Speeches

I will stop to be weak. And that’s what we have done with Orban for ages. We gave him the power to actually hold us hostages. So now it’s time for him to understand that if he blocks it, it’s not that we will not give him some candies, is that we will make sure that we break his power and we expel him. That’s what I will tell.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Vladimir Putin can now smile. He made two bets in 2022: the first bet, which he completely lost, was the complete collapse of the Ukrainian state. But the second bet, which was to believe that our European societies, that our European and Western leaders were unable to make a sustainable effort in the medium and long term, that bet is winning. Our weakness and pusillanimity are proving him right. Western military aid has never been so low. Financial aid is hostage to corrupt leaders like Orbán, or Republican representatives in the US Congress. This Council is decisive; decisive for the future of Ukraine, but also for our continent as a whole. Because why do we need to open these negotiations and why do we need to increase aid to Ukraine? Not just out of solidarity with the Ukrainian resistance, but for ourselves, for the future of our continent. President Zelensky, at the beginning of the conflict, quoted Hamlet's question, "To be or not to be," and he said: “We Ukrainians have answered we want to be.” The question is now for you Europeans. Well, this is the question we need to answer now: We want to be. (The speaker agreed to answer a blue card question)

Mr High Representative, dear Josep, you are surely familiar with Lenin's famous phrase: “The capitalists will sell us the rope to hang them.” This is an excellent summary of 30 years of European and American capitalism with the Chinese communist regime. We have allowed this regime to take over our technologies and know-how until we become fully dependent in strategic sectors. Take, for example, solar energy: Fifteen years ago, we had in Europe industrial champions of photovoltaics. Today, almost all panels are produced in China, mainly through coal, massive subsidies and enslavement of the Uyghurs. What happened? We have allowed Chinese manufacturers to ratiborate our production because of completely unfair trade policies. And solar is just one example. Our dependence on Beijing is such that we put our flag in our pocket when we address its leaders. In this debate, it is not an opposition between "rights-of-the-hommists" and realists. It is now realistic to reduce our dependence on the Chinese regime, realistic to repatriate our critical industries, realistic to filter Chinese investment in Europe, realistic to ban the products of slavery and impose corporate due diligence on multinationals. Our principles and vital interests, when it comes to China, come together, so we have to defend them with much more conviction. It is not about morality, it is about politics.

Mr President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, in May the first Chinese airliner, the C919, made its first commercial flight using European technology. We are well aware of this scenario: The Chinese regime decides to dominate a global market, creating a state-owned company, Comac. It relies on our companies, who supply it with our technologies, and nobody cares about anything. After two decades, Comac will have taken Europeans out of the Chinese aviation market, before going on to conquer the European market, even threatening Airbus. The C919 engine is supplied by the French company Safran. Safran too, which, together with Comac, is developing the aircraft’s electrical circuit, transferring its technology to the Chinese military aircraft in the process. It is always the same story of greed and stupidity, from electric cars to nuclear power, from solar panels to all strategic sectors. Always the same choice of short-term profit against the general European interest in the long term. It is time to change this scenario that leads us to decline, dependence, vassalage. That is why this strategy for economic security is so important. It must create a tipping point that will benefit the whole of Europe.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, democracy is neither natural nor eternal, it is a political project that is extinguished if it is not defended forcefully, a fragile historical construction that collapses if it is not cultivated. For too long, our indolent elites have rhymed democracy with impotence and Europe with weakness. As war has returned to our lives, as authoritarian empires find more and more relays at the very heart of our cities, the time has come to put an end to this criminal naivety. With Parliament's special committee on foreign interference, we have been calling for strong measures for months and years. This package for the defence of democracy is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. The Directive proposed by the Commission does not prohibit anything, it just imposes transparency. Forgive me, but this is the basis of the base. We must finally know who is financed by whom in our public debate, and the organisations that accept the money of the enemies of the open society must assume it before the Europeans. Russia, China, Qatar and others must understand that our democracies are not supermarkets in which to shop. We are at a crossroads. Being Democrats out of habit will no longer be enough. We have to be combat democrats.