Speeches

Mr President, following his visit to China, French President Macron said that Europe needed more strategic autonomy and that it should not be the vassal of the United States of America. I don't usually agree with Emmanuel Macron, but this time I think he was right because current European politics doesn't make sense and is destroying Europe. First of all, you brought us into conflict with Russia, because it is in the foreign political interest of the US. Then you adopted devastating economic liquidation sanctions so that we could, not have to buy more expensive gas from the US. Now some of you are pushing us into confrontation with China because the U.S. sees China as a threat to its world dominance. I don't know. Instead of Europe seizing the opportunities offered by emerging Asia, we are all looking for, looking for a threat or an enemy. We will soon have sanctions against the whole world and the whole world will be isolated. But the world will not be isolated. We end up isolated. It is high time, really high time, to put an end to this confrontational policy.

Mr President, the list of states violating European values seems to be growing somehow. It is no longer only Hungary and Poland as traditionally, but it is also Spain, Malta and Greece, and in time it will be others. In short, all states that reject the rainbow agenda or that hit harder against immigrants. On the contrary, among the violators of the law, for example, there is a lack of the current Slovak government, which decided to rule even a year after an appeal in Parliament, which violates the constitution and goes completely against the will of citizens. Why? But simply because Slovak Prime Minister Heger goes to Brussels on his knees and obediently fulfils every wish, every command from the European Commission. Don't lie and don't lie to people. These rule of law reports have absolutely nothing to do with any respect or non-compliance with the law. It is a pure policy and often the European Commission is the closest to violating legal principles or even European values.

Madam President, President Michel, Commissioner Šefčovič. Many of you are talking here about our endless support for Ukraine. There are words on how the European Union will support Ukraine for as long and as much as it takes. I want to ask you all where you are willing to go. Recently, I was stopped in Slovakia by a guy, a man, who asked me if he and his family should prepare for the war. That it is true that European states will start sending our men to President Zelenskyy if there is no one to fight in Ukraine. I'm asking you what I have to answer to this guy and his family. People are scared. People are really afraid that the war from Ukraine will spread all the way to Europe, that it will spread all the way to their home. And these people don't want war. Only politicians want this war. I therefore call on all of you to reassure the people that the European Union will never allow European troops to be sent into the conflict in Ukraine.

Madam President, the National Council of the Slovak Republic refused to accede to the Istanbul Convention containing gender ideology on 25 February 2020. You now want the European Union to accede to this Convention as a whole, and that, in fact, such a resolution by the national parliaments, the Slovak Government, means nothing that nobody is interested in it. You know, every normal person, of course, is against violence against women, but of course every normal person also rejects the smuggled gender ideology as it is in this document. We have entered the European Union to trade and travel freely, not to be told by Brussels or Strasbourg that there is no mother or father, but there is a parent of one or two, and that the same child can be born officially by two women or even by two men. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a crazy place. The Istanbul Convention certainly has its positives, but it cannot be the only holy grail and document that speaks of combating violence against women. This can be done in other, more normal ways.

Madam President, I would like to ask whether any technician has ever seen this European directive to reduce emissions, or whether it is written only by non-governmental activists and officials, because any technically educated person would denounce the pressure to unreasonably reduce emissions below what is physically possible. I would just like to point out that the European Union produces only 8% of global CO2 emissions, of which only 13% come from the automotive industry. This means that if the whole world doesn't start cutting emissions, friends, Europe simply won't save it. You say that from 2035, the sale of cars with an internal combustion engine should be banned in Europe, and that people are obliged to buy only electric cars. But I'm asking, where do these people get the money for those expensive electric cars? How much will electricity cost if it is already scarce? We need to reduce our dependence on oil. Okay, but there's a lithium dependency that's needed to make batteries for electric cars. And Asian companies are already saying that if Europe wants lithium, they won't sell it to us and instead sell us all finished electric cars. Which would mean the disappearance of the automotive industry in Europe. I am in favour of the transition to electromobility, but it must be natural, thoughtful and, above all, economically advantageous for people themselves.

Madam President. I'm hearing about war, I'm hearing about weapons, I'm hearing about sanctions, missiles, fighter jets, and everything, but I've never heard a call for peace before. The war in Ukraine has been going on for almost a year. Politicians are overtaking who will be more pro-Ukrainian, who will be more pro-Russian, but they often forget that they should take care of their own peoples first. Sure, it's easy for some of you to shout it out, send more weapons, send more missiles, let's go to a bigger war. Because you, fellow politicians, will not go to that war. Ordinary people would die in that war. But ordinary people are already fed up with the overcharge, the fear, and even the dying. I would like the next summit between the European Union and Ukraine to bring not calls for more weapons, missiles and tanks, but, on the contrary, finally some solutions and calls for peace. If it were up to me, that's what I would do.

