Speeches

Thank you, Mrs Beer, for your comments. But I have a question because you say it is not yet the time for a permanent ceasefire. I would like to ask you seriously: How many more people need to be killed in Gaza? How many children still have to cry for their parents or carry dead themselves through the area, so that the federal government in the Federal Republic of Germany finally says it needs a permanent ceasefire? Don't you realize how cynical that is, what you, your party and the federal government represent in the Federal Republic of Germany? Do not really notice how the peoples of the world must think, while on the one hand for Ukraine ... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Mr President! The right to switch off and thus be able to switch off is not an exotic issue, but a bitterly serious one. More than 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression, mental disorders related to work, every year. The reason: Stress, work consolidation and the absence of the so-called work-life balance. According to a survey, about a third of employees started working from home in the lockdown. Many continue teleworking. Digitalization and modern forms of communication enable teleworking, work from any location, and ensure permanent accessibility. The result of this is actually that the private and the professional are becoming increasingly blurred. The result of this is that more and more people are stressed and become ill. Actually, working hours are regulated, preferably by collective agreement or otherwise also by law. But at the point where the employers' side does not respect this right, Commissioner, new rules are needed and, above all, enforcement of the existing rules. It needs more control. As I said, it is not an exotic issue, but a bitter reality.

I have heard several times now from colleagues in your group that the Left would somehow trivialize, trivialize, relativize Hamas terrorism, Islamic reactionism or the like. That's what you said. Are you aware that the left in the Muslim countries is the force that fights against the reactionism of the Islamists as well? Do you realize, dear Mr Bellamy, that it is not the left that are the brothers and sisters in the spirit of the reactionary Islamists, but that there are also fascist forces here in Europe? I would ask and sincerely urge you to refrain from this comparison. It is the left and progressive forces in these countries that are fighting for the fraternity of the peoples. (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker)

Mr President! For an hour now, I've been hearing from over there that migrants are criminals. I would like to say very clearly here: I myself came to Germany at the age of five as the daughter of a political refugee family from Turkey. Me and people like me are not criminals, but how criminal fascists are and were, we know that not least from history, we know that not least from the houses that burned in Germany because Nazis wanted to kill migrants. Mr President! A friend called me last year, an oppositionist from Turkey who was a teacher. He was removed from his job by the Erdoğan government, and so was his wife. Er arbeitete als Tagelöhner auf Tabakplantagen. He called me that his wife has now become ill and he has gone over the Balkan route to Norway. Please note: someone fleeing from someone with whom the EU is making a refugee deal; Someone who is fleeing from the refugee deals that the EU... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Madam President, I am a little surprised at the debate. It is about the grain agreement with Russia, so that the world population can be supplied with food. And I don't understand what you're discussing here. Last week, Mr Guterres made another push to reach a grain agreement with Russia again and is doing something to help Russia because it is about preventing people from starving around the world. The point is that food prices have risen more than 37% since the war and also with your sanctions. I understand that in these days everything is subordinated to geopolitics in this House, and I criticise this massively, because that means that impoverishment, that means hunger, that means that the erosion of the middle classes is also being accepted here. There are reasons why food prices and grain prices have risen. Speculation on the one hand, and your sanctions on the other. And here one would have to do something in the interest of the people of the EU, but also of the global South. Colleagues, have you ever wondered why the majority of the world's population has vehemently condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and also in the UN General Assembly, but does not comply with your arms deliveries and your sanctions? Because collateral damage is not that people around the world have to starve. It is also not collateral damage that the people in the EU are massively impoverished because of their brutal policies.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Whether EU summit or NATO summit, the motto seems to be: ‘Weapons, weapons, weapons. Long live the war!’ The latest escalation is: Cluster munitions from the USA, long-range missiles from France, other tanks from Germany. Let the war take its course. The message to Ukraine is: “Fight, boys, keep fighting! You are also fighting for our freedom." And if necessary, we also arm you like a porcupine so that you can wage this war for years and decades when it comes to our interests. The result in Ukraine: Destruction, death and suffering for the people. The result in Europe: The rich will become richer, middle classes will erode, and the poor will become more numerous. In the context of boosting munitions production in Europe, the Commissioner even says that if necessary, we would also have a war economy. War economy means that all levels of production are aligned with the interests of war. The message to the workers here in Europe is: "If necessary, you also work more for war." After all, geopolitical interests are at stake. It is not about democracy. It is about access to large resources, to large markets. And it is about a robust competition of great powers – a competition of military, economic and political powers in the world, about the division of the world. Including Russia, including China, including the US and including the EU. That's why they're upgrading massively right now. However, this does not only mean that the money for social welfare is missing. This also means that the world is becoming more uncertain. That's why we as the Left say no to this war and why we say: We want peace to be defended in the world. And the only way to do that is not to rearmament, rearmament, rearmament, but diplomacy and political solutions to conflicts around the world. Stop putting geopolitical interests, EU geopolitical interests above people's lives in Ukraine. Solidarity, genuine solidarity, looks really different, colleagues.

