Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, it seems that President Erdogan is asking the Swedish Prime Minister to dismiss her defence minister, as we learned this weekend. So since the Turkish president has demands, we might as well tell him what we expect from him. Mr Erdogan, stop taking Finland's and Sweden's application for NATO membership hostage. This request is legitimate. Your blackmail is not. Mr President, stop believing that Turkey is home in Syria. You are undermining the fight against Daesh, a terrorism that has bereaved our continent. Mr Erdogan, respect the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus, it is not negotiable. Mr President, do not buy the wheat that Russia steals from the Ukrainians, do not welcome the oligarchs with open arms. The war in Ukraine is a historic turning point. It is up to you this time, for once, to put Turkey on the right side of history. You can still, but time is running out.

Mr President, Commissioner, what happened in Mali on 20 April is extremely serious. On that day, a fake social media account accused French soldiers in Barkhane of committing a mass massacre before leaving their base in Gossi and based its accusation on the alleged discovery of a mass grave. On the contrary, a French drone filmed a group of men burying bodies in Gossi. Among them were mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Deaths and corpses were used to stage a macabre staging intended to discredit France’s action as it left Mali. A few days earlier, in Moura, still in Mali, the Malian armed forces, aided by the Wagner group, carried out the massacre of hundreds of civilians, under the pretext of fighting against jihadist groups. Murdered civilians, manipulated corpses, this is Wagner in Mali. The European Union cannot continue to train soldiers in Mali who are employed to commit such atrocities. If the Malian junta chooses to partner with barbaric mercenaries, if it refuses independent investigations into the crimes committed, then we have nothing to do there. We will continue elsewhere, where we are welcome. I am convinced that the Malian people will one day understand our choice.

Mr President, the war in Ukraine has opened our eyes. In our relations with Russia, there is one before and one after 24 February, the date of the Russian military aggression. Until Vladimir Putin withdraws his troops from Ukraine and renounces the threat to Europe’s security, we will no longer be able to do as before, to pretend as if nothing had happened. When I say ‘we’, I think first of all of our European institutions and first and foremost of our Parliament, for which we are directly responsible. I would like to thank our President Roberta Metsola, who has resolutely committed to strengthening the cybersecurity of our Assembly. It was about time: cyber-attacks are relentlessly targeting us, but the effort is underway, and it needs to be encouraged. Having said that, I would like to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, and in particular the chairmen of our political groups: We need to take the security of our institution much more seriously. At a time when we are calling for increased sanctions against Russia and assistance to Ukraine, is it normal for Russian dual nationals linked to the current power to work in this Parliament? Is it reasonable to deal with confidential topics online without knowing who is connected? How do we hope to exercise better control over issues as important as European defence without first strengthening our security culture? We can no longer ignore this subject. Strengthening our security means strengthening our credibility, our effectiveness, our ability to monitor the work of the Council and the Commission. It’s up to all of us, but it’s high time to take up the subject and understand that it’s no longer a question of doing as we have always done, because we really haven’t done enough.

Madam President, the group to which I belong is unambiguously and unreservedly in favour of military support for Ukraine. We even want more and faster arms deliveries and more countries to be able to participate in the European Union. That being said, to see a proposal to add a specific technical item to our agenda that deserves careful consideration arrive without prior notice, without prior examination, does not seem to me to be the right approach or the right method. We risk having an uncertain, imprecise debate, hesitations, doubts, reluctance in public. And the only one who could rejoice is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The group to which I belong sees no reason to give him this gift. We are therefore against the request for addition made by our EPP colleagues.

