Speeches

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 Remembrance of the Shoah. This shows historical right-wing extremism, which also shows that right-wing extremism must alert us, shake us to the core when such tendencies appear somewhere in our societies. But it also shows, with a view to the present, that we must examine: Is anti-Semitism always right-wing extremism? Is this also sometimes left-wing extremism? Yeah, that's it. Is it the abuse of religion, of Islam in the form of Islamism, of political Islam? Yeah, that's it. And it is a field, an important field, perhaps the most important field that shows for all fields: It's always extremism, no matter what adjective we put in front of it, that destroys. This can also give us to think: If something does not build, but wants to destroy, if something does not want to develop, but wants to destroy, then this is obviously an extremist tendency. We live in times when this is also promoted from the outside by disinformation, by trying to divide our societies. The most recent examples were the migration crisis since 2015, the pandemic, now the Putin-Russia war against all of us, not only by military means against Ukraine, but by means of hybrid warfare against all. We face this threat together. As the European Union, we obviously have a better grip on the pandemic than other parts of the world. But we have to deal with the migration crisis and many other crises.

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 global scene. But it didn’t happen. It became even worse. It is no surprise that those regimes who harm their own people, those regimes who harm others, those regimes who follow ideologies of hatred, align more and more on this planet, and when it comes to Iran and Russia, the Iranian regime and the Russian regime, we see this very clear picture. This is why it’s important to support the freedom movement within Iran. This is why it’s important to strengthen the sanctions we have already in place towards the Iranian regime, because this regime is rotten, morally rotten. No matter what they present to the world or what they try to present the world, it’s a morally rotten regime of criminals.

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 with the willing, the forces of good will in the Council of Europe, possibly, so that it is really certain that those responsible in Putin-Russia can actually be held accountable. And how? The rule of law, because it is the rule of law that we are defending here. It is the freedom we defend. And it is important for the future that there is an ex-judiciation of what has been committed here of crimes and is being committed of crimes. We owe it to the victims. We owe it to future generations, and we owe it to those who suffer from this war and those who suffer from regimes that act as the Putin regime does today to rule out such things in the future.

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 confess: No week has shown as much as this week that the political system in particular is a target for foreign interference, for disinformation, for the destabilisation of our societies, even for the questioning of democracy and the rule of law, for the questioning of our values. That is why I can only agree with our President Roberta Metsola, our first Vice-President Othmar Karas, that the lack of character that has been expressed here must be rejected, that it needs legal consequences, that it needs political consequences, yes, and that, of course, it needs what is actually the standard in a democracy, namely also consequences in the decision of citizens about their representation in elections. This needs to be transported: MEPs must be incorruptible and MEPs must always be able to give transparent and immediate motives for what they stand for. The word 'response' is also in the word 'response' and we all need to be able to respond to it.

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 Ossetia. And when we read the title of this very discussion today, ‘Annual implementing report on the EU association agreement with Georgia’, we have to state that this is not any annual report. It’s a report in a very specific year, in a year of the so-called shift of paradigms, as all the experts say and as all of us in political life experience and Georgia is more or less at the frontline of the free world, of the Western world. Georgia has a clear tendency towards the European Union, European values. A lot has to be done in terms of reforms when it comes to the rule of law, when it comes to fighting corruption, when it comes to also proper political competition, not political fight on a sometimes basis of hatred in the country, when it comes to media freedom. But one could feel and can feel in Georgia that there is a clear European attitude in the population, and as the other parts of the Eastern Partnership, meaning here Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, Georgia can become an EU Member State in the future undergoing these reforms. And we have to run for that even more than in the past due to this shift of paradigms.

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 doing it as if there were not more urgent problems on this planet, especially for Europe, like the war of aggression from Putin’s Russia, inflation, the energy crisis, or on a geopolitical level, what’s happening in the Pacific and elsewhere. We are doing it as if it were a recent development that would justify such a resolution. That’s not the case, actually, but I negotiated on it since it’s on the table. This is a parliamentary process, and I’m happy that we could at least include the main precondition for the language providing the title for this very resolution. This precondition is a security guarantee for Israel from those who are threatening Israel, who are attacking civilians in Israel, and who have been attacking them for decades and are still doing so. Frankly, colleagues, it’s not very smart to align with the enemies of our friends, and in this case it’s also immoral to do so. So let us seek such a security guarantee. Let us seek to fight terrorism. Let us support those who fight terrorism in the first place, Israel, in securing its own people. Then we can achieve a true peace – a sustainable peace. This might also be the purpose of this very resolution.

