What Maximilian spoke about.

12 Mar

2025

DE Answer

Accelerating the phase-out of Russian gas and other Russian energy commodities in the EU (debate)

Watch

You know, this question reveals all the futility you have. Because you don't have any factual arguments, you become personal and cheap. The truth is very simple: I support Donald Trump, who is finally changing reality, who has a plan to end the war. We want peace, and we don't want your cheap rhetoric without a strategic goal. You don't have a plan for the industry, you don't have a plan for the e…

12 Mar

2025

DE Speech

Accelerating the phase-out of Russian gas and other Russian energy commodities in the EU (debate)

Watch

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! I have to admit, after these debates, I am amazed at how disconnected We are of reality. Peace talks are underway in Saudi Arabia. Are you ready for the war to end? So what do you do with your war rhetoric? And when we talk about energy – energy also comes at a price. It is a fact that there is no cheaper energy than natural gas from pipelines. And if you want t…

12 Mar

2025

DE Question

Frozen Russian assets (debate)

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The change – interesting to say, because of the American attitude, we would now have to confiscate. The US Secretary of State announced today that the release of Russian funds will be part of a peace deal. Is there not a risk that, as a result of an international conference – and only this will decide in the end – the EU, if it confiscates these funds, will have to reimburse Russia? And can such s…

12 Dec

2023

DE Speech

EU-China relations (debate)

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Mr President, Mr High Representative, ladies and gentlemen! Of course, one can decouple from China. But the risk is that China will decouple from us on the other hand. If we look at the Chinese share of shipping freight, it is indeed decreasing with North America and Europe, but at the same time it is increasing with Africa, the Persian Gulf and Latin America. Of course, we can say that we no long…

12 Dec

2023

DE Speech

EU-US relations (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Of course, the United States has traditionally been our closest partner. But the United States is evolving. While in 1945 they were still an essentially European country due to its demographics, by 2045 the majority of them will no longer be inhabited by the descendants of Europeans. But if the U.S. moves forward from us, that means we need to become more self-s…

18 Oct

2023

DE Speech

A true geopolitical Europe now (topical debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I am surprised at the debate that we are talking about geopolitics, but no one is bothered to explain what they mean by geopolitics. At least the lexicon understands geopolitics as a method that takes into account that politics depends on space and place – it is called geodeterminism. Among other things, the founder would not be a Nazi, dear Mr.…

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

Egypt, in particular the sentencing of Hisham Kassem

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! So now we have the fourth resolution against Egypt in four years, the fourth! Strangely enough, there was apparently no problem with Mr. Morsi when the Muslim Brotherhood ruled. That is, they helped to overcome the secular and imperfect Mubarak regime; then the Muslim Brotherhood was in power, which massively destroyed the country and took action against the Chr…

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

The case of Zarema Musaeva in Chechnya

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! The problem with these resolutions is always that you first have to find out exactly what it is all about. Because even as a politically informed person, you don't know Sarema Musaeva, so you have to google first. The question is: What do we now want to achieve with this resolution? Does anyone think that now Russia will immediately call Chechnya for Ms. Musaeva…

4 Oct

2023

DE Speech

Need to complete new trade agreements for sustainable growth, competitiveness and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Since David Ricardo described the Law of Comparative Costs, we know that free trade brings economic benefits, and any restriction of it at least costs competitiveness. If we no longer want to subject all trade policy to trade and mutual economic benefit, but to external policy objectives, it will cost us. It will cost us competitiveness …

13 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Human rights situation in Bangladesh, notably the case of Odhikar

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, it is remarkable that we are talking about Bangladesh at this time. It is also noteworthy that a Slovak Christian Democrat discovers his heart for an Islamist opposition party. But what matters is: I am amazed at this unanimous condemnation of Bangladesh. I am the rapporteur in the INTA Committee on Bangladesh, and I know the reports …

13 Sep

2023

DE Speech

The case of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, imprisoned in Azerbaijan

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, It is undisputed that the human rights situation in Azerbaijan is bad by European standards. But the problem I have with this case is that I haven't found it and I haven't heard any evidence from you that the allegations are false. It is an ongoing procedure and the question is: Do we believe that whenever a regime critic – and that is him – is …

13 Sep

2023

DE Speech

Opening of negotiations of an agreement with the United States of America on strengthening international supply chains of critical minerals (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. We are, of course, pleased that the European Union is now putting the issue of critical raw materials on the agenda. But it seems to us that the crucial questions are not yet clear. The first is: If we are already negotiating, then we should negotiate with those who actually have these raw materials. The second is: To further process these raw materials, we need…