Madam President, the European far right calls itself nationalist and patriotic. The trouble is that the nation it defends is Vladimir Putin’s Russia. June 2013: Marine Le Pen travels to Russia, the first of a series of trips to Moscow that she will make with zeal. One of his companions summarizes the trip. He envy the Russians who have a real leader. She returned in April 2014, just after the annexation of Crimea. Marine Le Pen has no state of mind and recognises Crimea as Russian. The Kremlin rubs its hands. In an SMS exchange that was hacked by activists and made public, two members of the Russian presidential administration welcomed: it has not betrayed our expectations, we will have to thank the French in one way or another. I would point out that that exchange has never been denied. The reward will not be long in the form of two loans for a total amount of EUR 11 million, to my knowledge still not repaid. In 2017, Marine Le Pen was received by Vladimir Putin. You would think she is ashamed of it today. Well, not at all. The photo of his handshake is featured in the widely distributed booklet in support of his candidacy for the presidency of the French Republic. And in its programme, the alliance with Russia is black and white. Two days ago, she still said, Vladimir Putin could become an ally again after the end of the war in Ukraine. In fact, Marine Le Pen is wrong and misleading us: Vladimir Putin has never ceased to be his ally, like that of the entire French far right. Eric Zemmour, the newcomer of the political scene of my country, had made, as early as September 2015, the trip to Moscow and also met relatives of Vladimir Putin. He will return several times, like his supporters. He dreams of a French Putin and sees the Russian president as a democrat. It is true that for Eric Zemmour, Ukraine does not exist. Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I am ashamed of those of my compatriots who have befriended and enslaved a dictator and a war criminal. I am ashamed for them, but they are not ashamed of anything: They were born before shame.

Madam President, thank you for reminding us earlier that freedom of opinion and expression cannot be confused with the right to deny facts, with denialism. In Europe, there are many who thought that Vladimir Putin would never attack Ukraine, as if 140,000 men massed at a border could be bluffing. The problem we had was not the quality of the intelligence we had, as it was public. The problem we had was our inability to think the unthinkable from the comfort of our Europe at peace. In Europe, there are also those, and I hope they are ashamed, who did not want to deliver weapons to Ukraine because they thought that the Ukrainian army would collapse in three days. Some have changed their minds, but they have wasted time, crazy time. Today, we must continue, we must accelerate. Although the fighting in the west may be less intense, the Donbass hell is far from over. We must not accept it. We must not get used to it. And then there are those, and sometimes the same ones, who are waiting for further escalation by the Russian military to further increase sanctions. Some of them told me: It will take a massacre to do even more. So I ask them to tell us what is called what happened in Bucha, the streets littered with civilian corpses, with their hands tied behind their backs. I ask them to tell us how they feel when they see evidence that massacres are being committed in Ukraine by the Russian army. I ask them to tell us what they intend to do and when – but for God's sake, when they will stop financing Vladimir Putin's war machine by continuing to import Russian oil and gas? What are they waiting for? Putin himself turn off the tap? If they did not understand what was happening yesterday, that at least they understand how to act today, that at least they let Europe show courage and dignity.

Thank you, High Representative. I have another question. At the Versailles Summit, I was surprised that the Commission was asked to assess the EU’s capability gaps, even though – as you said earlier – this analysis exists. It has been run for years by the European Defence Agency. This is available to all Member States. So what we are waiting for is not an additional state of play: what will be done concretely to fill these gaps, especially when equipment is needed for CSDP operations.

Mr High Representative, when you came to our Parliament for a hearing in 2019, before being confirmed, I asked you to prepare a first White Paper on European defence. The Strategic Compass has just been adopted and I would like to warmly congratulate you. But, as you said yourself, we are only at the beginning of the story. History is accelerating and so must our defence. So, I'd like to ask you: When do we really move from words to deeds? When do we really strengthen our resilience? When are we really setting up an operational European General Staff? When will the rapid reaction capability really be on its feet? And also, can you give us your opinion on the amounts that have been allocated to the European Defence Fund, military mobility and the European Peace Facility, which we have used up in a month more than we had planned for a year? Have we not thought too small and too slow?

Mr President, there are those who have died under the bombs and will never grow up. There are those who were born in the shelters and have not yet seen the light of day. There are those whose schools were bombed, those who were separated from their parents, those who were forcibly taken to Russia, and there are those who fled. They are the children of Ukraine. Europe has opened its arms to them, but we have to ask ourselves every day if we are doing enough for the children of Ukraine. Let me tell you: We need to do a lot more. Much more for those who have stayed in Ukraine and who everywhere lack everything. Send much more humanitarian aid, because dogs are eaten in Mariupol. Put much more pressure on Moscow to be able to evacuate civilians, first and foremost mothers and children. Support Moldova much more, which holds the record for the number of refugees per capita: 100 000 for a small country of 2.5 million souls, half of whom are children. I come back from Moldova and I ask UNHCR what it expects for all refugees to receive support, while Moldovan families have opened their doors to them and share with them what they have. I ask donors what they expect to do to support Chisinau, which is doing its best. I call on the Member States of the European Union not to let the poorest country in Europe carry the effort alone. A final word on the children of Ukraine and their mothers. Some of these children were born from GPA. Some of these mothers are surrogate mothers. I hear those who dare to be alarmed that this is possible in Ukraine. To those Tartuffes, I just want to say: Being for life means being for all lives, whatever they may be. I hope that these mothers and children will be welcomed in Europe as they should be, warmly and humanely.

