What Andreas spoke about.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen! The topic today is too serious to simply change cheap political change here, because it is a serious problem, as it looks about our democracy. Putin fears nothing more than democracy, democracy in Russia, democracy in Ukraine. And he is also fighting democracy in Europe, in the European Union. And what we notice is: It has allies, here, in the national parliaments, in the Member States, but also here in the European Parliament. People who go to Moscow and take selfies there at Red Square. A foreign minister of the Austrian FPÖ – a former foreign minister fortunately – who knelt down in front of Vladimir Putin and then, incidentally, received earrings worth €50,000 from him, which she put in finely clean. But also the other parties, AfD, Le Pen and as they are all called, Lega Nord: They go to Moscow, they take money, they take loans, they take know-how, they take tips. And they do all this because they are also destroying democracy from within Europe through their actions. There are even some who have signed a friendship agreement, such as the FPÖ in Austria. And then they forgot to cancel the friendship contract, even though they claimed it. And it will continue for a few more years. This is the reality of some parties here in the House and in the European parliaments, which speak of cleanliness and national pride and are in fact just boot-lickers of Vladimir Putin.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The situation in the Western Balkans is more than precarious. It is dangerous and explosive, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And the Russian aggression that we have been discussing all week can easily and quickly spread to the Balkans. And one who is to blame is Milorad Dodik, who is exactly in the Republika Srpska They are doing everything they can to destroy the unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a gradual, rudimentary manner. And so it is high time for the European Union to stand up much more sharply, much more radically for the unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to not only threaten people like Milorad Dodik with sanctions, but also impose them if necessary. And besides that, we also need to be clear: The European Union needs to become much more unified. Hungary and Croatia also need to get involved. And we, as the European Union, must finally implement for all countries the promise we have made to the Western Balkans to also give a prospect and opportunity for accession when it comes to reforms!

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, Mr Vice-President and High Representative! Let me begin by thanking our rapporteur, the shadow rapporteurs and also the members of the committee, but also Chairman Raphaël Glucksmann, who has worked intensively with us every two years. When the Committee was set up, it was clear to all of us: Disinformation is a problem. But as the committee's work has begun, with each hour of work we have come to know more about how big the problem is and that in reality it is much, much bigger and more serious than we have ever dared to believe. And the timing of today's discussion and reporting shows once again how extremely important this question is and how urgent it is. The Russia-Ukraine conflict – or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – is only the endpoint of Russia’s months-long information war against Ukraine. And we have also seen in the last weeks and months before the invasion how much the disinformation attacks on the Internet have increased massively. Therefore, we must not take disinformation and the disinformation attacks on our democracy lightly. These attacks go hand in hand with the brutal restrictions on media freedom, for example in Russia. The laws passed last week show that. But the committee, which has been working intensively for two years, has also shown: There are attacks from abroad. It's not just about Russia. Other actors are also active here: China, Turkey and other countries are also participating in this information war. There is support from within, from within the European Union. Especially the far-right parties, politicians are strongly involved here with statements, but often also with the financing of their political campaigns by foreign forces. We have also been very critical of the role of social media platforms, because the fight against disinformation must not be left to the social media platforms themselves. Anyone who believes that self-regulation eliminates the problem is mistaken. The algorithms in combination with opposing influence through disinformation and the inclusion of the negative effects on society as well as the fact that this also creates the added value, i.e. the profit of the social media platforms, already show how serious the problem is. And here we must continue to focus more on regulation and strict measures. But we must also close the loopholes that, for example, in the financing of political parties, allow parties in Europe to be financed from abroad, which then also carry foreign disinformation attacks and interests into the European Union. And we must also make our infrastructure more capable in this challenge. Vice President Borrell has already announced many measures. We need to be aware in all institutions of how serious the problem is. I therefore welcome the fact that the work of this committee will continue in the near future. We are not at the end of this report. The report makes a lot of things clear, and very, very clear: the involvement of European far-right parties, the involvement of individual European former politicians, the solvency in our party financing as well as the social media platforms. But what all this is really about is this: We must protect our democracy, our life model of an open society, our system of freedom of expression – protect against disinformation.