Speeches

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.

Madam President, Officially, one in four people in the EU is at risk of poverty. On average, prices rose by 11.5%, but wages did not. In the EU average 3 % real wage loss. So today we can talk about poverty despite work, child poverty, old-age poverty, homelessness and horrendously high rents. But we can also talk about the downside, about the super-rich and shareholders. The ten richest EU citizens own about €539 billion, according to Forbes. While the normal people are supposed to tighten their belts, they are expanding their power and influence. In every crisis, they make even more money out of their money. But money does not work, but the workers create the riches. But the workers and the very poor are no longer able to make ends meet: Heating, butter, bread, vegetables – everything will be more expensive. Super-rich speculate on all this and even more at their stock market casino. That must end. We need a ban on speculation on food, a ban on trading with housing, a ban on tax havens for the super-rich. It is not about Christmas gifts or alms for the poor and workers, but about their right.

. – Mr President. A Christmas song in Germany is ‘Alle Jahre wieder’ and children like to sing it. But then I think of the children in Syria and Rojava. They are currently singing mourning songs, because every year bombs fall on their heads again. Once again, the Erdoğan regime is attacking the Kurds in Iraq and Syria under a pretext. And every year there are only quiet reactions to it from the EU. Mrs Dalli, you are even talking about Turkey's legitimate will to respond to the terrorist attack. I ask you: What do the Kurds in Rojava have to do with the terrorist attack, except that these Kurds fought the IS terrorists just a few years ago? While the EU lacks any diplomacy with regard to the Russian attack on Ukraine, it becomes mega-diplomatic and quiet with regard to the aggression of NATO partner Turkey. Why, one might ask? Unfortunately, the answer is obvious: The EU is not worried about the crying children, but about its refugee deal. She wants to protect herself from people who are fleeing. One minute is not enough to talk about the double standards of the EU and also about the suffering of the Kurds and Syrians. Colleagues, the Erdoğan regime now wants to extend the attack to ground troops in order to maintain power. This must be prevented, and this can only be done with a clear attitude. The EU could do so much, but it is silent. Mr Borrell did not even attend this meeting. That, ladies and gentlemen, is unacceptable.

Mr President! The silence about the injustice that has been happening to the Palestinians for years and decades is actually deafening. Although we have a solution that provides for a two-state solution, and this decision-making situation has existed for years, we do not see two equal states here, instead we continue to see displacement and suffering for the Palestinians. The settlement policy is being expanded further and further, the Israeli government is drifting to the right. More and more right-wing politicians are gaining traction in Israel. That's a big problem. As long as this is the case and as long as we continue to experience legal policy in Israel, we must also speak a clear language in the EU. For me, this clear language also means that European states can no longer carry out arms deals with Israel as long as settlement policy does not actually end.

Madam President, "Europe is a garden surrounded by a jungle", Mr Borrell said recently in a speech. He meant that the EU was a garden that had to be protected from the savages of the jungle. But with arms exports, gag and trade agreements, the rulers of the garden have been plundering the predators, the treasures of the African continent, here for decades. In old and new colonial manner, they take away the air to breathe, the seas to fish, the bread to eat from the people of Africa. They create permanent causes of flight. It was the NATO bombs that made Libya a hotbed of civil war. It is EU funds that have been used to build the brutal Libyan Coast Guard, which organises illegal pushbacks and is responsible for brutal human rights violations. It refers to the whole ‘externalisation of borders’. In countless inquiries, I have found that the EU has turned Africa and Libya into a testing ground for new foreclosure technology – a policy that does not leave the EU as pure and beautiful as Mr Borrell claims, but rather degenerate and wild. As long as this political economy does not change, the question remains where the true predators sit.

Mr President! Historical events are taking place in Iran: A popular uprising, a revolutionary movement that has set out to abandon the old, oppressive and reactionary in order to replace it with something new. How far the new will go is still unclear. Nevertheless, a lot has already been won. It is about self-determination: Women and men in urban and rural areas take to the streets despite martial violence – young and old. Workers are also organized in the factories. Our full solidarity is with the Iranian people, who have also had their brutal experiences in the past – with the regime inside, but also with outside interventions, such as that of the CIA, which has helped to promote today's regressive regime. It is clear to all that the regime will be more bloody if the popular movement withdraws. This is why international solidarity from below is now crucial – rejecting local geopolitical interventions as well as calling for effective action against the regime. The people of Iran show us: Resistance is life; They say: Jin – Jiyan –Azadi!

