest rule—of—law state and the only democracy in the Middle East. We are doing it as if Israel were our strong partner in terms of security, our own security, but also in other fields like innovation, economy and many other fields. We are do…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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The recent JHA Council decision on Schengen accession (debate)

Thank you for the question. It’s a very important point because a major part of the issue at the moment has a route which goes through the respective countries we are talking about today, and the major part is also going through the Balkans, the Western Balkans. And frankly I am concerned that it was not the European level, it was even not the European Commission in that case, which negotiated wit…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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The recent JHA Council decision on Schengen accession (debate)

Thank you very much colleague. If I have the floor – this was not really a question, but I anyway will answer. First of all, I have worked very hard on registration via Eurodac at the borders, and I guess that’s a small step forward in this whole endeavour of managing the migration crisis. And dear colleague, you have purposely misunderstood the point. There is no legal procedure to change the dec…

13

Dec

2022

EN Speech

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The recent JHA Council decision on Schengen accession (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, I look forward to the moment when Bulgaria and Romania will join Schengen. We will have to decide reliably and responsibly as soon as we can, but we can’t yet. And this is the reason why we have to accept political developments – there is no legal stance against it, and the drama is not the few months of postponement of the Schengen access, which I really lo…