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, three years after Samuel Paty’s infamous beheading, the school, this sanctuary of our Republic, has again been targeted by an Islamist terrorist attack. This Friday morning, October 13, Dominique Bernard, professor of letters at the school city Gambetta-Carnot in Arras, was brutally murdered. By getting in the way of the terrorist, he protected his students and colleagues and reminded an entire country of what courage meant. Dominique Bernard is the face of the fight against obscurantism. A teacher who cared about his students, he conveyed the beauty of the French language and the love of literature. Teach, enlighten, train: There is nothing more valuable, more fundamental in a society that makes individual and collective emancipation its horizon. This is what fanatical jihadists hate and attack. That is what we must defend together. Colleagues, in an atrocious international context, our nation is once again on "emergency attack" alert. It is up to all of us to be worthy of the courage of Dominique Bernard and Samuel Paty, to continue their task. Let us never give in, let us not accept any compromise. Let us stand together, everywhere, against the enemies of knowledge, exchange and freedom. This struggle will be long, it will be difficult, and we will have to fight it together, regardless of our origins, religions or opinions. While Belgium and Sweden are again bereaved, let us work here to ensure that the fight against terrorism is finally a priority for the European Union. Let us go much further in preventing radicalisation. Let’s fight the spread of terrorist content, hate speech or disinformation online much more effectively. Let’s stop all forms of irenism and naivety. Our democracy is fragile. It is a political, ideological construction, and one that is unravelled if we do not defend it, if we do not invest it, if we do not let it be strong. His enemies know it. It's up to us to understand it and fight for it.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, High Representative, war in the Middle East, war in the South Caucasus, war in Ukraine: history, as we see it every day, is not over and remains tragic. The earth has not become flat, and trade does not appease customs. All the myths of the 1990s are ending up in the trash cans of history. These myths have long structured our institutions and our worldview. Now is the time to equip ourselves with the tools of power, to become adults and get out of childhood, to transform this vast market that is the European Union into a political power. It is therefore time to move away from the dependencies that undermine us and prevent us from being truly free. Today we are a consumer continent: security consumers produced in the United States, consumers of goods – in all strategic sectors – produced in China, consumers of energy produced in oil tyrannies – for 20 years Putin’s Russia, but today Aliyev’s Azerbaijan, Qatar and all those cheerful regimes that hold us by the rope, simply because we are so addicted to hydrocarbons. So what is at stake? The challenge is to become a continent of producers. If you want to become a geopolitical power, you have to become a continent of producers again: producers of our security, hence the imperative of a Europe of defence, producers of goods, in all strategic sectors, producers, too, of energy, with the green transition. Close your eyes, just make an effort of imagination. It is 5 November 2024, Donald Trump is elected President of the United States and decides to swing overboard the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Well, we're alone: we are alone in the face of Putin, we are alone in the face of the dangers that weigh on our borders, we are alone in the face of the threats, external and internal, that weigh on our democracies. This debate that we have today, the discussions that we are having, it is not simply a desire of Europeanists who want Europe to assert itself, it is the absolute necessity, if we want to survive as a democracy.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are not going to do this. I know all the efforts that the European Commission is making, but the problem is the Member States. The problem is that Belgium refuses an embargo on diamonds. The problem is that France refuses a nuclear embargo. The problem is that we therefore have loopholes in our sanctions, linked to interests defended by the European Member States. We had all hoped that the general interest of Europe – which is the defeat of Putin’s regime – would outweigh these particular interests, and here we fall asleep. Liquefied natural gas imports are breaking records. We have not yet taken any real sanctions against states that circumvent our sanctions against the Putin regime. If we continue in this way, we will water down the impact of our decisions and allow the Putin regime to continue its criminal war, which targets not only the Ukrainian people, but also the entire European security architecture. We need an embargo on Russian hydrocarbons now, we need to seize and confiscate Russian property and assets in Europe now. The time has come to finally be coherent and effective in our confrontation with Vladimir Putin.