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 with the Balkan countries, especially the Western Balkan countries, in order to control this situation, to control this migration. It was, again, the Austrian Government who took responsibility for that. I would be happy if the European level would be it that solves European problems and I hope we can achieve such a situation, such a process, as soon as possible.

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 decision because it’s a decision that’s up to elected officials at a government level and at a legislative level and this is a decision that has to be taken. And it’s not yet responsibly and reliably possible to take the decision. I hope it will be possible soon when we withdraw this blockade from whomever in the Council – it’s not transparent; from the Parliament it is transparent who is blocking here, to proceed with solving this migration crisis. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech.)

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 look forward to; the drama is the migration crisis that is increasing. And this is not due to the Commission that much, because the Commission has proposed a very good concept two years ago, even more than two years ago already, but the process has not been ongoing in the Council of the Member States’ governments as well as in our very European Parliament. And this is why we have to push forward the agenda, we have to protect our borders better, we have to fight organised crime in the area of human trafficking. We have to do our best for solidarity between the Member States when it comes to asylum procedures, when it comes to return procedures and all the other fields. There is not Bulgaria or Romania to blame. There is a lot of work to do for this institution, the European Parliament, and also for the Council of the Member States’ governments. And then I look forward to go forward with the Schengen accession of the two countries. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech.)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are discussing the European guarantee that children can grow up without poverty and in a carefree childhood. Having children is one of the greatest happy things that can happen. At the same time, the old saying is true that children increase the attack surface of fate. Therefore, families with children are particularly affected by the current crises – inflation, rising rents, rising credit rates, rising prices overall. This is why the so-called European Child Guarantee is particularly important. Therefore, I can only wholeheartedly advocate that this would be the wrong place to save. Children should be supported in their talents. Next year is the European Year of Skills – giving children the chance to learn and then practice as a profession, to be able to do something and then to be happy to do it – this is also so important according to the old important motto that the best social programme is a job. My home country is called Kinderösterreich, because we have been doing this for a long time, that children are in the foreground. In Austria there is the childcare allowance, the family bonus – yes, and I would also like to see the child guarantee implemented at European level. Children's noise is the music of the future.

Madam President, Commissioner Várhelyi, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, security in the Middle East is of utmost importance for the security of Europe and the entire world actually. I don’t agree with everything we state in the resolution we will vote on tomorrow, but let’s see the positive sides and let’s follow up. With whom? with our strongest ally, the only democracy and rule of law-based state in the Middle East – Israel. Israel has opened historic opportunities with the Abraham Accords and with its partners there. That’s the one side. The other side is the Iranian threat, which is not only contributing to the terrorism of Hezbollah and of Hamas, and supporting the malicious powers in Syria and misusing the Syrian soil for proliferation, but is also supporting Putin’s Russia in its war of aggression, its brutal war crime-oriented aggression, and in its hybrid warfare against the free world, against the political west. So let’s see who are our allies. Let’s follow up with our ally in the Middle East. Let’s contribute from our side for security in the Middle East, because this will pay back for our security as well and also for our values.

Mr President, Commissioner! Critical infrastructure is vital infrastructure and it is important that the European Union as a whole takes care of maintaining this infrastructure in the event of a crisis. I thank the rapporteur, I thank the shadow rapporteurs for the good negotiations. Three things were important to me to anchor in these negotiations. Firstly: Those responsible for a critical infrastructure unit deserve public appreciation. We need to make it possible in Europe to communicate clearly that this means something – for security, for quality of life, for preparedness, for possible crises. Secondly: What is done for the general public must also be financed by the general public. This means that we don't want to impose additional burdens where someone takes responsibility for critical infrastructure units, but that we want to make it work. And thirdly: The local food supply was important to me. The hybrid attacks, the Putin-Russia war have shown: Food chains to Europe and other parts of the world are also important. And with all this, with the protection of critical infrastructure, we are confronting this world of confrontation with our access to cooperation, but also with the preparation for future crises.

