Speeches

The meeting resumed. The PfE Group has sent the President a decision on changes to appointments to committees. This Decision shall be entered in the minutes of today's meeting and shall enter into force on the date of this announcement. We have received several requests for Rules of Procedure on the same subject, and the President has therefore decided to give the floor only to one of the applicants, the first to request it.

Excuse me, you are having a blue card. If you want to object to what has happened, you can do that in a point of order at a later stage. You are supposed to address a blue card to the speaker. We're not going to do a ping‑pong here. It's a legitimate question, but not here and now to this speaker. This is not on the topic of your speech. Let's continue with the debate.

The next item on the agenda is the debate on Parliament's statements on solidarity with Poland following the deliberate violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones (2025/2876(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the rule of law and the management of EU funds in Slovakia (2025/2863(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Commission statement on the urgent need to build resilience against spoofing and jamming in view of the serious risks to air and maritime transport posed by disruptions to the global satellite navigation system (2025/2858(RSP)).

The next item on the agenda is the debate on the Council and Commission statements on the situation in Belarus, in particular on the release of political prisoners (2025/2789(RSP)).

In accordance with Rule 251(4) of the Rules of Procedure, I would like to inform you that no request for a vote has been made on the corrigendum notified to the Assembly at the opening of the sitting on Monday 7 July. The corrigendum is therefore deemed to have been adopted and will be published on the Plenary website.

No objections were raised to the recommendation for a decision not to object to a delegated act submitted by the INTA Committee, which was announced in plenary on Monday 7 July, within the 24 hour period. In accordance with Article 114(6), the Recommendation is therefore deemed to have been adopted and will be published with the texts adopted.

A few messages follow. The ESN Group has forwarded decisions on changes to appointments in committees and delegations to the President. These decisions will be recorded in the minutes of today's meeting and will enter into force on the day of this announcement.

If I have just rightly understood that you refer to colleagues as criminals: I will pass this on for review. After all, we want to treat each other respectfully.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. "Democracy dies in the dark" said US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward. The light that protects democracy is the free media. Without journalists and independent journalists, there is no effective control of politics and the economy. Without them, the line between fact and fake blurs to the point of unrecognizability. Especially in times when many believe that information can be obtained for free. With young people, TikTok and YouTube have become the most important information channels, where you naturally get something. Whether you can even call it information is on another page. The European Media Freedom Act This is a big step towards more transparency and more independence. As a member of the Pegasus Committee of Inquiry, I am particularly proud that we have succeeded in enshrining the protection against spyware such as Pegasus in it. In a month's time, the Freedom of the Media Act will finally come into force. It is important that Member States apply it and that the Commission cracks down on infringements. Never before has a free, independent press been as important as it is today.

The minutes of this meeting will be submitted to Parliament for approval at the beginning of the next meeting. If there are no objections, I will forward the resolutions adopted at today's sitting to the persons and bodies referred to in those resolutions.