High Representative, 'Woman, Life, Freedom'. A year ago, the assassination of Jina Mahsa Amini triggered the incredible uprising of the women and people of Iran. One year of heroism, one year of fierce repression, one year of European procrastination. Despite the barbarity, blood and tears, Iranian women continue to fight, struggle and die. And they're counting on us. Any return to normal with Tehran's executioners would be treason. We must not only prolong sanctions, but strengthen them. This Parliament has overwhelmingly called for the Revolutionary Guards to be placed on the list of terrorist organisations. Where are we on this topic? This regime terrorizes Iranians. This regime is terrorizing the Syrians. This regime terrorizes the Lebanese. This regime is terrorizing Ukrainians by providing Putin with the drones that are ravaging their cities. This regime, finally, kidnapped Europeans and held them hostage. When are we going to name a cat, a cat and a terrorist, a terrorist? Let us have just one hundredth of the courage of the Iranian women, and then we will be credible and powerful. Woman, life, freedom (speaker speaks in a non-official language).

Madam President, last night in this House the limits of decency were crossed. Last night, the small telegraphers of the Kremlin peddled to the very heart of our institutions the "fake news" coming from Russia. Last night, during the plenary debate on the report on recommendations for the reform of the European Parliament’s rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and the fight against corruption, Mr Rougé, a member of the National Assembly and of the Identity and Democracy Group, made offensive and defamatory remarks against me and my ex-wife Ekaterine Zgouladze. He peddled a false information born in Russia, accusing her of having been arrested with millions of dollars, without any form of foundation. We traced this misinformation. It goes back to one of the pillars of Putin’s regime, Mr Zakhartchenko, who is under sanctions, and to the Kremlin’s media, which were then relayed by the conspiratorial sites of the French far right. Thus, having regard to the provisions laid down in Rule 10(4) of the Rules of Procedure, I request that the Bureau of the Parliament examine the facts and take the necessary sanctions. This chamber cannot echo the Kremlin’s ‘fake news’. We cannot tolerate such methods, false attacks on members' families. Where do we go if we tolerate this? You did this to impress me, to make my head lower. I will not lower it and I will fight your methods and ideology to the end. We will not let go and democracy will prevail against the puppets and Trojan horses of Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical regime.

Are you ashamed of yourself or not? You're despicable. You are what you have always been throughout history. What you have just peddled will have legal consequences of one. Second, it comes from a Russian site taken over by Fdesouche and far-right conspiracy sites in France. This is completely unfounded and you have just proven that you have never changed. You are always the same type of character, you are always able to slander, you are always inclined to this type of behavior. You should be ashamed. In any case, this chamber is ashamed to hear such defamations.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, corruption is not just about bags of tickets being handed over to hotel rooms. Corruption is also a conflict of interest. It is working for a large oil group when you are an MEP. Corruption also means selling your address book of chancellor, president, minister or elected official to interests hostile to our democracies as soon as your term ends. And corruption is not just an ethical or moral issue, it is a matter of public safety for our democracies. So, ladies and gentlemen, the words of Altiero Spinelli must guide us more than ever. It is now necessary to know how to get rid of old burdens that have become cumbersome. The old burdens of habits and comfort, carelessness and indolence, blindness and impunity must now be removed. It is today that we need to show courage, change our rule and mindset, find in us the strength to confront these foreign actors who threaten us, penetrate our institutions, attack our hospitals, finance our most anti-European parties within our political classes, pervert our debates on social networks and buy our former leaders. This is the last debate of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference, which I have the honour to chair. Over the past three years, our work has helped identify and map threats, diagnose EU vulnerabilities and make concrete recommendations to rearm our democracies. Our mandate is coming to an end, but foreign interference will not stop. That is why our work must not disappear. We must prevent the fight against interference from drowning in one of those institutional black holes of which our European institutions have the secret. That is also why, Madam Vice-President, we look forward to the presentation of the defence of democracy package that Mrs von der Leyen announced in her State of the Union address, a package that has already been postponed twice, even though an overwhelming majority of this Parliament is ready to take it up. Our citizens need to know that we have turned the page on helplessness, that we will no longer let foreign tyrannies wipe their feet on our sovereignty and that we will be able to counter their Trojan horses and useful idiots at home. Finally, before leaving the chair of the committee, I would like to thank all those who contributed to its work and say one simple thing: The defense of our democracies is the battle of my life and I will continue it here, relentlessly, everywhere, always, with you. Let’s stop being democrats out of inertia or comfort. Let's be combat democrats.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Vladimir Putin's bet is that we will get used to his crimes. Vladimir Putin's bet is that we will be too tempted by a return to business as usual. So let us show him that there cannot be, that there will be no return to business as usual, that compromises are over, that the sacrifice of the sovereignty of nations in exchange for gas contracts is over, that this veto right granted to Moscow over the fate of its neighbours is over. I still have in mind the proud smile of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy at the Bucharest summit in 2008, when they complied with Moscow’s demands and sacrificed the action plan for Ukraine’s and Georgia’s NATO membership. The result of this act, which was committed not to offend Moscow, was the tanks that swept over Georgia and Tbilisi. Whenever we sought to appease the tyrant, he advanced further. So, from now on, we must rebuild this peace on a clear basis. Each country is free to choose its own destiny and has the European Union at its side for its integration into the Euro-Atlantic family.

