What Andreas spoke about.

18 May

2022

EN Speech

2021 Report on North Macedonia (debate)

Watch

Mr President, North Macedonia has undertook huge, very huge reforms. And North Macedonia, to say precisely, the people of North Macedonia deserve that we start with the EU negotiations. The Bulgarian veto does not solve any of the existing problems and none of the issues which were raised today. The veto affects not only North Macedonia negatively, it also affects the European Union negatively, an…

4 May

2022

DE Speech

The case of Osman Kavala in Turkey

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. It's 1 637 days. Osman Kavala has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2017. He is 64 years old, entrepreneur, patron, cultural activist, human rights activist and critic of the government and politics of Erdoğan. He was accused of leading protests at the Gezi in 2013. There was no evidence of this, but a court ruling on life imprisonment did. Is he the…

3 May

2022

DE Speech

EU preparedness against cyber-attacks following Russia invasion on Ukraine (debate)

Watch

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Sufficiently heard here: Russia's cyberattacks, and Europe is not sufficiently prepared. But I would like to ask another, additional question, namely: As a European democracy, as a free world, are we able to communicate the truth to the Russian civilian population? We know the information war, the war and attack on democracy, on Ukraine in Europe, …

3 May

2022

DE Speech

The follow up of the Conference on the Future of Europe (debate)

Watch

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, I think that this Conference on the Future of Europe has delivered really good results, beyond expectations, more than we could really have expected, and also the discussion with citizens. The hundreds of proposals that are now on the table show one thing: People and citizens expect Europe to provide solutions to th…

6 Apr

2022

DE Speech

Cooperation and similarities between the Putin regime and extreme right and separatist movements in Europe (topical debate)

Watch

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, …

8 Mar

2022

DE Speech

The situation in Bosnia Herzegovina (continuation of debate)

Watch

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 t…

8 Mar

2022

DE Speech

Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the EU (debate)

Watch

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, wi…

16 Feb

2022

DE Speech

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

Watch

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 Rus…

14 Dec

2021

DE Speech

Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (debate)

Watch

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 o…

21 Oct

2021

DE Speech

The outcome of the Western Balkans summit (continuation of debate)

Watch

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 – a…

20 Oct

2021

DE Speech

Preparation of the European Council meeting of 21-22 October 2021 (debate)

Watch

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 win…

5 Oct

2021

DE Speech

Disinformation and the role of social platforms (debate)

Watch

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 prof…

5 Oct

2021

DE Speech

The Arctic: opportunities, concerns and security challenges (debate)

Watch

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 po…

15 Sep

2021

DE Speech

The Pegasus spyware scandal (debate)

Watch

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 question…

7 Jul

2021

DE Speech

Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 June 2021 (debate)

Watch

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 arti…

6 Jul

2021

DE Speech

EU global human rights sanctions regime (EU Magnitsky Act) (debate)

Watch

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 wh…

6 Jul

2021

DE Speech

Foreign interference in democratic processes (debate)

Watch

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 it…