Madam President, culture is the memory of the people, the collective awareness of historical continuity, the way of thinking and living. This sentence from Milan Kundera reminds us that every time we attack the culture of a people, we seek to destroy it. We saw this when the Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan. We saw it again when Daesh destroyed the temple of Nimroud, the sanctuaries of Mosul or the Lion of Palmyra. On 3 February, the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan announced the establishment of a working group on the heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is true that since the armed conflict of autumn 2020, almost 1 500 monuments have come under Azerbaijan’s control. Among them, 161 Armenian churches or monasteries, 345 tombstones, 591 steles. It would therefore be appropriate to ensure their protection. But there is, in fact, cause for alarm at what the Azeri minister intends to do. Indeed, on 15 March 2021, President Aliyev travelled to Tsakuri, Hadrut region; facing a 12th-century church, he promised to erase the Armenian inscriptions on it. Other churches have already been destroyed. The pretext invoked: do justice to the culture of Caucasian Albanians. If you don’t know what it is, don’t worry, no serious historian attests to it. If you are wondering if there is anything to worry about, be aware that between 1997 and 2006, 89 Armenian churches, 5 800 stelae and more than 22 000 graves, including those of the Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, were razed by Azerbaijan in the enclave of Nakhchivan. Baku denies any destruction and complains about the bad trial. Azerbaijan claims that Armenia bears responsibility for the destruction of Azeri heritage in the first Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This is possible, and if it is, it must be condemned. But why then is Azerbaijan preventing UNESCO from doing its work and sending an expert mission, as proposed since November 2020. However, it is the role of the UN organisation to intervene within the framework of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Today, I call on the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to intervene with Azerbaijan. I call on the European Union to use the privileged links of the Eastern Partnership to obtain clear assurances from Baku that the Armenian heritage will be preserved. I call on UNESCO, which must not be intimidated, but also on other actors on the ground, such as Aliyev, to finally act. Let's hear what Sigmund Freud taught us: Everything that works in culture works against war.

Madam President, Prime Minister, High Representative, the war has come back to haunt Europe. Death is knocking on our doors and we need to be clear: despite our efforts and the heroism of the Ukrainian people, we have not been able to prevent the war and we are not yet able to stop it. Of course, we have done a lot in a short period of time, from sanctions against the Russian regime, to closing Moscow’s propaganda channels, to delivering weapons to Ukraine. But as we can see, that is not enough yet. We must do more to defend the Ukrainian people and to defend ourselves. We must learn to do without Russian oil and gas. We need to arm Ukraine even more, not to prolong the conflict, but so that it can protect its civilians caught in the fire of Russian bombs. We need to look out for Moldova, which is hosting so many refugees and trembling at being Vladimir Putin's next target. We must protect ourselves by finally significantly increasing our defence efforts. Germany increases its military budget? All the better, it was time. Is Denmark thinking of joining Europe of defence? He is welcome. But we still have a lot of work to do. Military mobility has not made enough progress. Our critical infrastructure is not yet sufficiently protected. Above all, we must strengthen the solidarity of European countries. I welcome the strengthening of NATO’s presence in the East, but let’s think just as much of the countries that are not members of the Atlantic Alliance – I am thinking in particular of Sweden and Finland. At a time when Europe must adopt its strategic compass, let us not hesitate, let us not skimp, let us build the European Defence Union. It won't be too soon after talking about it for so long. Let's make sure it's not too late.