Madam President. Colleagues, do you want to set up a tribunal to investigate war crimes in Ukraine? Okay, but I'll ask you a few questions beforehand. When will a tribunal be set up to investigate American war crimes in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Syria, Libya or the Donbass? When will there be a court to investigate the non-transparent purchase of vaccines made directly by President Leyen of the European Commission? When will someone investigate those collapses and deaths that begin to manifest after vaccines and bad vaccination policies? When will the culprits who submerged Europe's Nord Stream pipeline and cut Europe off from gas be punished? You know, calling for a court without an interest in seeking truth and justice is hypocritical. And if there is to be just another political tribunal with pre-written decisions, thank you, we are not interested.

Colleagues, I think I'm dreaming. As concentrated hypocrisy as here, I've probably never seen it before. I'm not even going to be upset that no one is sitting here again for 7.5 thousand salaries. But I really don't understand why we have to deal with protests in China tens of thousands of miles away instead of solving the problems of today's Europeans. So Parliament is going to adopt some kind of condemnation resolution for the protests in China. But I ask myself, where was the European Union when the police suppressed the protests of Europeans? Where were the condemning resolutions of the European Parliament when police in Slovakia shot a protesting guy projecting into his neck that he had a hole in his neck? Everyone was silent at the time. Today, protesters in China are called conscious citizens fighting for freedom, but protesting Europeans have been called desolates and extremists and irresponsible citizens. Please, I totally disagree with this, and I think we should focus on what we were elected for. This means solving the problems of Europeans, not the problems of the whole world, because we have not been elected here by the people.

I will never forget that sad look when US President Biden of the White House announced that America would not allow Europe to build a pipeline between Russia and Germany, the Nord Stream pipeline. German Chancellor Scholz stood there beside him, rubbing his feet. Friends, this was a look at the image of a collapsing Europe. The Americans have told us to adopt energy sanctions. Europe has done, obeyed and suffered. Then the Americans said they would sell us three times the price of LNG gas. Europe obeys and pays. Now the Americans have said that they will favor domestic producers, their own Americans, and thus disadvantage Europeans. Europe is silent and silent. I join my colleagues in calling on the leadership of the European Union to finally give strong and decisive support to European industry. We all know that many in Brussels serve American interests. But now it is really high time to finally stand up for our Europe, for our European industry.

Mr President, Europe is running away by train. The West is drowning in recession, while BRICS countries are gaining momentum and preparing for gradual expansion. To be honest, I do not agree that China should be described as a threat to Europe. Yes, for a competitor, yes, but for a threat? How many wars have China started in the world? How many countries have China invaded? Thus, by comparison, the United States of America in its 246 years of existence was at war with someone for 231 years, that is, 94% of the time. And they are referred to as peacemakers, and China is referred to by some as a threat. I don't like this policy of calling everyone outside the Western bubble undemocratic states, totalitarian states, or even threats or enemies. If Europe wants to prosper, it must cooperate with the East, it must cooperate with the East.

Mr President, colleagues, do you want to revive Europe with energy? I'll tell you what to do. First of all, the counterproductive energy sanctions against Russia must be lifted. I don't care how many billionaires you seize a yacht from. I don't care how many politicians you ban, but the idea that you are punishing Putin by impoverishing millions of European families and dismantling European industry is, I'm sorry, perverted. The second thing to do is to rationalise those senseless European green plans. Just think about it. On the one hand, you demand that electricity production be reduced because oil is bad, gas is bad, nuclear power plants are bad, thermal power plants are bad. On the other hand, you are calling for electricity consumption to increase and for only electric cars to be sold to people from 2030 onwards. These are two logically totally contradictory concepts, the result of which must be a collapse. You know, this energy crisis is not the result of the world running out of energy. This is the result of stupid decisions by stupid politicians.

Madam President, Commissioner Šefčovič, Minister - he is not here now. On 21 July, the Council placed Mr Jozef Hambalk on the European anti-Russian sanctions list of a citizen of the Slovak Republic. Mr Hambálek has thus become the only European to be placed against the Russian list, as all other citizens on that list are, of course, citizens of the Russian Federation. On the basis of that decision, Mr Hambalk’s bank accounts were blocked, his cars were confiscated, he was disconnected from gas and electricity, he was simply liquidated and, moreover, he was prohibited from moving and staying in the territory of the European Union, which is completely legal nonsens, since he is a citizen of the Slovak Republic and this cannot be fulfilled. So far, no one has explained on the basis of what request and what arguments Mr Hambálek was included in the anti-Russian sanctions list. The Slovak authorities are distancing themselves from this and the Council has not been answering my questions for two months now. I would therefore like to ask you, Mr Šefčovič, to take a look at this case, because in the twenty-first century, I consider it unacceptable for citizens of the European Union to be placed on political sanctions lists and then liquidated existentially without the possibility of a public trial, without the possibility of a defence and without a proper judicial decision.

