What Katalin spoke about.

21 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Assessment of Hungary's compliance with the rule of law conditions under the Conditionality Regulation and state of play of the Hungarian RRP (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, whenever I talk to constituents on the ground, one question tends to come up over and over again, which is: does the European Commission really believe that a new authority and a couple of new laws would change anything in Hungary? Because Hungarian people on the ground know from years of experience that systemic deficiencies with the rule of law have nev…

9 Nov

2022

EN Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President, dear colleagues, a nationwide movement is sweeping across Hungary, protesting against the crisis of public education. And we just had a group of teachers and students here in Brussels so they can get a platform and directly talk to EU decision—makers. Let me tell you, it was one of the most gratifying days of work in my mandate. Colleagues from the EU’s side literally teared up as th…

9 Nov

2022

EN Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 20-21 October 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, our group, Renew Europe, is once again calling on leaders in the Council to set their differences aside and deliver for our citizens. Putin’s criminal war in Ukraine has unleashed an energy crisis on Europe. The cost of living has been dramatically rising throughout the whole continent. This is not the time for bickering. This is not the time for national selfishn…

19 Oct

2022

EN Speech

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

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Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, allow me to jump right into the middle. So the key word is ‘credibility’. What the Commission needs to show in the Western Balkans is the credibility of the accession process. And why is it so important? Because we know that we are talking about a geopolitical buffer zone. And Russia and China understand the strategic importance of the Western Balkan…

19 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)

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Mr President, let me give you an example that clearly shows not only how anti-EU disinformation is being spread by far right forces in the EU, but also how passivity from the European institutions is playing a part in the problem. As with many of you right now, there are mass protests in Hungary because people have had enough of the government defunding public education to the brink of collapse. T…

18 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Impact of Russian invasion of Ukraine on migration flows to the EU (debate)

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Mr President, a few days after the war broke out, I went to the Hungarian—Ukrainian border. It was absolutely heart-breaking to see the families – the small children and the women – who needed to pack up their lives and leave their homes because of Putin’s criminal war. However, as we know, the darkest times often inspire a kind of fact. People showed up to cook warm food. Local governments set up…

5 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Countering the anti-European and anti-Ukrainian propaganda of Putin’s European cronies (topical debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, let me start with a quote from the Hungarian public broadcaster: ‘the United States trains the pro—Russian government in Ukraine to a pro—American regime, reprogramming Ukrainian politics, driving it further away from Russia, which resulted in the current situation.’ So this is how the Hungarian state media explains geopolitics to its viewers in th…

4 Oct

2022

EN Speech

The death of Mahsa Amini and the repression of women's rights protesters in Iran (debate)

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Mr President, dear colleagues, dear High Representative, please allow me to start my remarks with a message addressed not to this Chamber, but to the women of Iran. Your courage is breathtaking. As you rise up against injustice, as you dare to defy the oppressive regime, you inspire to fight for women’s rights everywhere. And as you honour the memory of Mahsa Amini, who was brutally murdered, you …

4 Oct

2022

EN Speech

Commission proposal for measures under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation in the case of Hungary (debate)

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Madam President, the European Commission had a historic chance to slow down Hungary’s slide to autocracy. And the tools are there; this Parliament made sure of that. You also said it in your speech, Commissioner. We worked very hard for this. But frankly, we should be seeing real results by now. Let me remind you, the rule of law mechanism has been EU law since January last year, almost two years …

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Violations of human rights in Uganda and Tanzania linked to the investments in fossil fuels projects

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Madam President, this summer, as the Parliament went into summer recess, a small delegation of us travelled to Uganda. But however beautiful the country is, we did not go there for holidays. We were there because one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions is in grave danger. The communities whose livelihood depends on this region are facing an existential threat. And those civil society …

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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Mr Jaki, I very rarely agree with you, but when I do, it’s usually about the speeches you make about Russia and about the war and about the horrors of Russia’s war that is being waged in Ukraine and targeting innocent civilians. So on that, I think we are on the same page. However, my question would be, do you ever ask your Hungarian friends about the blatant Russian propaganda that is flowing fro…

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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I am Hungarian. I am a proud citizen of Hungary. I don’t think I know it better than anybody, but this is the feeling that is coming from the bottom of my heart. This is the feeling I am using day by day to fight for the country where I want to raise my kids. There might be different arguments, but I’m 100% sure that Hungary has to be a democracy. It has to be a part of the European Union and me a…