Madam President, There is a connection between the planned judicial reform of the ultra-right government in Israel and the latest developments in Palestine. It is no coincidence that the same government that is trying to undermine the justice system is particularly aggressive towards Palestinians. Because an essential goal of this reform is also to circumvent and overcome the legal hurdles in settlement and annexation policy. This settlement policy is a policy that tramples on the rights of Palestinians, disregards international law. Yes, and this policy is one that continues to fuel and escalate the Middle East conflict. Therefore, no silence is required at the moment, but it needs an outcry. Where was the outcry at the pictures from the refugee camp in Jenin? Where was the outcry when journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered? Colleagues, double standards and values are not related. If you advocate value politics, then break your silence about the suffering of the Palestinians, criticize this orthodox right-wing, nationalist government... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Mr President! The solution found by interior ministers to the EU's common asylum system is not a solution, and it is at its core exacerbating misery. The falsehood that already exists is perpetuated, and this system has nothing to do with solidarity. Colleagues, more and more people around the world have to flee and leave their homes. You have to do it because of armed conflicts, which also involve weapons. made in EU be led. They must do so because their livelihoods are being destroyed, including by large EU corporations that are exploiting their countries, plundering their resources and flooding their markets with their garbage. They have to do it because their agriculture is broken, because they can no longer fish, because there are also EU quotas that empty their seas. It is the EU's responsibility to give these people a future perspective, of course. Yes, colleagues, escape is not a solution, but for many people it seems acutely the only prospect. That is why we say very clearly: We defend the right to asylum, but we also question the order you have created with global injustice. We face the right incitement... (The President interrupted the speaker.)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Do you actually notice that? They are currently discussing the reconstruction of Ukraine, euro-transatlantic integration, while a war is raging in Ukraine and is taking on ever more brutal proportions during this war. And you're discussing this without taking a single initiative to end the war. They do this, for example, by putting aside all the peace initiatives - diplomatic peace initiatives - that have existed, whether from Brazil, Africa, China or Mr Guterres. Not only that: They continue to fuel this war with weapons and tell the people of Europe to tighten their belts. Ladies and gentlemen, do you seriously believe that you are going to take Ukraine into NATO or into the EU while there is a very brutal war going on? You have to do something to end this war. And I tell you very clearly: NATO is not part of the solution, it is part of the problem. The US already declares today that it will not only support Ukraine, but will completely reshape it. I thought it was about sovereignty, about self-determination! Where do you get the right to reshape Ukraine? Yes, Russia is waging a brutal and illegal war of aggression, and this is to be condemned, but Russia is doing what NATO has done before in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and other countries of the world. Russia started a war with the same lies. And that is why I say very clearly, ladies and gentlemen: They want people in Europe to get used to war, so there are initiatives like Air Defender. The people will not get used to this war. The longer it lasts, the more the rejection from the population becomes stronger ... (The President withdrew the floor from the speaker.)