Madam President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, there are times in history when indolence becomes guilty, and criminal lightness. We are living through one of these moments, and after almost three years of working as the head of the Special Committee on Foreign Interference, today I want to share with you the dizzying conclusions we have reached. For 20 years, European leaders have shown naivety and complacency. For 20 years, they have allowed tyrants to wipe their feet on our sovereignty, and our European democracies to be the target of coordinated and sophisticated external attacks. For 20 years, they opened wide the doors of our cities to their enemies. Dear colleagues: financing of anti-EU political parties, cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, corruption of elites. The hybrid war that hostile regimes have launched against our democracies and that our leaders have so long refused to see, takes different forms. She has different faces. It sometimes takes on our phones, on our social networks, the face of a troll or a bot, raised in the farms of Evgeny Prigozhin in St Petersburg. Our committee's observation is relentless. Information manipulation campaigns are a weapon of mass democratic destruction. Private actors driven by the lure of gain, such as the Israeli company Team Jorge, and dictatorships driven by the visceral hatred of our democracies, such as China or Russia, aim to affect voter choice, amplify polemics, divide, exploit the vulnerabilities of our open societies and encourage hate speech in our countries. Everything that polarizes our debate, maintains an atmosphere of confusion and civil war on our networks, everything that undermines trust in our institutions responds to their strategy. The information chaos in which we now operate is a boon to tyrants, and a deadly poison to Democrats, as is corruption. Colleagues, the corruption of the elites always precipitates the downfall of cities, and we have consented to the poison of corruption being distilled to the top of our states. How have we been able to accept for so long that so many heads of government, ministers, senior officials go to work for Russian or Chinese interests? How, for example, has German democracy been able to tolerate Gerhard Schröder leaving to work for Gazprom in this way, only a few weeks after the end of a chancellery marked by strategic choices, of which his future employer would be the main beneficiary? How have the democracies of France, Austria, Belgium and so many other European countries that pride themselves on having a democratic system, been able to accept ministers working for Gazprom or for other companies that are part of the Putin system? And how do they accept today that so many ministers are going to work for Chinese interests? Our ruling classes must no longer be the supermarkets in which autocratic regimes quietly come to shop. This is not about morality, but about safeguarding our vital interests. Colleagues, the betrayal of our nations and democracies also takes on the face of far-right demagogues willing to sell themselves to the enemy. And funding is transformed into enslavement when it comes to European political parties responding to an externally imposed strategy. This is particularly the case for Marine Le Pen, who, until recently in the National Assembly, espoused the strategic vision of a regime to which her party still owes millions of euros. Colleagues, the elections will be held in 2024 in a context of war in Europe and we must defend their integrity. We are counting on the Commission to organise this defence now. I would therefore like to address you, Madam Vice-President: What are your concrete plans to effectively combat information manipulation during the campaign? How will the Commission ensure that new initiatives, such as the Defence of Democracy Package, are effective in the coming months and ensure the integrity of the electoral campaign? How will the Commission ensure that digital players, especially very large platforms, finally comply with our requirements and rules? How will the Commission ensure a high level of cybersecurity for all institutions involved in the elections? How will the Commission consider coordinating with Member