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, As has often been said: The situation is serious. The danger of war in Europe, in Eastern Europe, is as real and topical as it has been for a long time. And a lot has already been said about the background and the connections. Yes, Russia is responsible for this escalation, and therefore our European determined appeal must also apply to Russia to withdraw the troops from the borders. Our main objective as Europeans – and this must be clearly stated and underlined here – is to prevent war. Dialogue and de-escalation is our most important goal. We want peace across Europe. The people of Ukraine deserve to live in peace. But the people of Russia also want a life in democracy and do not want this military threat as it now prevails. All actors must get out of this escalation of violence. However, as much as we focus on dialogue and diplomacy, we must also prepare to focus on sanctions if the situation becomes even more serious.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, First of all, my best regards to Lukas Mandl, who is certainly also looking at the debate. And congratulations on this report, in which the European Parliament has succeeded in presenting a unified position on the issue of the fight against organised crime in the Balkans, which actually extends far beyond the borders of the political groups. The people of the Balkans have also earned a positive future perspective. Organised crime is not only a threat to the state, but also to society and the everyday life of the people of the Balkans. But crime is also the result of social conditions, of a weak central state, of non-functioning structures. Therefore, supporting precisely these reforms to create future prospects for the people of the Balkans is extremely important. Effective and decisive action against organised crime is an important step on the way to the EU, but also vice versa. The accession process itself is the necessary support for the reforms that also lead to the fight against crime in the Balkans. Therefore, there must be no further pretexts for delaying the prospect of accession for individual countries, such as North Macedonia and Albania. Honestly, this is also the responsibility of the heads of government to give the green light at the upcoming summit. It is no longer possible for these two countries to stand in Europe's waiting room for decades, even though they implement one reform step at a time in a very good, clean and courageous manner. It must finally be rewarded. It is therefore high time that the blockade policy of individual Member States is ended and future prospects for the people of the Balkans are created here.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I think the best thing about the Western Balkans summit was that it took place. But I must honestly say: The results of the Western Balkans Summit are disappointing, not very much how generally the Western Balkans policy of the European Union and especially the European Commission has been really disappointing in recent years. And I want to say: We as the EU – and the European Commission as well – must be much, much more present in this region. If we go through the countries one by one: Serbia and Montenegro, where there is great concern that recent developments, especially in media freedom and civil rights issues, are not moving in the right direction. North Macedonia and Albania – two countries that have undertaken major reforms but are still not getting the promised response from the accession negotiations, simply because a Member State is blocking this issue for domestic reasons. Kosovo, visa liberalisation, but also, for example, the double crisis in Bosnia, which we are experiencing, and in particular the recent steps taken by Dodik, which may lead to the country facing tears – I do not understand the silence and inactivity of the Commission and Commissioner Várhelyi on this issue at all. We must finally get in the aisles here and prevent this nationalism, which is incited there, from again causing a wildfire in the Balkans. You can't look away, you finally have to act!

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Energy prices are rising across Europe, and the coming winter will be the test of whether we succeed in ensuring that the response to climate change is also a socially just answer, whether we succeed in coping with climate change in a socially just way. We need to prevent energy poverty. No one should be allowed to freeze in Europe, not even in the coming winter. In other words, we need a package of measures: Temporary reductions in taxes on energy, the improvement of stockpiles, the independence of imports from abroad, the expansion of renewable energy – and that rapidly with pipelines – and also energy saving and energy efficiency must be high on the agenda. This is where we can deal with the essentials. If we want to combat energy poverty and rising energy prices, we must now also invest in a massive expansion of renewable energy. Also in line with the motto that energy saving – i.e. less consumption – must be at the forefront according to the motto: The best power plant is the one that doesn't even have to be built because we act efficiently. From this point of view, the discussion in the European Council will also show whether the European Heads of Government are willing to deal with precisely these issues in a socially just manner. Just closing your eyes will not be enough.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Yesterday was a special day in the world of online and apps. However, the failure of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp should be Mark Zuckerberg's least problem. It would be much more important not to mislead the public as it has been done so far. These days there is also a hearing in the US Parliament, and Frances Haugen, the whistleblower, says how much profits are made with fake news, with hateful content. She says there: “Damns children and harms democracy.” She is right – unfortunately she is right. It's not just an example, Facebook. Google and others are among them. These developments are dangerous for our democracy, and young people are particularly at risk, and studies show that young women and girls in particular are also at risk. What we see very, very clearly is: The path of voluntary self-control does not work. He failed. He's not the way to go. What we need now is a system that breaks exactly this logic, namely that algorithms are designed in such a way that with hate content More attention and therefore more profit is generated. We must break this logic, and we do not have to expect Mr Zuckerberg to do so, because Mr Zuckerberg simply wants to maximise profit. Therefore, we need to put an end to all these mechanisms. We must therefore also see that not only is it regulated, and trust that self-regulation and advisory councils will regulate this issue, but we must create regulations to put an end to it. We must also discuss whether these monopolies that have arisen here must also be dismantled. For a separation of all this power, of economic power and of information power, is necessary because it is harmful and unhealthy for our democracy. And we can't let that happen. We need to fight this as soon as possible.