Mr President! In 2012, 259 people died in a Pakistani textile factory. They died in a fire. They produced for the German textile discounter KiK. The relatives, who later sued KiK, were dismissed on their charges. The case was time-barred, he said. What a mockery, isn't it? And Kik is not the only example. In the Global South, Latin America, Africa and Asia, multinationals, Western corporations, including European companies, are brutally exploiting people and nature. They undermine workers’ rights, disregard workers’ protection directives – and they can do so without blinking their eye because they do not have a duty of care. And there must be something done, Mr. Voss! You stand here and say: Then we rely on volunteering. Then we embrace the companies, because they want that too. No, Mr Voss, it is not time to embrace the companies, but to embrace the workers, to embrace the trade unions, to embrace the environmental associations that have been pointing out exactly these violations, the disregard of human rights, workers' rights for years! And that's why this directive is not a revolution, it's the least you have to do. And by the way, it is the workers who actually create wealth and not just the companies. Mr Voss, I ask you, I ask the Conservatives: If you agree to this directive, do not be anti-union!

The Common Position of the European Union in Articles 3 and 4 explicitly states that the Common Position does not allow the supply of arms which prolong the war or which are provided for in war and crisis areas. The cynical thing is that this common position has always been betrayed, and now it is being made open. Mr. Borrell even stood up and said: The taboo has also fallen. Work is being done here all the time to drop taboos in the European Union, because they have long wanted to work on transforming the EU into a military union. But the lesson of the Second World War was that in Europe it was said: We don't want wars anymore! And if you don't want wars, you have to work to make sure there is diplomacy. When was Mrs. von der Leyen's speech where she said: We as the EU see the way out of this war here or there? When did Mrs. von der Leyen ever say anything about diplomacy or peace in this war? If you tell us that arms deliveries end the war: No, they don't end it! They are exacerbating the suffering in Ukraine.

Mr President! When it comes to the military union, there are no limits to the Commission's creativity. Thus, the Defence Fund for the transport and procurement of military and war equipment is declared as an industrial policy and the fund from which arms deliveries to Ukraine are mobilized is called the Peace Facility. All this despite the fact that the EU Treaty, Article 41(2), prohibits military action from the EU budget. This is despite the fact that the Common Position bindingly prohibits the supply of weapons in war and crisis areas. Now you want to boost ammunition production with funds from the Corona Recovery Fund or Cohesion Policy. Cohesion policy aims to bring people's living conditions in the regions into line. Mind you, you want this at a time when we have 20 million children at risk of poverty. Blooming war and munitions landscapes – this seems to be the Commission’s promise for the future. Commissioner, dear Commission, dear Parliament, when will I finally hear the speeches here for peace, for the people of Ukraine, in Europe and beyond? (The speaker agreed to answer a question on the blue card procedure.)

Madam President, Today we are discussing the Parliament report on the EU Rapid Reaction Force, i.e. a small EU special army with at least 5000 men. Their deployment is planned in conjunction with Article 44 of the EU Treaty, i.e. a coalition of the willing for deployments. This EU army should have proactive intelligence and surveillance services, transport and air transport capabilities, space communication tools, cyber defence capabilities and much more. Nothing you ask for is new. Already after the disaster that the EU and NATO states caused in Afghanistan with 20 years of bombing and the subsequent disastrous withdrawal, you claimed that such a special operation force was needed. Now, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the demand becomes all the louder. One wonders if such a force could even end such a war. The main thing weapons, the main thing troops seems to be the current motto in this House and at EU level. The Rapid Reaction Force is just another military tool to assert EU interests and influence power politics, as we know it in the EU-Mali operation or in its Sahel strategy, not to mention the lack of transparency and democratic control over all EU instruments. Funding should be provided through the so-called Peace Facility instrument. You are asking for even more money. Attention! The name Peace Facility is deceptive. The instrument has nothing to do with peace. By doing so, you are already financing arms deliveries to Ukraine and prolonging the war. The peoples of the world do all this with renunciation and with life and limb. I say: We don't need this intervention force. The EU should be a diplomatic power.