Madam President, Commissioner Várhelyi! I admire your perseverance here in the European Parliament tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen! It is good that we are discussing here in Parliament what the governments in the Member States are doing. You have the European political community, the European Political Community. And I see, to put it in a saying, the glass half full. It is good that the whole of Europe comes together, that the EU takes care of the whole of European territory, because that is also its mission, its mission: To give everyone on this continent what Europe can mean, even if that is a long way off. But it would be bad if this European Political Community led to existing processes of EU integration being, to a certain extent, thrown into a box, and then processes that are very advanced towards the European Union, possibly stalled even further than has already happened, especially with the Western Balkans. In the past, the European Union has made many, many mistakes. That can't happen anymore. Montenegro is ready for accession and accession negotiations are needed with Albania and North Macedonia. Kosovo and Serbia have been resolved. Both belong to the European Union, Serbia if Serbia will also support European values. Bosnia and Herzegovina now has candidate status. The Eastern Partnership countries – Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine – belong differently integrated. And we need a much better relationship with Switzerland and with Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Azerbaijan and Armenia were also represented in the European political community. Belarus was represented by the liberation movement. So every state that is involved has a different status. You have to keep looking, and then you can have the future. And even if there is a parliamentary dimension, there may be a future.

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. In Belarus, there is something in place that’s growing in Russia today, but it has been in place in Belarus for more than two years already. Since the stolen election, there has been a vibrant and active liberation movement, and we should not stop supporting this liberation movement. We should not take away our sight, our view on this liberation movement, which is active all over the world. Belarus is the only country in Europe that was not represented at the so-called European Political Community (EPoC) event. I like the idea of the EPoC event, even while there are many questions that are open, but it is good that the countries of Europe come together in this broad format. Why was Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the head of the liberation movement, not invited to this event? Why was only Belarus not present? I would really ask, from this side of the European Parliament, to invite the liberation movement of Belarus. Even the Council of Europe has established a contact group with the liberation movement of Belarus. As the title of today’s parliamentary debate is about the war of Russia against Ukraine and the support for Belarus, I want again to emphasise that this is not only a war against Ukraine; this is a war against all of us. Belarus is also taking part not only militarily, conventionally in the action of war and in this aggression, but also via hybrid warfare. Just remember, not that long ago when Lukashenko tried to misuse refugees against our borders, against the European Union, and more and more. Let’s stick together here and include the liberation movement in our action.

Madam President, Vice-President Regner, Commissioner Várhelyi, colleagues, it’s good that there is an enlargement package from the European Commission, and there are some positive aspects about it. We don’t call it enlargement but we should also better deal with the UK, Norway and Switzerland. We made some progress with the Eastern Partnership and other parts. When it comes to UK, I want to appreciate today also in the Plenary that it was decided that the UK will participate in the PESCO project on military mobility, which is positive. When it comes to the Western Balkans, it’s very positive that Bosnia and Herzegovina will most probably be granted the candidate status. That’s a progress in that case. But overall, I would wish for more clarity, especially regarding Serbia. I’m happy, Commissioner that after our exchange in the Foreign Affairs Committee of this very Parliament, where you stated that only one side would have to contribute more to the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia which would have been Kosovo, today you have said both sides should contribute. I call it progress from the side of the Commissioner. I would say Kosovo has already contributed a lot during history and also the recent months and years, and it is on Serbia not only to contribute to that, but even more to join the sanctions, to join the first unbloody defence against a bloody war attack in history – that’s the state of our civilisation. If this will not happen, we have to consider sanctioning Serbian companies and entities who do business with Russian companies and entities because it’s still Putin’s Russia. And if we have heard the President announcing Sakharov Prize for Ukraine just a few moments ago, it’s clear that we are still in this moment of attack and we defend ourselves via these sanctions.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Lenarčič! The entire Western Balkans – all six countries – are important for the future of Europe. Today we are debating the Republic of Kosovo and the Kosovo report. I would therefore like to point out to you that this is a state with people who have paid a high blood toll for their freedom, a state that could only achieve its independence through the European Union and the United States of America at all, a state that has built democracy and the rule of law at an impressive speed, a democracy that is stable today and that has a high diversity in the country, a state of law, yes, that still needs reforms, but has one of the most modern constitutions in the world in the background, a state that is recognized by well over a hundred states of this world and now also by the state of Israel, which has long been an open question. But a state that is still not recognised by a small minority of Member State governments in the European Union, a state that has citizens who are the only ones in the entire Western Balkans who are not allowed to travel visa-free, a state to which promises are made over and over again, which are then not complied with, are made to the promise, whose compliance is then postponed. This is the Republic of Kosovo. Nevertheless, the people there have the greatest support for European integration, compared to all the Western Balkan states. Nevertheless, there is a confidence there from which everyone else in Europe can learn a lot – from Europe’s youngest state, not only in its statehood, but also in its population. That is why the signal from the European Parliament is so important today.