Mr President, Ukraine has shown us that hybrid warfare leads to war at all. For years, Russia has poured torrents of disinformation into Kiev. It has bribed politicians, harassed the country with countless cyberattacks. And then she stormed. It is because Ukraine is a democracy that it is under attack. Today, all democracies are the target of foreign interference and all must understand the threat they face. We must understand that all authoritarian states are using these influence operations to try to weaken, divide and discredit democracy. Russia is the first, but it is not the only one. The report we are about to vote on has immense merit. He names things. We can no longer say we didn't know. It will no longer be possible to ignore how anti-vaccines were handled. We will have understood that, from Brexit to US elections via Catalonia, elections have been exploited from foreign capitals to try to fracture our democracies. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the useful idiots who recite the propaganda dictated by dictatorships, nor pretend not to see that this House has a few of them. The report we are going to vote on also makes recommendations. They are addressed to states, the European Union, digital platforms, media, universities. The first requirement is the transparency of algorithms, the funding of political parties, the affiliations of certain officials or former officials. The second requirement is the mobilization of all. The Ukrainian people are fighting for freedom today. Let’s not wait until we get there to... (The President withdrew the floor to the speaker)

Mr President, it took a war on European soil for Europe to learn to speak the language of power. It took Vladimir Putin and his war too much for the transatlantic bond to tighten, for NATO to wake up and for European defence to finally be born. Above all, it took the extraordinary courage of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people to finally feel compelled to try to live up to it. Let's not fool ourselves: The crisis will be long and it will be hard. We will have to hold on, bear the price of our decisions and, above all, go further in strengthening our Union. In Midane in 2014, it was the European flag that Ukrainians were waving to demand an end to Moscow’s tutelage. Today, in the shelters where they take refuge from the bombs, we still see European flags. Ukraine is looking at us. We need to prove to the Ukrainians that they are right to believe in us. We must love Europe as much as they love it. Slava Ukraini.

Mr President, dear Josep Borrell, Ukraine does not want a war, neither does Europe, nor does the United States, and I am deeply convinced that the Russian people, too, want peace. Yet more than 130,000 Russian soldiers are massed on the Ukrainian border. Unprecedented Russian maneuvers are taking place in Belarus. Russian ships cross the Black Sea in quite unusual numbers. We are told that troops could be withdrawn; but at the same time Ukraine is under new cyber-attacks and Vladimir Putin denounces an alleged genocide in Donbas, which exists only in his imagination. It is Vladimir Putin, and he alone, who threatens to use force. If a war happens, despite the diplomatic efforts of Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, despite the restraint observed by Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian president will be solely responsible and he will have to pay the price. He chose to intimidate Ukraine and try to weaken it not because NATO threatens it, but for a much deeper reason that concerns us all. Today, Kiev turns its back on Russia and looks to Europe. Ukraine has no dreams of a return to the Soviet Union. What makes Ukraine dream is the European Union. Ladies and gentlemen, we are Ukraine’s greatest hope. I solemnly appeal to us not to disappoint her.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, when it comes to defence, 2021 has somehow signalled the end of illusions. The rules-based international order has been weakened, assaulted and undermined. In the east, we have been given a signal, whether Russia invades Ukraine or not. It is through the threat of a conventional war on European soil that Vladimir Putin is trying to impose his worldview and return to the time of spheres of influence. Around the Mediterranean, the conflicts in Syria and Libya continued unresolved, engulfed by the interplay of regional powers, which nothing stops – not even the suffering of the people. In Mali, a failing state, confronted with jihadist movements, has chosen to rely on foreign mercenaries who are looters and harassers and to target Europeans who are trying to help it. In Afghanistan, NATO withdrew on a failure, leaving behind the situation it had intervened against, at the risk of a humanitarian tragedy. Everywhere, including in our democratic societies, cyberattacks, orchestrated malicious mass disinformation campaigns and the use of migration flows for destabilisation illustrate the emergence of hybrid warfare and require new and strong responses. In short, the geopolitical environment of the European Union has become darker. Josep Borrell warned us, Europe is in danger, and he urged us to learn to speak the language of power. This year, I had the honour of being entrusted with the report on the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union. At the same time, I wanted to take stock of what we have achieved together and bring a voice, that of the European Parliament, to express our expectations for the Strategic Compass, which is expected to be adopted shortly by the Council. On the state of play of the CSDP, I would say that we have started many things without always going to the end of the logic that would underpin our actions. As regards the European Union’s civilian and military missions and operations outside our borders, I would first like to welcome the commitment and professionalism of those deployed and serving honourably in often difficult situations. These missions are numerous, useful, and they carry out the mandates entrusted to them to the best of their ability. However, they are often limited in their action. Insufficiently robust and flexible mandates, and often slow and incomplete force generation: there is a long way to go between a Council decision and its full and effective implementation on the ground. The establishment of the European Peace Facility should at least compensate for a long-standing shortcoming: training partner armies without providing them with equipment, at the risk of them turning to other interlocutors to meet their needs. This is a gap that is about to be filled. In particular, we welcome the role that the Facility can play for Ukraine, providing much-needed material support. Today, the very existence of our missions and operations is sometimes called into question. In CAR, the ubiquitous presence of Wagner’s mercenaries prevents our mission from fulfilling its mandate under satisfactory conditions. In Mali, the constraints imposed by the ruling junta on the presence of European troops and the arrival – again – of Wagner’s mercenaries necessarily lead to a reconsideration of the mechanism we have deployed. In Somalia, the future of Atalanta is not assured. In the face of a less stable and more dangerous world, Europe must urgently come up with new answers. The Strategic Compass is timely and I welcome the ambitious and pragmatic approach. My conviction is clear and strong: in the event of a crisis, the European Union must have a rapid response capacity, which can be deployed without delay. It must also clarify the command and control functions of troops acting on its behalf, ensuring that structures are simplified and not stacked. The objective must be that of a genuine European General Staff. As to whether the 27 Member States should be involved in the implementation of EU military operations each time, there is no doubt that more needs to be done to explore what the Treaties allow to make good use of them. In short, in the face of crises, Europe needs to act faster and better. Let us come to the hybrid war that is already hitting us. The European Union has particular strengths in defending itself against it, combining its civilian and military skills and inciting solidarity for all when one of its members is targeted. The same applies to the protection of common or disputed maritime, air, space or cyber spaces, where the EU can join forces to protect its interests. The European Union will act whenever it can with its allies, starting with NATO. Let us put an end to the quarrels over the sex of angels and admit once and for all that the chaos of the world requires both a reinvigorated Atlantic alliance and a finally strengthened European defence. But we will also have to act autonomously whenever necessary, because we cannot continue to expect others than ourselves to design and implement our security. All this requires less time and resources than political will. I hope that the vote on the CSDP report will demonstrate that this Parliament is not lacking and that it will encourage the Council not to disappoint us.