Madam President, Mrs Rafalska, I have to say, but I have wondered what the Polish government is doing to ensure that such entrepreneurs can no longer act as freight forwarders. And this is a serious question. A battalion drives an armored car to a rest stop with the aim of threatening truck drivers. And the police in Germany must intervene. What sounds like a bad crime story actually happened in Germany, in the middle of the EU. And the reason is that the workers are on strike because they have not received their wages for months. The employer is also threatened with expulsion. Matching the crime script, the owner of the company is a welcome guest on Polish television. If you ask me, such an employer does not belong on television, but behind bars. Unfortunately, this is not just about a bad entrepreneur, but it has a system. The real problem is not only the small fish, but also the sharks, and the shark basin has been created by the EU itself with the EU internal market. The transport of goods and goods became more and more important, all roads were paved for it, people and labour rights remained on the track. In the scandal in Germany, the names of large corporations such as IKEA, Siemens, DHL fall as clients. Your lucrative business model in the competition for the cheapest price is basically always the same: Outsourcing, sub- and sub-entrepreneurship, wage dumping and brutal exploitation. Everything for the best possible profit. This is unacceptable, ladies and gentlemen. My greatest solidarity and respect belong to the workers who stand in their way, whether in Gräfenhausen, in Paris or in Madrid – they have already been on strike. They want to get their pay, they want to go on strike until it happens. And this not only needs our solidarity, we also need to act. We need to close loopholes. And we really need to make supply chain control stricter. On Saturday I spoke on the phone with Professor Dr. Gerhard Trabert. This is the doctor of the poor from Germany. He also told me about the poor health of the workers in Gräfenhausen. And here too, Commissioner, we have a lot to do. It's not just psychological stress. Teeth had to be pulled. Workers are doing very, very poorly in terms of health, and that's why we need more mobile medical practices and more fair mobility.

Mr President! More than ever, citizens in the EU expect de-escalation instead of more wars. But in the so-called Indo-Pacific region, a geopolitical storm is brewing. The danger of escalation to an armed conflict between the US and China is growing. The US sees itself threatened by China in its hegemony, in its claims for it in the world. The Asian market is becoming increasingly important. China is the second largest economic power, expanding its claim in the world and mastering crucial supply chains. China's expansion means and reduces the share of Western corporations in the world market. That's what's bothering you, and that's what's bothering the United States. That's why you build narratives like: China would escalate, and it would be about autocracy versus democracy. Colleagues, how many autocrats are premium partners of the EU and USA? When did that bother you when they opened the markets for you? The transatlantics are not concerned with the people of Taiwan, human rights or the preservation of democracy, but with their own supremacy. China has not changed Taiwan policy. European states agreed to the one-state policy – one country, two systems – when they wanted China to open up markets. Now China is too strong, that bothers them. And that's why the US is escalating and is now motivating the elites in Taiwan to break completely with China. But you know that this will mean that we are very close to the war. Don't get me wrong: I criticize China for its imperial claims in the world, just as I criticize the US and the EU for it. But you react significantly to Mr Macron, who did not say anything new, and some felt that he had forfeited the claim to be a leader in the EU with this interview. I would like to ask you: For me, Mr. Macron was never a leader. He beats French workers. He beats them down for an antisocial pension reform. But if he says we shouldn't risk a war in the wake of the US, he's right. Do you seriously want a war? EU citizens do not want World War III.

Madam President, There is a causal link between poverty and wealth. There is also a link between the war, price increases and rising poverty in the European Union. For a year now, I have only heard reports from the Council and the Commission about how many weapons we have now sent to Ukraine, how many sanctions have been adopted and how many billions have been put into prolonging the war – nothing about how this war should end. Today, too, I heard many words from the Commission about strengthening the competitiveness of European businesses – nothing about the social upheavals in the European Union. I don't know if you haven't noticed, but poverty is expanding, middle classes are eroding, people can't live off their wages. And something needs to be done about it! They must do something to end this war and do something to ensure that there is social security for the workers. And I'll tell you again if you haven't noticed: More and more people and trade unions in the European Union are resisting this. In France, we see the best example of people fighting against an antisocial pension reform and being attacked by the police for it. On Monday, the trade union ver.di paralyzed all traffic in the Federal Republic of Germany and demanded an inflation compensation. Dear colleagues, dear Commission, do something for the people of the EU! Do something for social security and not just for the war and the arms industry!