Madam President, Serbia is a beautiful country with great people, with a lot of cultural heritage. Serbia is a large country compared to the others in the Western Balkans and an economically strong country. It could serve a lot for the region and for all Europe. But I have to remind all of us about our decision in the plenary with a large majority on 1 March, about our deepest concern about Serbian behaviour when it comes to war on European soil. This is why I highly appreciate the work of the rapporteur, Vladimír Bilčík, because it must be extremely hard to conduct a report on such a country with such leadership. We all have to learn our lessons from history. Even we Austrians had to learn our lessons from history, and we still have to. And it is also on Serbia to learn the lessons from history, to align with Europe and European values, to align with the sanctions which are the unbloody defence against the bloody war, and take the first in history, the status of our civilisation, for the sake of the Serbian people themselves.

Mr President, with this plenary week and this vote, the European Parliament, on behalf of the people of Europe, will send a clear signal for the security of the Europeans, of this generation and for generations to come. Security means that we have to invest more in defence. Security means that we have to use structures and to strengthen these structures like the European Defence Fund, like the Strategic Compass, in order to contribute to our strategic autonomy. Security means that we have to unify the free world, the so-called political West. We have to align with our partners, our largest partner, the United States, and all the partners around the globe. Because contributing to the free world means to contribute to freedom of people. Security does not mean to militarise society. Security means to have proper armed forces in order to make proper dwelling possible, proper studying, learning, education, work and everything else. It’s about our societies which we like so much and we defend. Unifying the political West also means to contribute to recognition of Kosovo, for example, unifying the political base means to confront also domestically Hungary in our European Union. Within Europe, also to confront Serbia with its obstacles, sending to the process of unifying the political West. Unifying the political West and contributing to security also means to solve our issues within our societies. We have heard today one of our colleagues mentioning it would be two sides of the same medal when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. No, that’s not true. There is one aggressor and there’s one victim. And we are on the side of the victim, on the side of freedom of human dignity, democracy and rule of law. This is what we have to do. We welcome Denmark in the Common Security and Defence Policy this very week after this great referendum there, and we will continue contributing to unifying the free world.

– Mr Colleague, I have just heard you say that the support of the free world for the state defending itself – Ukraine – would unnecessarily prolong the war. The question that follows, Mr. Colleague: What outcome of the war and what post-war scenario would you like to see? What's your idea?

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner! We chose this outfit today – many here in this house – because we are celebrating 60 years of EU agricultural policy. And this is a success story that needs to be strengthened again and again. I am pleased that an Austrian farmer, Thomas Waitz, has accompanied this important report as chief negotiator, as rapporteur here in the European Parliament – because dealing with climate change and updating defence policy and making it fit for the future are not yet success stories. That's why it's important to see both. It is also good to write both in one report, and I see the report in a very differentiated way. I think it's good that climate change is seen as a security risk in this report because it is. I always like to quote David Beasley, the head of the World Food ProgrammeHe said, after the Man-made ConflictIn man-made conflict, climate change is the second largest cause of crises. We have to face that. I see it critically if, to a certain extent, armed forces are encouraged to make their work more or less CO2-neutral. That won't work. We need to address climate change – in politics, in all areas of society. Armed forces primarily protect people. We also need to protect the climate.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I think the migration crisis from 2015 has shown us that we cannot care what happens in other parts of the world, but rather that it affects us directly. I think the pandemic shows us that the world is a village where we are directly dependent on each other. Yes, and the war against Ukraine shows us that freedom and peace, if we do not defend them, will be attacked and destroyed. And all this must make us think when it comes to West Africa and the Sahel, because the region – especially Mali – is marked by incredible tensions and people there suffer incredibly. I am critical of the fact that we are gradually withdrawing from our EU mission in Mali. I understand the reasons. I understand that we are no longer so welcome by the government. I understand that the Wagner Group – which is in fact a Kremlin group that therefore threatens freedom and peace in this world – is also pushing us away. But that's why I ask the question: Is it wise that we let ourselves be so repressed? Shouldn't the lessons from the three crises mentioned above, and indeed from much, much earlier developments, as well as reason and insight into the perspectives for the future, lead us to become more involved and present in the sense of democracy, the rule of law, human dignity and freedoms? This must be borne in mind. I express great respect for the 72 Austrian soldiers who work there, for the approximately 1000 soldiers from 22 Member States, in order to enable training. If famine comes in autumn, winter, as it is predicted, then this region will be particularly affected and our presence will be particularly important.