Dear colleague, precisely because Hungary was one of the first countries to subscribe to these European values, perhaps she has the right to decide what values are best for their own people. And perhaps you don't want to say that you know it better from Brussels than the Hungarians who live in Hungary themselves or the Poles who live in Poland. You don't mean that seriously.

Colleagues, do you want to withdraw EU funds from Hungary for not respecting some rule of law and European values? And I want to ask you who decided what these European values are? Did you decide it or this one, Mr Šimečka, or did the European Commission decide what European values are? You're talking about it here, but you know it's pure hypocrisy. This is a simple pretext, as colleagues from Hungary have said, an ideological punishment for the fact that the Hungarian government does not want to submit to the liberal agenda. That's what this is all about. You are talking about democracy here, but none of you, none of you, is nearly as mandated as the current Hungarian government, which has been elected by 53% of the electorate. Did anyone get a higher percentage? He didn't get it. And that is what bothers you about the fact that the Hungarian government is democratically elected and promotes its own values. When you talk about democracy, I would very much like you to finally start respecting it. And I wish my colleagues from Hungary, on behalf of conservative-minded Slovaks, a lot of support and a lot of strong nerves. (The speaker agreed to respond to the speech after raising the blue card)

Madam President, President von der Leyen, you just said that the European Union must eradicate corruption from its own ranks. So I ask you, in the spirit of this, why do you not want to publish your communication with the Director of Pfizer for the purchase of vaccines for EUR 30 billion? Why are you hiding it from the public and why are you currently hiding it from the auditors? Because this is the real picture of the European Union. Do you think this is transparency? On this basis, do you want European citizens to trust the European Union? You said that Europe has already given Ukraine more than EUR 90 billion. And I ask again, perhaps annoyingly, where and at what expense does this money go from? Where is this money going? Who is this money going to? Are they being robbed by oligarchs? Does anyone really control where these billions of Europeans are going? Are these still toxic questions that we can't ask because it can be uncomfortable for someone? You know, I refuse to accept that the European Union or Europe should serve only some supranational corporations or the interests of the great powers. We will point this out over and over again because it is our job.

Madam President, colleagues, I find the debate on how the Russian Government is supposed to support extremists in Europe somewhat cynical. First of all, for you, an extremist is slowly anyone who has their own opinion, if this does not agree with the prescribed opinion. It is enough for a person to say that he does not want a third world war with the Russian Federation or he does not want an energy collapse of Europe, he is automatically labeled as an extremist who needs somehow to be tamed. Secondly, you are talking here about extremists in Europe. And I ask, who are they in Ukraine? Now I'm not talking about ordinary Ukrainians protecting their country. I'm talking about militias like Kraken, Freikorps, or the Azov Battalion, which has the logo of the Nazi SS division right in the symbol. Suddenly, no one cares. The West gives them arms and money. If we want to be fair, let us also condemn this extremism, because it is just as bad as all the extremism you mention here. Otherwise, it's just hypocrisy.

Mr President, I agree that young talents should be sought and that smart young people should be supported. But why are you dragging those Africans back here? Why? Where are all the rocket engineers and doctors who came in as part of that illegal immigration? Where are they? They are abusing the social system. They came to steal, to rape and, in many cases, to murder. Because of them, many Europeans, millions of Europeans, cannot walk their own streets in their own cities because no go zones are created. I'm really fed up with how to find a solution to every problem, that there are more Africans in Europe. Yes, let talent be promoted, but let it be promoted among European youth, among Europeans, among the present generation, among the next generation, among our children! Let's not just look for a solution in Africa. But let's finally look at our young smart people in Europe! Let's look for the future! That's our future!

Mr President, many of you are saying here that Europe must immediately disconnect itself from Russian gas because, by buying Russian gas, we are supposedly financing the Russian war. I ask you what nonsense this is. What is nonsense, after all, by buying gas, we primarily provide our European, for me Slovak, industry, which would not last a day without gas. That's just a fact. Should we stop buying products from China now because we are financing the communist regime or Arab oil because we are financing the Arabs? Slovakia is one hundred percent, one hundred percent dependent on Russian gas and all clever people who say that we need to disconnect immediately, I ask why Ukraine is not setting an example for us. Why Ukraine, also one hundred percent, dependent does not disconnect first, why Ukraine still pays for Russian gas. Are we supposed to accuse them of financing the Russian invasion? No, we're not. I am in favour of finding a cheaper and more advantageous energy supplier, we can easily buy oil and gas from anyone. But if there is no such supplier, which is not the case, then I call for prudence and a cool head.