Madam President, Mr Bütikofer just said he had to call me the fifth column of Russia, Putin, because I stand up for peace and against militarism. I would like to point out to you, Mr Bütikofer, that I am one of those politicians in this Parliament who have never spoken out against any regime. Of course, I criticize the Putin regime for the attack on Ukraine. But I do not want you here as Parliament to use this robbery to transform the EU into a military union. I do not want to take a leaf out of your mouth when you abuse this attack and the suffering of the people of Ukraine for your own geopolitical interests. I am not silent on Mr Putin, nor am I silent on Mr Erdoğan, nor am I silent on any regime! Nor am I silent about the policies of the United States, which you call a premium partner. How many wars have the United States waged in violation of international law, Mr. Bütikofer? How many times have you condemned this?

Madam President, 384 days and not a single EU diplomatic action to end the war in Ukraine. Instead, the EU has massively used the uncertainty in the population here to transform the so-called diplomacy power EU into a military union, to put aside the social hurdles against militarism and previous taboos against arms deliveries to war zones. For many, war means death, suffering, devastation, for a few, war is the party to pop the champagne corks on the executive floors. This is most obvious to the defense industry. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Rheinmetall shares have risen to the DAX. Its value has doubled. Now Rheinmetall is even planning a tank factory in Ukraine. They are also talking about expanding the defence industry in the EU. The people of the EU are calling for peace. Because only peace means security for the people. They demand social justice, not war cries. It is no coincidence that the novel by Erich Maria Remarque Nothing new in the West He received the Oscar. The people of Europe have learned from their history. What did you learn?

Mr President! People who only eat dry pasta at the end of the month, children who go to school hungry, pensioners looking for deposit bottles in trash cans, workers who can no longer make ends meet despite work – these are no longer individual fates. Even before the price explosions, one in five EU residents was at risk of poverty. How many are there now, Commissioner? How many people are given the feeling that they are personally to blame and have failed? How many people are there? No one who does not belong to the class of the super-rich is really protected from poverty. Poverty is not a single fate. It has a system, and the rich EU is paying far too much poverty. That is why it is right and overdue for us to discuss minimum security schemes in the EU. But we need not only a recommendation, Commissioner, but a binding directive. Indeed, we must ensure that we have basic security systems in all Member States that guarantee a life of dignity, that safeguard the minimum existential level, that enable participation for all, that provide access to education, reskilling and upskilling, and that create good jobs that protect against poverty. Moreover, weak social security systems are always an attack on good wages. Colleagues, the gap between rich and poor is not God-given. There are systematic reasons for this. Yes, it is profit maximization, and political decisions of the past have exacerbated this situation. So let's put a stop to this. Commissioner, please have a directive in this legislature.

Mr President! The war in Ukraine has been raging for a year, that is, people in Ukraine have been dying for a year. A year of war also means a year of brutal power struggle between NATO and Russia on the backs of the people of Ukraine and the peoples of the world. Yesterday, Mr. Stoltenberg stated that this war was foreseeable since 2014. Then you have to ask: Why was he not prevented by all means? Yes, Russia has launched the attack on Ukraine and is condemned for it. But what has NATO been doing since then, besides upgrading it in real and verbal terms? Stop it! Why did you remain silent when Britain and the US torpedoed peace talks in Turkey last year? Your actions have nothing to do with solidarity with the attacked people. Be truly in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and stop putting your geopolitical interests above people's lives!

... from Turkey and Syria. My thoughts are with the people in Turkey, with my friends. Cities are destroyed, including the city where I was born. My phone is buzzing all the time: News of people in Turkey who are desperate and do not know where to go. The village I was in in October last year is 80% destroyed, and at the same time yesterday I saw a video on Instagram showing AFAD, the state rescue agency, rescuing bank safes from the rubble – not people. Next to it I saw indignant people shouting: Everywhere are our families, our loved ones, and you worry about bank safes? And yes, indeed, it is a toxic mixture of boundless greed for profit and a corrupt one-man rule that has evoked this natural disaster that was unavoidable, but this human tragedy. People are rightly outraged. I'm outraged too. Help in the most important hours and still do not arrive. At the moment, the Erdoğan administration seems to have more power than saving lives. And it remains to be feared that the regime will respond to the justified indignation of the people with repression. The pressure on critical voices is already increasing. That's why we need two things: We need humanitarian and urgent assistance – immediately. The aid must arrive. But we must continue to look to Turkey for what will happen in the coming months.