State governments to ensure that these elections are protected? These elections will follow our mandate shaken by external interference, whether related to the COVID-19 pandemic or the brutal return of war to our continent, or even Qatargate. The challenge is crucial. We must show that democracy no longer rhymes with weakness and that Europe no longer rhymes with impotence. This is the whole meaning of the work we have done together in a cross-party manner, with the Special Committee on Foreign Interference since its establishment in September 2020. We are counting on you, we are counting on the Commission, we are counting on the Member States, but we are also counting on ourselves to protect our democracies. This is the most sacred mission of a parliamentarian: protect this house that allows us to express our differences, protect it from regimes that suppress their freedoms and intend to abuse them at home. Colleagues, we are strong and we will be powerful if we decide to be. The time has come to decide to do so.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this letter was found in the box of this pregnancy test: The appeal for help from a Chinese prisoner forced to manufacture products that are then sold in a pharmacy in Paris. This is where the pyramid of irresponsibility, globalisation, leads. This is where a rules-free world leads in which those who have the most power also have the least responsibility. The world of Zara, Shein or Nike. Now is the time to turn the page on impunity for the most powerful. The time has come to hold multinationals accountable for environmental destruction and human rights violations in their value chains. The time has come to prevent them from hiding behind their suppliers, subcontractors or subsidiaries. This due diligence legislation is a major legal revolution. Attempting to weaken it, or even rejecting it, is contrary to our principles, but also to our interests. All of us, ladies and gentlemen, will have to answer for our vote.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday was a dark day for the French Republic and for all European humanists. Yesterday, the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, Yannick Morez, was forced to resign after months of death threats against him and his family. Months of harassment by the far right. After seeing his car and house burn in the middle of the night while he slept with his wife. What is the crime committed by Yannick Morez in the eyes of the agents of hatred and chaos? His only crime was accepting the establishment of a reception centre in his commune for asylum seekers. To have respected our right and our principles. Yesterday, yesterday, hatred gained in France and Europe. So it is time today to recall that we are committed to the humanist law and principles that underpin the construction of Europe. It is time to stand up, stand up in honor of Yannick Morez, stand up for the right and show that hatred will not win in Europe!

Mr President, Mr High Representative, the Chinese Communist Party keeps the Uyghurs in concentration camps. The French National Assembly denounces a genocide and so does this parliament, but apparently that does not count. Xi Jinping's regime is cracking down on the people of Hong Kong and Tibet, attacking and threatening Taiwanese democracy, deploying secret police offices in our own cities, and launching cyberattacks against our institutions and infrastructure. But apparently that doesn't matter. This does not count in the eyes of a French president who reproduces in Beijing the same mistakes we made in Moscow in the past. Why? Because we would need China. So let me remind you that for twenty years we have been told exactly the same thing about Putin's Russia. We sacrificed Chechens, Georgians, Syrians, Ukrainians, their rights and our principles, because we needed Russia. And today, what do we have? We have war in Europe. So let's not repeat the same mistake. This is not moral but realism. The indolence of our policies and the greed of our capitalists led to the relocation of our production to China. We sold an ideological adversary the rope to hang us. It is time to become self-sufficient producers again and have the courage to assume who we are and aspire to be.