Mr President, in Bor, Serbia, the Silk Roads have become the roads of shame. China is not only exploiting copper there in defiance of the environment, it is also exploiting people there in defiance of their dignity. A red cloud of pollution floats over the city. A cloud of opacity too, as those investigating Chinese investments in Serbia are accused of going against the country’s interests. But what are the interests when Asian workers come at low cost and in deplorable conditions to work for a Chinese company that behaves in conquered territory? What interests are involved when Beijing obtains contracts for the construction of motorways, bridges or railways without a tender, when Huawei deploys a thousand facial recognition cameras on the streets of Belgrade? Can we remain indifferent when Serbia is at the heart of Europe and a candidate for EU membership? There is no doubt that we need to be more present in the Balkans. As such, I welcome the summit announced for June by French President Emmanuel Macron. But there is also no doubt that it is not by aligning itself with Beijing and Moscow, against the interests of its own people, disregarding the protection of workers and the environment, that the Serbian government is advancing Serbia’s accession to the European Union. He must hear this message... (The President withdrew the floor to the speaker)

Madam President, it saddens me to hear it and it saddens me to say it, but in Europe, in French politics and even in this Chamber, there are still useful idiots. This expression invented by Lenin and which visibly survived him. In France, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, like Éric Zemmour, the extreme left and the extreme right, both candidates for the presidential election, repeat the Kremlin’s language on Ukraine. For them, there are no Russian troops massing at the border. For them, Russia is entitled to resent NATO, which would not have kept its promises. Not a word about the annexation of Crimea, nothing about Donbass, silence about the abuses of mercenaries, massive disinformation, no respect for the aspirations of the Ukrainian people, nothing. In this Chamber, the National Assembly has accustomed us to deflecting Vladimir Putin’s arguments with as much eagerness as enthusiasm. Crimea? No problem for Thierry Mariani and his friends, she is Russian and they often go there. I would like to give a tip to Russia Today: you can save money and close your offices in Europe. Some European policies do your job perfectly for you. A systematic propaganda work of the Kremlin. And I would like to tell Ukraine not to worry, in any case, as long as these useful idiots remain in the minority in Europe, and they absolutely must remain in the minority. Because we, the worthy majority of this European Parliament, stand firmly with Kiev in its aspiration for democracy, independence and territorial integrity. The time of imperialism and submissive regimes is over.