Madam President, The EU could turn the EU-Ukraine summit into a peace summit. But instead, you are screaming again in this house, as if 1914 were. They say Ukraine should win this war on the battlefield. I'll tell you what the Chief of Staff of the United States, Mark Milley, said. He has said it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to win this war militarily. I ask you: Would you like to go to war as a NATO member state and officially start World War III? If not, stop shouting for the battlefield! Then look for a political solution! Never before has Ukraine been as dependent on the West, militarily and economically, as it is at the moment. Don't use it shamelessly. Don't send more and more people to their deaths in Ukraine. Look for a solution, because the EU is indeed a war party, but does not bleed on the battlefield. On the battlefield, the poor from Ukraine and Russia are bleeding, and therefore my appeal to all warring parties, to the direct and indirect, to Russia and to NATO: Stop this war!

Mr President! The German Foreign Minister has created a new word: Feminist foreign policy. And Mrs. von der Leyen also likes to talk about women's rights. Then I look at Afghanistan. For 20 years, NATO waged a war in Afghanistan to allegedly defend the woman. After 20 years of NATO bombing: How is the woman in Afghanistan? It's worse than ever. Now the Taliban can oppress the population and women in Afghanistan, including with Western technology and weapons. They left nothing but rubble and ashes there. And as if that were not enough, the German foreign minister now says she wants to cut the money, the aid money for Afghanistan this winter. I say very clearly: If this is the green foreign policy, the feminist foreign policy, then I say: No thanks! The NGOs are rightly storming the German government's cuts in Afghanistan.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, let me say a few words about the right: Here, Ms Bilde illustrated very vividly how she would react if workers' rights were to be strengthened. I find this unspeakable when right-wing representatives oppose workers' rights and at the same time act as if they were workers' representatives in the Member States. Colleagues, but now on the subject itself: There is a lot of talk about democracy in this House. But I want to be clear: When co-determination ends at the factory gate, then one can and must no longer speak of democracy. Imagine, in the famous case of Renault Belgium, the Euro works councils only learned from the newspaper that the plant should be closed. Colleagues, that is why we have to state that to this day the practice of forming Euro Works Councils is being torpedoed, that the Euro Works Council is being ignored and, on the pretext that it is trade secrets, information is being withheld from Euro Works Councils. It is arguably the most striking area in the European Union where the principle of the rule of law is shamelessly ignored and rights are violated. And why? Because there is a lack of enforcement opportunities for works councils and companies face virtually no sanctions. The few euros in penalties that companies have to pay for disregarding the co-determination of works councils can be paid from the postage box. We are not talking about small faux pas and small companies, but about companies weighing millions and billions of euros. For example, in such a case, Deutsche Telekom will only have to pay a fine of EUR 15,000. Probably the company will pay more for toilet paper in a year. That has to change! Anyone who seriously wants to enforce co-determination in the workplace must really hurt the companies that try to undermine works council work. Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday there were Euro Works Councils here in Parliament, all reporting the same problems. You will be informed too late and insufficiently involved. That is why we need to strengthen Euro Works Councils, give them access to justice and clearly regulate that decisions of companies are suspended until they are consulted. No, colleagues, it is not only the company management that is responsible for what happens in a group. Don't forget: The majority of the workers in the company are the workers.

Mr President! Faster, faster, full force ahead on the way to a military union has been saying since I came here. As if upgrading would mean more security – on the contrary. Massive rearmament increases the risk of wanting to assert interests militarily. That's what Russia does. Worse still, it has been here since Russia's attack on Ukraine in violation of international law. Since then, more weapons, faster weapons, larger weapons have been said here, the war should be decided on the battlefield. The EU is spending billions on arms supplies to Ukraine. 6,000 soldiers of Ukraine are trained in Germany and Poland, but, colleagues, do not forget: Russia is a nuclear power. How insane are those who play Russian roulette, and nothing else is being done right here. And at the same time, those who are for an end to the war are defamed. No, fellow Members, to be for an end to the war does not mean to be for the regime, but to be reasonable means to warn against a world war.