Well actually that’s not the name I would have picked, because in France, if I’m quoting my country – sometimes it does things right – it’s called the high authority on the transparency of public life, which I think is better because we should not put it on the moral ground. It’s a question of the survival of democracy. It’s a political issue, and it’s a legal issue. It’s not a moral issue. I don’t care if you are not moral. What I care is that you respect the rules and you respect the trust of the people who voted for you and sent you in these institutions. So if I were to write it, I would call it the high authority on the transparency of public life.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, it will therefore have taken bags of cash and bundles of banknotes hidden under diapers for things to finally move. Why did you wait so long? The creation of this independent body to monitor European public life was voted on here in 2021. Now is the time to act, and it will be even more time to act when media attention has shifted to something else. Let us immediately create this ethical authority capable of tackling conflicts of interest, revolving doors and the colonisation of public space by private interests. Let us extend the authority of this body to Commissioners, MEPs, all staff working for the institutions, before, after and during – of course – their mandate or service. Let us give it supervisory functions and a right of investigation, the decisions of which will be binding. And let’s not be afraid: Let us also entrust him with a power of sanction. The credibility of our institutions is at stake. The fight against corruption is not about morality: it is a question of survival for our democracies, a question of sovereignty for the European Union. Today, how are we seen in Doha, Moscow, Beijing? We are seen as people to buy, to corrupt. It is therefore not simply because we want to moralise public life that we want this body. This is because we want to defend the sovereignty of European citizens and affirm that Europe, by defending its principles, is also faithful to its vital interests. (The speaker agreed to reply to a blue card intervention)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Maria Lebed was fifteen years old and had a life ahead of her. She lived in a peaceful area of Dnipro with no military objective nearby. She died on Saturday in the infamous bombing of Dnipro. Why? Because Putin and his minions are terrorists and make their war a war of terror. Civilians, for them, are targets, in Ukraine as yesterday in Chechnya or Syria. Colleagues, for almost a year now, Ukrainians have been resisting fascism and we support them in this struggle, which is also ours. Because yes, the European Union is indeed the target of the Russian regime. But is our support commensurate with the peril and the stakes? Why these procrastinations at each stage? Why have you hesitated for so long to provide the necessary air defense requested by Kiev since February 24, 2022? Why is there so much hesitation today about sending tanks? There are hundreds of Leopard 2 tanks in Europe that could change the situation on the ground: 376 in Germany, 353 in Greece, 327 in Spain, 247 in Poland, 200 in Finland. You know as well as I do that we will eventually deliver some. Then why wait? Every day of loss counts in human lives in Ukraine. We said that Putin’s defeat was our strategic goal, that it was our vital interest. Then it is finally time to act accordingly.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, this is a nausea story. This is the story of so-called left-wing men and women who betrayed all our principles for cash bags. But it is not just an individual story. This is the story of states like Qatar or Morocco, but also Russia or China that see our political class as a market in which they can come and shop. This is the story of democratic institutions like ours that did not know, did not want to defend themselves against the corrosive power of money. Colleagues, we have been sounding the alarm with the Commission about foreign interference for two years now. The time has come to act, to make the Transparency Register mandatory for Members and their teams, to create a European ethics body with significant oversight and sanctions, to ensure that every person who detects illegal or inappropriate activity has the status of whistleblower, to prevent conflicts of interest and revolving doors that turn elected officials into lobbyists and vice versa. The time has come to show that our democracies are not for sale. To fight widespread suspicion and the "all rotten", stigmatizing populism will not be enough. Corruption must be tackled. We want to defend democracy against its enemies. So let's start by cleaning the stables.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, you have all seen these unbearable images of a terrorist claiming the acts of terror of his army with a glass of champagne in his hand. Vladimir Putin is a terrorist, and he pushes the cynicism of Daesh's communication style to an unparalleled degree. Unable to militarily defeat the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people, he decided to destroy the country's civilian infrastructure, terrorize its population and freeze it. Faced with this, we must stop our procrastination. We knew from the beginning that Ukrainians would need efficient air defense systems. We knew from the beginning that we would end up giving away these defense systems. So, let's not waste any more time. The time we waste here is paid for in human lives in Ukraine. Our objective must be clear: defeating the Russian terrorist machine and giving Ukraine the victory it deserves, which is also Europe’s victory. Slava Ukraini, Slava Evropi!