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The Arctic is our northern neighbour, our northern neighbour – a huge sea of ice, but also a habitat. And yes, the change of recent years, especially climate change, the thawing of the North Passage for shipping traffic, is also increasingly placing this region at the center of world politics: Russia's military build-up, China's investment in ports along the northern route. However, critical earth resources in the region and on the island will also be relevant for the green transition in the EU. Climate change may also have an impact on the balance of power, but – and this is the very, very important point – the Arctic should and must remain the zone of low tensions as it is now. We must not export or import other conflicts into the Arctic. It is a successful model of stability and engagement between the EU or EU countries, Iceland, Norway and Russia. And one of the few forums in which the EU also talks with Russia is the Arctic Council, which works well and which we must also keep open as a platform for dialogue and solutions. But the Arctic is also a region where climate change is hit three times as hard as the global average. The retreat of ice, the impact on biodiversity and the impact on the habitat of four million people living in the Arctic are important here. For all these questions, it is urgent that the European Union also develops an Arctic strategy that gives exactly the answers to these questions. I am glad that we have succeeded in presenting a balanced report with all the parties involved, which presents exactly the position of Parliament, but also exactly the position in which the European Union is to go in Arctic policy. I agree with the previous speakers: We need more European Union in the Arctic and more Arctic in the European debate.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, The Pegasus affair is a new negative low on all these issues of surveillance and espionage. Pegasus is a dangerous tool used to spy on unwelcome journalists, NGOs and civil society, human rights activists and critical politicians, in the hands of authoritarian regimes, state leaders and even private companies. And that raises many, many questions. How can such technology be effectively banned in the future? What measures, what better rules, what know-how do we need in the European Union to protect our freedom? We must resolutely defend ourselves against such practices! We must protect our democracy from all forms of cyberattacks, disinformation and espionage!

Madam President, Mr President, Mr Vice-President! We got mail from Budapest. After the discussion in the European Council, Mr Orbán wrote us a letter in which he wrote about the gross anti-democratic political attacks against Hungary. That is, frankly, completely insane. The opposite is the truth! The truth is: Hungary is attacking fundamental human rights – of homosexuals, of journalists, of artists. All these people have no more chances in Hungary, are oppressed and are treated badly. It's not against Hungary either. It is against this Hungarian government, which restricts human rights there. And what we also have to say very clearly is: Those who circumcise human rights in one country circumcise them throughout Europe. That is why this outcry must also come from all over Europe: We don't accept that! I expect every European government to cry out against these grievances in Hungary and to make one thing clear: that this right-wing populism is always accompanied by corruption, and we must also fight against this corruption.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, To Mr Krah, who has spoken here before, I would like to say one more thing on his way, namely: Human rights are universal rights for us. They apply to every person in the world. That is why it is so important that the European Union, especially the European Union, is not only a global actor in human rights, but can also be even better in the future. That's why this law exists, and that's why it's good, and that's why I find it a bit difficult to take their tolerance as it is here so seriously. Because otherwise, when it comes to fellow citizens in their own country, you do not have them so much. But it is also about us becoming active in foreign policy. That is why unanimity must go away, and that is why it must also be possible to include economic corruption in this catalogue. This is why we need this EU global human rights sanctions regime As soon as possible.

Madam President, Mr Vice-President. Disinformation is a threat to democracy in Europe and also to stability. Often the aim is simply to spread anti-EU, anti-democracy sentiment outside and within the European Union, outside and within Europe. From Russia and China, disinformation campaigns emanate from outside. However, there are also serious threats from within, such as the Western Balkans and its neighbouring countries. This is particularly problematic for the study, from which we also quote here: Serbia and Hungary. In Hungary, for example, it can be seen that there is increasing investment in the Macedonian media market by Hungarian media, which are particularly close to Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán. Hungarian media outlets, which have grown because the government has given them one order after another, are now investing in North Macedonia to use it to launch numerous disinformation campaigns – against the government, for example, against the Prespa Agreement, for example, but also against the country’s Euro-Atlantic efforts. Therefore, Mr Vice-President of the Commission, the Commission must find ways to put an end to these practices. It is not acceptable for EU Member States to interact with neighbouring countries and create an anti-EU mood. We must take a clear stand here.