Speeches

Rightly, the overwhelming majority of Council members were outraged by the anti-LGBTQI law introduced by Orbán in Hungary. Orbán has already crossed red lines in the past, but now he has fallen lower than ever. I welcome the reaction of most Heads of State and Government, but that should not end there. The Council must trigger Article 7 against this Hungarian government. All legal means must be implemented in order to show Orbán that he has gone too far. We are a Union of values, whether Orbán likes it or not. He does not want to hear reason, so he must assume the consequences. Hungary's anti-LGBTQI law goes against everything the European Union stands for. When you are a member of the EU, you adhere to our values. This is not an à la carte menu. We must speak out against the deteriorating situation of LGBTQI rights in Hungary. We must act and hold the Hungarian government to account. It is about protecting what is most precious, the freedom of our citizens.

Madam President, everything shows us that we need to increase our defence efforts and our strategic autonomy. And yet, it seems that we are looking for all the pretexts to not be up to the task. The US is mistreating its allies and devoting its military resources to waging war in the Middle East, rather than supplying the Europeans or helping Ukraine; Yet there are some here who are fighting European preference. Our industries remain too fragmented, our arms orders poorly synchronized, our purchases too dispersed and our transfers too complicated; Yet there are still those who think that everything is fine, that we must remain in the status quo and whose ultimate crusade is to prevent a single market in defence, agitating the fear of a European control of arms exports that is neither planned nor desirable. China is investing heavily in its defense equipment, including a new generation of fighter jets. At the same time, industrial quarrels and Franco-German political rivalries put the SCAF project at risk. There would be hopelessness. Fortunately, a few days ago, France proposed a new vision, that of an advanced nuclear deterrent that could meet both the concerns and expectations of other Europeans. Fortunately, this proposal has been well understood and welcomed everywhere and by everyone, except by those who continue to want to understand nothing because they prefer a weak, divided and disarmed Europe. Let's not listen to them.

Madam President, Ukraine has never needed us so much. In a biting cold, Russia bombs cities, power plants and civilians every day. The United States no longer helps Ukraine. The Kyl Institute alert, today, and we know that it refers. Support for Ukraine is based on a small number of countries and it is Europe that assumes the main responsibility. It is our honour and it is in our interest, because our security is at stake and that is why we must adopt the support loan to Ukraine as soon as possible. And this is the moment that ESN chooses to enjoin us to wait. If one needed more proof that AFD or Reconquest are in the service of Russia's interests, we have it. I urge you, ladies and gentlemen, to vote against the dilatory manoeuvre of the Kremlin's small telegraph operators. (Long applause)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, you have entrusted me with the responsibility of being your rapporteur on Syria and it is an honour. It is precisely of honour that I want to speak to you today. I would like Europe today to honour its debt to the Kurdish people, who have fought with us against Daesh for more than a decade. The Kurds are our brothers in arms. Knowing Kobane surrounded, and its inhabitants dependent on humanitarian convoys, is unbearable. We must demand from the authorities in Damascus, but also from the pro-Turkish militias and from Turkey itself, that they loosen their grip on civilians and that all respect the terms of the 29 January agreement. This agreement would not have been possible without the involvement of France. And it is my country's honour to have contributed to a ceasefire and to the recognition of Kurdish specificity. The military offensive in Damascus would not have been possible without the support of Turkey and the laissez-faire of the United States, which is withdrawing from the fight against Daesh. Washington and Ankara took the risk, through their indifference, that jihadist prisoners would take advantage of the situation to escape. There is nothing honorable in the choice they made. But back to Europe. It is up to us to firmly condition our support for Syria on respect for all components of the Syrian nation. It is now also up to us to fight Islamist terrorism with those who, like us, understand its perils, but clearly can no longer count on a substantial American commitment. It is finally up to us to face the situation of jihadist prisoners, whose fate concerns us as much as it matters to Syria and Iraq. They are for us a security risk that we have, for years, outsourced to the Kurds of Syria. We can no longer look elsewhere. It's about our safety, but it's also about our honor.

Madam President, Commissioner, never has the construction of a European defence been so necessary, so urgent and so eagerly awaited by our fellow citizens. Russia does not want peace in Europe or Ukraine. Jihadist terrorism ravages sub-Saharan Africa and persists in the Middle East. The United States is no longer a reliable ally. They are dangerously approaching Russia and taking Europe from above. So we can only rely on ourselves and can only ensure our security if we are united. Unfortunately, here we must fight on foot against pseudo-nationalists who claim, against all logic, that we would be stronger divided than united. We must fight every day the pacifists who claim that by refusing to defend ourselves, we would avoid being attacked. We must do without, without Mr Orbán's Hungary, without Slovakia, without the Czech Republic, to help Ukraine resist. And it is unfortunately here in the European Parliament that the Secretary General of NATO came to treat as dreamers those who build our strategic autonomy. Mark Rutte offers nothing but to maintain our dependence on an American partner we can no longer count on. Let him be certain of one thing: We'll do without his advice.