14 Sep

2022

EN Speech

Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, with this report, the European Parliament is about to become the first EU institution to officially declare that Hungary is not a full democracy anymore. And that is incredibly painful to say it out loud. It hurts. Because my generation was the first one to grow up in a democracy. And for now it looks like we are also the last ones. But, you know, this only gives …

6 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020 (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, thanks for this debate. And as I said in the beginning, protecting the Union’s financial interests is not an ideological issue. And certainly I hope it should not be a divisive one. Even the Hungarian Government is implicitly agreeing now, as they are back at the negotiating table trying to offer some concessions to the EU. It looks like some colleagues did not ge…

6 Jul

2022

EN Speech

Protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020 (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, Minister, dear colleagues, we have many debates in this House, but if there is one debate, one thing that should unite us all from left to right, it is the aim of protecting the European Union’s financial interests and strengthening our framework to monitor our EU funds. It is the aim of making sure that European taxpayers’ money actually reaches the ones who need it…

22 Jun

2022

EN Speech

Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)

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Madam President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, the Recovery Fund Regulation forces the EU to finally confront democratic backsliding after one decade of inaction. And in case of the Orbán government in Hungary, the conditions could not be clearer: address the fact that the chief prosecutor is a party loyalist – joining the EPPO could be a good first step for her; reform the public procurement sys…

7 Jun

2022

EN Speech

The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, this House has been discussing the need to strengthen our foreign policy for decades. And now here we are in the middle of a war next door, and Europe still struggles to have a credible foreign policy stance. We are still very far away from our desire for strategic autonomy, and we still rely on third parties to provide for our own security. And we are still being held hostage by the…

19 May

2022

EN Speech

The fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, more than four months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started, I have to say I am still shaken when I say out loud that there is war in Europe. It sounds surreal. Yet, it’s all too real, and all too close to us. During these four months, there have been not dozens, not hundreds but thousands of war crimes documented in Ukraine, perpetrated by Russia. Every single day civilians die…

5 May

2022

EN Speech

The impact of the war against Ukraine on women (debate)

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Madam President, a woman near Kyiv was repeatedly raped by a Russian soldier, while her young son was crying in the boiler room. A mother and her under—age daughter were raped by three men in Kherson. Day after day, bodies of naked women are found with signs of torture and rape. I know it’s not comfortable to hear, and I also know that some politicians insist that we look away. But this is the rea…

4 May

2022

EN Speech

The case of Osman Kavala in Turkey

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Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, Osman Kavala wanted nothing more but a more democratic Turkish society and a more prosperous Turkey. Is this a crime? Well, in Erdoğan’s Turkey, apparently it is. Osman Kavala received a life sentence for speaking up, for refusing to give up his dream of a country where democratic standards and human rights are respected. For us, his sentencing is an ex…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Increasing repression in Russia, including the case of Alexey Navalny

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Mr President, Russia has become a rogue state and we must approach it as such. Where international law does not apply, we must stretch our limits as well. With the Commission set to continue financing pro-democracy and human rights, civil society actors in Russia, we need to ensure that Russian state actors cannot interfere with these payments. So this is why the Commission must urgently establish…

6 Apr

2022

EN Speech

Ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) TEU regarding Poland and Hungary (debate)

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Madam President, after Sunday’s election, it’s very hard not to be deeply worried about what comes next in Hungary. Who will the next target be? In the past years, we saw independent media outlets being muzzled, one after the other, NGOs stigmatised, opposition activists put in police detention for Facebook posts, local governments starved out of their finances and we also saw minority groups sing…

23 Mar

2022

EN Speech

Debriefing of the European Council meeting in Paris on 10 March 2022 - Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022 (debate)

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Madam President, long years of completely misguided policy towards Russia now cripples our ability to stop Putin, and we have to be absolutely furious about this right now. But there is still a way out of this trap and the key here is, once again, European solidarity. We need a new EU fund to help us break free of Russian dependence, to help our households who are suffering from the cost of living…

16 Feb

2022

EN Speech

The Rule of Law and the consequences of the ECJ ruling (debate)

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Madam President, this morning the European Court of Justice made it crystal clear: the rule of law mechanism is 100% lawful. Shortly after, the Hungarian Minister of Justice held a press conference and she said that the verdict was motivated by Brussels’ desire to discipline Hungary for its so-called child protection law. Their main message is that Brussels and the LGBT lobby want to force sex-cha…

16 Feb

2022

EN Speech

EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

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Madam President, let’s pause for a moment, and let the dark truth sink in. For the first time in decades, there is a very real chance that there will be war in Europe. As we debate in this very House, there are still Russian troops staring down Ukraine on the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood. We’ve all read the news that they might attack today. Many of us in this Chamber come from countries bordering U…