Mr President, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, ladies and gentlemen! It is an old principle that something that can be used for defense and good can also be misused for attack or evil. This is exactly what happened to Pegasus. We need instruments like Pegasus to fight organised crime, terrorism and external attacks. And all the greater is the crime when such an instrument is misused to attack people in parliamentarism and journalism, to attack people in civil society, even to attack people in economic life. And no one should assume at all that she or he himself could not be affected, because abusing such instruments means bringing division into our society, restricting freedoms, and that is exactly what we must not allow. That is why it is important that this committee of inquiry on Pegasus exists. And the Committee of Inquiry will not only investigate and present a very clear report – in any case. But the Committee of Inquiry must ensure that those who abuse such an instrument – and I repeat, that is a crime as such – do not feel safe, those who have done it, those who do it now, those who may still do it, because something that can be technologically broken can also be technologically traced at some point. And this should be known to all those who imagine that they could quickly commit this crime of abuse of Pegasus here or there. We won't let that happen. And the Committee of Inquiry will also make clear recommendations for action on how these instruments, which are important because they are also used to attack Europe, can be used correctly and correctly to defend Europe, under the rule of law, democratically. That will be important. I am pleased that our Commissioner Johannes Hahn said at the outset that the Commission is looking forward to what the Committee of Inquiry will bring, and that will be of substantial value.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Europe is in an unprecedented defense against an attack. We defend security, we defend the freedom of Europeans and we defend the values advocated by Europe. And one of these values is that we uphold human dignity and civil liberties in Europe. This includes ensuring, here in the Assembly of European Citizens in the European Parliament, that minorities also have freedom rights, also enjoy the rule of law – and, on International Roma and Sinti Day in particular, Roma and Sinti – in education, in the social sphere, in participation in all areas of society. This is what we are defending here. It is depressing to see in this debate that in this European Parliament, too, those forces which are believed to have been supported in the past by those who are now attacking Europe are in turn those who are calling into question the rights of Roma and Sinti here in this debate. You can see how important it is to continue to put human dignity and civil liberties in the foreground. It was important for me to speak on this debate because thousands of people were murdered in the Shoah, the Holocaust, the Nazi criminal state, Roma and Sinti on 2 August in the context of the Roma and Sinti genocide. It is 2 August, which is European Day of Remembrance, and I recommend that all Member States also make 2 August the European Day of Remembrance in Memory of the Crimes of National Socialism against the Roma and Sinti.

Mr President, heading the delegation with the Korean peninsula in this very Parliament, it’s important to me that I emphasise that what the EU calls ‘critical engagement’ is also our approach in the European Parliament in dealing with North Korea, meaning that we push our objective of denuclearisation in North Korea, and we work closely with our great partners in South Korea. As in each and every case and in each and every place in the world, Europe defends the values Europe represents on the planet, and among them is human rights. That’s why this very report of the European Parliament is so important. I myself have seen pictures and graphics of how prisoners are treated in North Korea, and this is something we must not let happen. We must do our utmost to defend human rights, including the freedom of religion and belief, and all the other things that are important for our European values.

Mr President! One of the lessons to be learned from the Kremlin's and Russian leadership's bestial attack on Ukraine is that we must never again allow nationalism, ethnic conflicts, pseudo-religious conflicts or simply lies, false stories, false narratives directed against people because they lead to the abyss at the negotiating tables in Europe or in this world. Stefan Zweig called nationalism the archpest of the century, and he meant the past century. Until recently, I had hopes that things would be better in the 21st century. I am shocked by the nationalist tendencies that have emerged in the Western Balkans, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. And that is unacceptable. The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve democracy and the rule of law and that everyone is equally valuable before the state and the law – in Bosnia and Herzegovina, across the Western Balkans.