Madam President, the situation is changing very rapidly, in Syria, and in a worrying way. That is why I would like to table the following oral amendment: ‘Expresses its deep concern at the continued fighting in areas such as Aleppo and north-east Syria, which is leading to further displacement and a high number of civilian casualties and creates a serious security risk, in particular due to the flight of Daesh fighters detained in north-east Syria; calls on the international coalition, including the US, to take all necessary and immediate measures without delay to mitigate this security risk;”

Mr President, High Representative, the Iranian regime already had a long history: He had suppressed his people's aspirations for freedom, helped Bashar al-Assad, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, attacked Israel, developed a clandestine nuclear program, supported Russia in Ukraine and launched cyberattacks in Europe. Now he's turned into a real butcher: The mullahs, unable to offer a future to their people, had him shot by the guardians of the revolution. Terror reigns in Tehran. And yet, there are still European countries, including my own, that are hesitant to classify pAsdaran as a terrorist entity. What do they need? What are they waiting for? That a handful of Revolutionary Guards dissociate themselves from the Supreme Leader and make a coup d'état, to save their backs and maintain their grip on the country? Wouldn't Iran deserve better than that? While Donald Trump has already forgotten Iran and handed over to the regime by abandoning the demonstrators to their fate, let us at least do what we can so that the butchers of Tehran feel the pressure rising on them and that their crimes do not remain without consequences.

Mr President, Commissioner, there are elected representatives in our house of democracy, yes, elected representatives, who do not want democracy to be protected. Fortunately, they are in the minority, but they give voice, as we have just heard. They wouldn't want you to do anything. But there is a majority in this House, and I am concerned about the relentless attacks on our democracies. I ask you to listen to the voice of this majority that urges you to do more. You promise us to enforce our European laws by the tech giants. This is the least that can be expected of the Commission. But, alas, we are still waiting. Do you want to support the media? So don't wait any longer. Let's demand that news journalism has more visibility online than disinformation content, let's focus on truthfulness over virality. The time has finally come to understand that what we criticise on social networks – not to correspond to our European values – we will always criticise them, and for a simple reason: they are not European, nor X, nor TikTok, nor any. The time has come to promote the emergence of European platforms serving not users, but citizens, not for immediate profit, but for our society and our democracy.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I hesitated when I came this morning about what I was going to say: Congratulate me or get impatient. There is indeed something to be satisfied with, with modesty of course, but also something to question. Let's start with the half-full glass. Today we are putting to your vote a good text, a text that makes it possible to move away from the urgent logic with which we have dealt with defence issues so far, and to start setting up structured European support for increasing our defence capabilities and reducing their fragmentation. I am particularly pleased that we have reached a firm and clear agreement in favour of European preference. This is an important achievement that we must maintain in all the other instruments that we are going to put in place in the field of defence. We have also succeeded, and this is a first, in putting in place an incentive to build up stocks of military equipment and an emergency mechanism in the event of a crisis in the supply of such equipment. All this must be welcomed, and I am pleased that my Renew Group has helped to find the necessary compromises. But still, I would not want to pour into self-satisfaction. While our fellow citizens tell us day after day that they want a European defence, it took us more than a year to adopt this programme. And while the expectations are immense, the ambition of EDIP is great, its budget is unfortunately very insufficient. So, if I want to acknowledge the role of Commissioner Kubilius, if I want to thank all the co-rapporteurs who have honoured our Parliament, I say to all of us, when we see that the account is not quite there, on the resources devoted to EDIP: can do better.

Madam President, I refer to Rule 150 of our Rules of Procedure. Ladies and gentlemen, you asked in January for the release of Boualem Sansal, and today, as we speak, Boualem Sansal is free. I would like to thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for having all, as Europeans, wished for the release of this Franco-Algerian, this writer whose place had never been in prison. I would like to thank and congratulate the French diplomacy and the German diplomacy, which worked together for his release. I would like to recall the fate of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is still detained in Algeria for investigating an Algerian football team. A journalist’s place is not in prison. Imprisoning journalists means attacking freedom of expression and democracy. In the same way, those in this Chamber who attack journalists when they have the misfortune of not sharing their opinions are undermining democracy. Long live the freedom of Boualem Sansal! Long live freedom of expression!