14 Dec

2022

DE Speech

The case of human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in Bahrain

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Madam President, Madam, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, This is now the second time in a year that we are dealing with an imprisoned ‘XY Unknown’ in the Arab world. Once it was in the emirates. Today it is in Bahrain. First of all, I do not believe that European voters really understand that we are spending our time on such individual cases. The second is that I am surprised that every…

19 Oct

2022

DE Speech

Political situation in Tunisia (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, Tunisia gained its independence in 1956 from a European country, France. This means that Tunisians are primarily responsible for what is happening in Tunisia. In these discussions, I am always surprised that the European Parliament has the impression that it knows better how to govern Tunisia. This is not our task, but our task can only …

19 Oct

2022

DE Speech

EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the new enlargement package (continuation of debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I understand the excitement of being able to expand the EU to include more countries. But the truth is that none of these countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, is ready to join the EU according to the previous criteria. And in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the democratic deficit is already due to this peculiar role of the High Represent…

5 Oct

2022

DE Speech

Humanitarian situation after the devastating floods in Pakistan and the climate crisis (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, The natural disaster in Pakistan is indeed frightening. A monsoon that normally ends in August and does not end in September – this is unique, temperatures above 50 degrees. And if we can see something politically positive, then that is the great global help, namely that countries that are otherwise political opponents, even hostile, help here. The United States…

5 Oct

2022

DE Speech

Outcome of the Commission’s review of the 15-point action plan on trade and sustainable development (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Trade is the essential key to achieving prosperity and peace around the world. The European Union emerged from the European Economic Community to form a large trading bloc, and today we are the largest trading bloc in the world. That's something that must be shared, and it's a success story. However, the issues we are addressing here today reflect …

15 Sep

2022

DE Speech

Ecological Disaster in the Oder River (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! No one comes to reason through reason. We now have a catastrophe, and the measure will be that we will be able to draw the right conclusions from this catastrophe. The Leibniz Institute for Aquatic Ecology has already pointed out in a first statement that the Oder ecosystem must be renaturalized. We just need the reopening of tributaries, we need the reopening of old…

15 Feb

2022

DE Speech

Corruption and human rights (continuation of debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! As shadow rapporteur, I have listened with great interest to the speech of the rapporteur, because I do not read the words Putin, Orbán and Le Pen in the report. Welcome to the Hungarian election campaign! The word I read, however, is OLAF, a European institution that has investigated you by name for allegations of corruption. This kind of double standard is unf…

19 Jan

2022

DE Speech

Situation in Kazakhstan

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. When I read the draft resolution, I was already surprised when I read about peaceful demonstrations. In fact, government buildings went up in flames, police officers were beheaded and the demonstrations were heavily armed. Where did the weapons come from? We have already had an armed uprising. First of all, I have to say that if there is an armed uprising, it is…

16 Dec

2021

DE Speech

Continuous crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders in Russia: the case of human rights organisation Memorial

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am old enough to remember a little bit about the final phase of communism, and I also know the present Moscow. So when I hear here in plenary that today's Russia, today's government, is the same as Stalin's reign of terror, I have to wonder if you yourself believe what you are saying. It is obvious that this is happening on completely different levels. And …

15 Dec

2021

DE Speech

Stocktaking of the European Year of Rail (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. Now I have to pour some water into the wine, because what we are celebrating here with a second debate is a PR campaign. By the year of rail, not a single new line has been built, not a single new train is running. This is exactly the problem: Although we are enthusiastic about the railway, it still takes several decades to build a simple new line.…

14 Dec

2021

DE Speech

Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, When we talk about the problem of eastern Ukraine, we should not hide the fact that there is a settlement, namely the Minsk Agreement, called Minsk II. And the question that must please those who are calling for new sanctions against Russia here is: Do you accept this agreement or do you not accept it? Even the new German Foreign Ministe…

25 Nov

2021

DE Speech

International ports’ congestions and increased transport costs affecting the EU (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! The traffic jam we have in the ports is a consequence of the Corona lockdown. And it is natural that this is precisely why there is now a need for catching up and increased demand is driving up the price. However, it is also foreseeable that this price will fall because it is a one-time catch-up for the lockdown. As much as I welcome the fact that the Commission is look…

23 Nov

2021

DE Speech

Multilateral negotiations in view of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, 30 November to 3 December 2021 (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, We are a trading power as Europe, and that is why it is important that we have rules and institutions that regulate this trade. In this respect, I would like to thank both rapporteurs, as this is clear from your report. This is the path we need to maintain prosperity and peace on our continent. The big issue we have to argue about is whether we are going to g…