Madam President, officially, the Wagner Group does not exist. At least that is the position of the Kremlin. This is annoying, because the Wagner Group is found everywhere Russia tries to expand its influence: – in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic and perhaps one day – let’s hope not, let’s make sure not – in Mali. This is annoying, because the victims of the Wagner Group do exist. Rape, torture, murder, arbitrary arrest. Our resolution describes the atrocities committed by Wagner’s men and it is a litany of horror. We must salute all those who investigate these crimes, sometimes at the risk of their lives. Three Russian journalists died in the Central African Republic because they were investigating Wagner Group abuses. This is probably why, officially in Moscow, the Wagner Group does not exist: to allow Russia to escape its responsibilities in the face of its crimes. But the Wagner Group is not just massively violating human rights. It thrives on the distress of the countries where it rages. Mining, the capture of customs resources, it does not stop at anything to capture the resources of countries that have had the misfortune to use what we do not dare to call its services. Let us add to this massive disinformation campaigns, because this Russian group not only wants to intervene wherever it sings, it also wants to drive out those, and especially the Europeans, who are trying to stabilize the countries in crisis and get them out of the chaos, the trade funds of these mercenaries. So I would like to tell the Malian authorities to think about their country, to rise to the level of responsibilities they have seized and to turn their backs clearly and definitively on the idea of using mercenaries who would only add violence to violence without ever ending it. And I want to salute our European Union, which has decided to sanction the Wagner Group and urge it to act swiftly and strongly against these sowers of hatred and death.

Mr President, this is not a migration crisis taking place on the border between Belarus and Europe. It is a deliberate manipulation by Aleksandr Lukashenko in an attempt to destabilise and divide us. Lukashenko is not only a dictator who oppresses his people and remains in power illegitimately after rigged elections. He’s a highwayman. A few months ago, he hijacked a European plane between two European capitals to kidnap a young blogger who had found refuge in Europe; Let’s not forget that. Since then, he organizes the tour operators of shame. By making them glimpse a hypothetical future in Europe, it attracted thousands of Iraqis who could not locate Minsk on a map. He provided them with visas, specially chartered flights and rushed them to the borders of our Union, preventing them from turning back. He certainly did not act alone. For our part, we have been able to remain united and in solidarity with the countries that were taking this hybrid attack head-on and which we cannot leave alone. Let us remember what Lukashenko said a few months ago: I'll send you migrants, then I'll send you drugs, then I'll send you the mafia. But the Mafia is he and his accomplices in this undertaking of unheard-of cynicism. We have no reason to give in to this blackmailer. None. We must learn to guard against the hybrid attacks of this war low cost and without military means, which is nevertheless a war that authoritarian regimes are waging against Europe. For these diets, all blows are allowed. Information manipulation, cyberattack, underground funding of complicit politicians and now human trafficking. We will respond to these attacks in accordance with the law, because they are our values, but we will respond, because it is our right.

Madam President, today is the autumn of democracy in Tunisia and yet it is far from spring, that of the Jasmine Revolution. Yet only ten years have passed. Today, the Tunisian Parliament is suspended. President Kaïs Saïed decides more and more on his own. More and more alone. So, of course, we rise, we lament, we regret. We condemn what we see and do not understand. But where were we? Where was the European Union when the Tunisian Parliament was fired, including a fight in the hemicycle? What were we saying when, just a year ago, a Tunisian Islamist MP justified the beheading of a French professor, Samuel Paty, on the pretext that he had blasphemed? To the Tunisian people, so courageous and so confused, to the Tunisian civil society, so active and determined, to the young Tunisians, who vote with their feet trying to cross the Mediterranean at the risk of their lives, we give many lessons, but we have not yet found a way to give them what they lack most: Hope.