Madam President, I complain to the Hungarian people. I pity him because he is a great people and Viktor Orbán misrepresents him. I pity him because he learned, like us, that Viktor Orbán had the European institutions spied on, as if Hungary were the enemy of our Union. I pity him because he learned, like us, that drones from Hungary had flown over Ukraine, as if Budapest was Kiev's enemy. The Hungarian people want to know everything about the practices of Viktor Orbán and Oliver Várhelyi. I want to help him. On the European Commission's spying scandal, we need a commission of inquiry. Until then, the special committee that I chair will receive, on November 5, the journalists who investigated this case. Remember this date. It's another date I don't forget. On October 23, tomorrow, Hungary will celebrate the beginning of the 1956 uprising. Let us never forget that the great Hungarian people stood up against Russian oppression and fought for their freedom.

Mr. President, Donald Trump deserves a Nobel Prize, but only one, that of inconstancy. We can't count on him. Ukraine cannot count on him. One day Russia is a paper tiger, another he had a very good conversation with Vladimir Putin and wants to meet him in Budapest. And then he doesn't want to anymore. But enough about Donald Trump. Expecting him to make the right decisions, we waste our time. Let us decide for ourselves, let us act for ourselves and for Ukraine. Ukraine needs weapons, not kisses between Trump, Putin and Orbán. Let's use frozen Russian assets for Russia to pay the price of its war. Ukraine needs us to increase pressure on Moscow and stop importing Russian gas that bails out the Kremlin's coffers. We don't have to go to Budapest. Volodymyr Zelensky neither today nor later. Vladimir Putin cannot be welcomed because Hungary is still bound by its international obligations. And, let's remember, Vladimir Putin's place is in The Hague, not Budapest.

Mr President, I would like to make a point of order under Rules 10 and 183 of our Rules of Procedure. These articles specify that a Member of the European Parliament must preserve the dignity of Parliament, not damage its reputation and that he may be punished if he fails to fulfil his obligations. We knew that our colleague Rima Hassan had shown no compassion for the victims of the October 7 pogrom. We now find that it condones the abuses committed by Hamas against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. One might have hoped that her political group would sanction her, but I fear that this hope would be in vain. I therefore ask you, Mr President, to ensure the dignity of our Parliament and to take the necessary measures.

Mr President, in technocratic language, what the European Commission accuses Google of is an abuse of a dominant position. The context is actually much darker. The very existence of quality press and professional and verified information is now threatened by the tech giants. They chose to monetize just about everything except what should count as a priority: the integrity of the information. It is better today to be an influencer. It is better to spread disinformation en masse. It is even possible to be subject to the sanctions of the European Union and you will be paid by social networks. Meanwhile, the press is suffocated, its revenues are diminishing, its online visibility is lost. It is not only the survival of an economic sector that is at stake, it is one of the pillars of our democracies that is weakened. Any Democrat should be moved by it, and yet the Trump administration is attacking us. For once the Commission recalls our rules and the respect they deserve, Washington is threatening new tariffs. My message to the Commission is simple: Don't tremble, don't be intimidated. You're announcing a democratic shield, all right. Start by protecting our democracies by protecting the press.

Madam President, we learned a few days ago that President Putin had called President Trump and that President Trump had found it to be a very good conversation. We then learned that President Trump had received President Zelensky and refused to deliver Tomahawk missiles to him, and that it had actually gone very wrong. We are now learning that President Trump wants to meet with President Putin in Budapest. In the light of these latest developments, I would indeed like to request the addition of the following debate, Wednesday, in third position, without resolution: "Declarations of the Council and the Commission – The need for united support for Ukraine and for a just and lasting peace, decided by Ukraine with the Europeans and without bowing to Vladimir Putin's conditions, ahead of what would be called the Budapest Summit".

Madam President, while Russian drones were flying over our countries, drones from Hungary were flying over Ukraine. It is the same provocation, the same denial of sovereignty. Moreover, Viktor Orbán dared to deny Ukraine’s sovereignty. It must be denounced in our resolution. I am surprised, Madam President, that your services have objected to my tabling a written amendment. That is why I am tabling an oral amendment. Perhaps some on the far right will oppose it and, if they do, they will tell us that they are not only friends of Viktor Orbán, but also of Vladimir Putin. The oral amendment I am submitting to you is as follows: "underlines that EU Member States must under no circumstances engage in voluntary violations of the sovereign airspace of other Member States or EU candidate countries, as has recently been the case, regrettably, since Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán admitted that drones launched from Hungarian territory had penetrated the Ukrainian sky".