The fact is that today we are – if we want it or if we don’t want it – connected to this crackdown. How? Through the value chain of our companies. Through the export of the goods produced by forced labour. For instance, if you take things that we need most of all now for the Green Deal, which are solar panels, yes? How are they produced? They are produced by Uyghur slaves. And why? Because we don’t produce them ourselves. So that’s why it’s so important to change, to change the rules of the game so that we can have a market that is free from these goods. If we don’t do it, it means we are collaborating with the repression and the crackdown. That is also why we need these resolutions to point the finger when it hurts, where it hurts, and when we want them to be hurt.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, freedom has no nationality or continent. At the very heart of the world's greatest dictatorship, thousands of citizens have had the courage to defend their fundamental and universal rights. In this first great wave of solidarity of the Han Chinese towards the Uighurs, martyred by the regime, we can read what the Czech philosopher Patočka called "solidarity of the shaken". That is courage. This is the love of freedom. What are we doing? We accept Chinese regime police stations on our territory. We accept that the products of slavery are pouring into our markets. We accept that our multinationals are making an insane amount of money with the Chinese communist regime. We bow our heads when we talk to Xi Jinping. So we must learn from the courage of those who took to the streets of Shanghai. And now I will continue in English to conclude, to say that it is not because corrupt regimes, autocratic regimes, are corrupting some Members and are trying to destabilise our institutions that we should stop having condemning corrupting and authoritarian regimes. On the contrary, the more Qatar, Russia and China will start corrupting us, the more we will criticise them. And that is our response to them. (The speaker agreed to respond to a blue-card speech)

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, will we be able to preserve the jewels we have inherited? Will we be able to draw from ourselves the strength to defend democracy and European integration? Or are we going to let corruption and indolence lead our cities to ruin? Corruption is not just suitcases of banknotes. It is more broadly the erasure of the general interest before particular interests, the triumph of comfort over virtue, the victory of habits over courage. Cradled by the myth of the end of history, convinced of no longer having an enemy, some of the inescapability of liberal democracy, our elites have for too long let their guard down. However, when the guards of the city dozed off, the corrupt sold the keys to the house and the enemies seized them. With the Special Committee on Foreign Interference, we have been sounding the alarm for more than two years. Now is the time to take our collective sweep and clean the Augias stables. Colleagues, in one month and two plenary sessions, you have seen the materialisation of everything we denounce and analyse since the beginning of our work. At the end of November, our Parliament was the target of Russian hackers. Now it's Qatar's ticket suitcases. We must show that our political scene is not a market in which Doha, Baku, Moscow or Beijing can shop. These men and women who have been in power in the EU and put themselves at the service of foreign tyrannies are traitors. How could this be tolerated? How could it be tolerated, for example, that those who have decided on the German energy policy, so favorable to Russia, then sell themselves to Gazprom? How could it be accepted that so many of our heads of state or government, ministers and deputies, from all countries and parties, have their pensions paid for by the Putin regime? What about all those former European politicians who are now serving Chinese interests? What about all these high-paying conferences in Doha, or these consulting activities in Baku? This is not about morality, it is about politics. I'm not talking about big principles, I'm talking about flouted sovereignty. Commissioner, our oral question was written before the scandal that shook us, but it resonates terribly with current events. On 14 September, in this forum, the President of the Commission announced the adoption of a Pact for the Defence of Democracy. The aim, she said, is to shed light on foreign influence and obscure funding. I continue to quote Mrs von der Leyen: “We will not let the Trojans of autocracies attack our democracies from within.” This is the heart of the matter. European Trojans from autocracies must be put out of harm's way. So we want to know more about the content of this initiative and its timeline. In the hybrid war against the EU, how will this pact provide us with effective weapons to protect our democracies from all forms of foreign interference, from funding political activities to information manipulation campaigns or hostile investments in our strategic sectors? In her speech, the President of the Commission solemnly promised to eradicate corruption within the EU. How will the announced strengthening of the anti-corruption rules be linked to this pact for the defence of democracy? Will the promised new rules take into account the case of all these European leaders who have gone to serve the interests of foreign powers? As you know, on 16 September 2021, this Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the creation of an independent European ethics body. What about this request? Time is running out. We all know: in the fight against corruption and foreign interference, we have no right to weakness or procrastination. Every bold step will therefore find determined support here. Every break with past or present indolence will find fervent support. Together, we must show that democracy, when it wakes up and stops sleeping, is beautiful and powerful.