Mr President, Mr High Representative, in his report to the United States, the Europe of 27 too often resembles the three little monkeys of Chinese tradition. Above all, hear nothing when three US presidents in a row, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, tell us about the pivot to Asia. Above all, see nothing when the United States leaves Afghanistan because it is tired of being the world’s policeman. Above all, do not say anything when Washington is smearing its European allies, lest it smear them even more or, worse, disinterested in them. Yet, in recent weeks, Europe has been able to make its voice heard. After Kabul, to learn the lessons and move towards a European defence, as proposed by the President of the Commission here, but also after the wrong way done by Australia and the United States, not only to France, but also to Europe as a whole. What we need today is to strengthen the European pillar of NATO and build a credible European defence. The US is now in favour. It's up to us to stop closing our eyes and plugging our ears.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, how many of us have had our phones, yes, theirs, infected with the Pegasus software? Because what we're talking about doesn't just happen to others, and spying isn't just about movies and TV series. If the Pegasus scandal has any merit, it is, colleagues, to make us aware of the security challenges and the fight against foreign interference that concern us all. This year, this Parliament – our Parliament – has been the target of at least one serious and massive cyberattack. This year, the press reported that at least one employee from one of our political groups had proven ties to Russia. This year, several parliamentarians have been sanctioned for having lent themselves to sham official missions to at least controversial regimes. Twice, I have approached the President of our Parliament to ask him to work seriously towards establishing sufficient resources and fostering a genuine culture of security in this Parliament. I am still waiting for his reply. I believe, however, that she cannot wait any longer.

Madam President, one minute to talk about China, the organisation of our debates borders on surrealism – Joseph Borrell noted this earlier and he is right. I will therefore avoid general comments and focus on one specific point, that of China's presence in universities and European research. In this area, as in others, our naivety leaves us speechless. We have not paid enough attention to strategic sectors, often in the grey area between civilian and military, where scientific cooperation with China is plentiful. We have allowed the Confucius Institutes to multiply and dictate, where they are located, which research topics are authorised and which ones are prohibited when it comes to China. We do not know who are the European researchers that Beijing has convinced to work for Chinese research and the conditions under which they put their knowledge at the service of a country and often an army, the People’s Liberation Army, whose ambitions should worry us. In short, we have accepted without reacting a growing dependence of our universities on cooperation with China, at the risk of looting our knowledge and Chinese censorship in our research. It is time to impose transparency where opacity prevails, to stop letting our universities do anything in order and to build a real strategy for Europe’s scientific sovereignty.

Madam President, defeat, rout, disbandment; for once, in the face of a crisis – that of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s victory – there is no shortage of words. But as always in the face of a crisis, these are always the same moods. First the astonishment, then the anger, and then the denial. Denial is refusing to see that NATO has failed in its most ambitious mission. This means refusing to hear from the United States, which has been telling us for three presidents that it is tired of being the world’s policeman. And that means refusing to accept that we need to build a genuine European defence without delay. We did not take part in the US withdrawal decision or its implementation. We have not been able to autonomously set up an airlift for the evacuation of our nationals and the most threatened Afghans. We could not impose a safe humanitarian zone in Kabul. What more do we need to react and act? If it is true that Europe is moving forward thanks to crises, then let us bet that European defence now has every reason to move forward.

Mr President, Viktor Orbán and Carrie Lam have two things in common: They don't know how to say no to Beijing and they hate the free press. Reporters Without Borders has just singled them out among the world leaders who most attack journalists. It is therefore no coincidence that the Hungarian Prime Minister stole from the Hong Kong leader and prevented the European Union from opening its doors to Hong Kong Democrats fleeing a crackdown that has become systematic. It is no coincidence, but it is a disgrace. Twenty-six European states were ready to launch a lifeline for journalists and activists whom Hong Kong's leaders want to silence by welcoming them to the European Union. But Viktor Orbán was watching and he said no. The Democrats in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and our neighbour, the United Kingdom, will be able to welcome them, but we will not. It is time to change our rules and abandon the unanimity rule in foreign policy. It is time to hold Viktor Orbán to account for his fierce fight against freedoms.