Mr President! Mr Borrell, you said at the beginning: Sooner or later this war will end. I hope that it will end as soon as possible, not only because of the skyrocketing prices for the population worldwide, but above all so that the dying and destruction in Ukraine will stop. But I would like to ask you what you are actually doing to ensure that negotiations take place, that a ceasefire takes place? I have noticed that the EU has not set up an exit strategy, has not sent diplomats and has done nothing at all in this regard. But this is actually a serious question in the interest of the people in the EU. What is the EU doing besides supplying weapons? What does the EU do other than impose sanctions? And finally, a question: I noticed that Mr. Danilov, who is the secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine, a few days ago in The Voice of America Ukraine will not be satisfied with either Crimea or Donbass, not even with reparations payments, but that it is about actually demilitarizing Russia and fueling its disintegration. I want to know: What does the EU say about such a strategy? I criticize the war of aggression without ifs and buts. But I also find such a strategy fatal.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Poor in spite of work, this is the bitter reality for 25 million workers in the EU. Poor in spite of work means working and still denying the child a lot – in this rich EU, which always boasts of being a haven of prosperity. Prosperity does not apply to everyone. It is the workers who create wealth and prosperity. But more and more people in the EU are working without a collective agreement. This means: poorer working conditions, poorer wages. In the vast majority of Member States where there is a statutory minimum wage, it is not enough to live on. Some say: Too much to die, too little to live. But this state did not fall from the sky. It was also fuelled by the EU: Troika policy attacked trade unions, called for the sale of social infrastructure and the dismantling of collective agreements. At that time in the pandemic and also currently the gap between rich and poor is widening. Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad that this directive finally takes up an important demand from the left too and states that we do not need weaker, but stronger trade unions and more collective agreements. I am glad that we hold that the minimum wage is that it protects against poverty. A matter of course, which in this House always sounded like a revolutionary demand. But that's not enough, colleagues. If, for example, the minimum wage in Germany now rises to EUR 12, but rental prices, heating prices and the cost of living continue to rise, then that is not enough. The current inflation and also the crisis have long since been carried out on the backs of the working people and the poor. And that's why I say very clearly: The protest against the rising cost of living, social security and peace remains inevitable.

Mr President! When I was a young student, a professor said: “Capitalism is the end of history. The era of crises and wars is over.” I don't know how many wars and crises I've counted since then. But what I do know for sure is that after each crisis, the gap between rich and poor widened further. The euro crisis, the coronavirus crisis, the war of aggression against Ukraine and the EU’s geopolitical sanctions are all carried out on the backs of ordinary people, on the backs of workers. Bread, fruit, vegetables, energy, electricity – everything will be more expensive. With billions, corporations have been and will be saved and workers are now to do without real wage increases. They are to work more to finance gigantic arms projects. The super-rich get richer, the poor more numerous. What a mockery, what a mockery, dear colleagues! No, we no longer need wage cuts, but an EU-wide price brake for oil companies, a taxation of perverse wealth, no rearmament. I hope for a hot autumn of social protests, where we make it clear: We are not paying for your crisis and for your wars.

Mr President! What can be said about the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy in one minute, except that developments there are highly dangerous? The surges of militarization that are taking place in the region are blazingly dangerous. The fact that proxy wars are coming to us in this region can already be seen now, because the Asian market is the market of the future. And what we see is that the contradictions in capitalism are intensifying, and that great powers are now fighting in their own interest for markets and resources, and here also in the Indo-Pacific region. The hegemonic power of the United States says: China, as an emerging new power, is my biggest competitor, and the situation continues to escalate here. And the EU goes along with it in the wake of the United States. And what makes them different? Yes, in fact, I criticize that China considers the Asian market, the Asian countries as its backyard. What is the EU doing with Africa? What is the US doing with Latin America? What makes it different here? This is an imperialist policy that must be rejected profoundly. What distinguishes the war of the Russian Federation, for example, from the war of the United States in Iraq? And I am not saying this to relativise what Russia is doing in Ukraine, but to make it clear that different imperial powers are waging wars on the backs of peoples around the world – and that must be rejected.

Madam President, In Belarus, workers and trade unions have sabotaged arms supplies and supplies for the Russian war of aggression as a sign against the war. They are now facing massive repression. But it is clear: Workers must have the right to organise in trade unions for their position. This applies to both social and political demands. Repression is unacceptable. But trade union rights are eroded, especially in times of crisis and war – in Belarus, in Russia and, unfortunately, also in Ukraine. No matter where, no matter what war, workers and the common people pay the highest price in these wars that are not waged in their interest. That's why it's right for them to defend themselves against it. For example, port workers in Italy have also stopped the EU's arms exports to Saudi Arabia with a strike, which were used in the brutal Yemen war. My solidarity is with Belarusian, Italian and workers around the world – they can stop wars. Finally, I would like to quote a poem by Wolfgang Borchert – which sums it up: “You. Man at the machine and man in the workshop. If they order you tomorrow to stop making water pipes and cooking pots – but steel helmets and machine guns, there is only one thing: Say no!’

Mr President! Lifelong for Kavala, that is lifelong for the Gezi protests. The Kavala ruling, like the rulings against Demirtaş and other political prisoners, is arbitrary. But it's not surprising. Polarization and oppression serve to maintain power. When asked whether the verdict will have an aftermath in the Human Rights Court, Erdoğan replied confidently: The thing's gone. But one thing should be clear to all of us: The positive agenda created by the EU for its own geopolitical interests and NATO's ensnaring of the Erdoğan regime in the conflict with Russia support the regime. It exploits this with internal repression, but also with bombings on the Kurds in Syria and Iraq. The EU is silent on this. I say it clearly to the heads of state and to the EU: You have to decide. Either you change your policy, you draw consequences, or you stop whining about values. Because the double standards are now unmistakable.