Madam President, I feel that for the European Union, every citizen with a different view is slowly becoming an extremist. Ten years ago, the word extremist didn't even exist properly in politics, and today, under the government of intolerant liberals, everyone is being called an extremist. I remember a few years ago when not me, but the serious Western media labeled the Ukrainian right sector and that battalion of Azov as neo-Nazi organizations. Suddenly no one. No one sees anything. No one cares. I wonder if that's the objectivity. Why is left-wing extremism never mentioned here in this plenary, which is equally dangerous, even more dangerous, because many left-wing extremists are in power. On the one hand, they talk about personal freedoms, but they introduce compulsory vaccinations and Covid passports, on the other hand, they talk about freedom of speech, but they introduce censorship. People are not blind and they are not stupid, so please see who the real extremist is, who robs them of their freedoms, who robs them of their dignity. And one day, I think, they'll count all these people in the election.

Thank you, Mrs. Sojdrová, for the blue card. As far as those sanctions are concerned, of course, no one doubts that they should be directed against the Russian Federation. It's natural and that's the purpose. But it is also clear from the reactions of Slovak farmers, industrialists and traders in general that many of these sanctions are more damaging to Europe, to the European Union, to European industry than to the Russian Federation itself, because the war is still going on and European companies are no longer doing well and they are also getting into economic difficulties. And we will see which side will last longer to endure this sanctions war, whether it be the Russian Federation or Europe and European industry. That's a pragmatic thing, that's not defending Russia or defending Russian aggression right now, just someone has to think a little rationally. Not everyone can just lament the misfortune that is currently happening in Ukraine, but we must think about what will happen to Europe next. This is the way to look at it in the future.

Madam President, when I see the impact that some of those sanctions are starting to have on the European economy, how some of the basic raw materials are starting to be lacking, how the factories are ceasing to produce, the big automakers are closing down, how the prices of energy and food are rocketing, I must ask you whether the aim of those anti-Russian sanctions is to punish the Russian Federation or to devastate Europe economically, because many of those sanctions are really prepared very badly to the detriment of Europe. We are now talking about the coming food crisis. We have been calling for a fundamental reform of the European Union's common agricultural policy for years. Nothing's been done. Instead, nonsense is being dealt with here, as was the case in the last plenary when the lack of toilets for the third sex was voted on. That is why I am proposing a constructive solution, let us start immediately with the revival of agriculture in Central Europe. There is huge potential for producing quality, affordable and healthy food for millions of people. It's not used, nothing is done about it. We could start thinking a little constructively and finally address this region as well. (The speaker agreed to answer the blue card question.)

Mr President, the current overcharge that people are feeling is nothing compared to the overcharge tornado that is rolling on us. We see it in advance on the stock market. The price of gas has risen tenfold in recent years. The price of wheat has risen from EUR 150 per tonne to EUR 400 per tonne. All prices continue to skyrocket. Do you want to import gas and oil from Russia? All right. What alternative solutions do you offer people? Importing gas from Australia? Or overpriced green technologies? What do you say to people when food prices are half as high? Will the price of gas double? Or if we pay for a liter of gasoline two or three euros? Are you going to tell them to be humbled? That they should stop heating or that they should turn off the light bulbs, as recommended by the Slovak ministers? Or are they supposed to be warmed up by the Commissioners' marketing phrases about how we can do it together? With $30,000 in pay, they can do it. I have no doubt about that. But what about ordinary people? If it were up to us, we would certainly seek solutions and try to avoid conflict, try to avoid war and do everything for the benefit of the people.

Madam President, the war in Ukraine is frightening and must end as soon as possible. What really scares me even more, however, is the wave of aggressive war politics or rhetoric that has taken over the whole of Europe. And this applies not only to the liberal media, but also to many liberal politicians, some of whom are sitting here, honourable gentlemen and ladies, who are also calling for censorship, calling for cleansing, calling for weapons, calling for the silence of any other opinion that does not agree with you. This is not how peace is built. This is how emotions are stirred up, this is how anger, hatred and, ultimately, war are stirred up. Fighting foreign influence in elections or in the media is, of course, the right thing to do, and on this occasion we could look not only at Russian propaganda, but also at propaganda from some American NGOs. On the other hand, to abuse the fight against Russian propaganda now to silence any opposition media or opinions is something wrong. Europe must not lose its freedom and democracy in this war.

Mr President, before I speak on Ukraine, let me ask you a few perhaps difficult but honest questions. Where were the international sanctions when the United States killed 200,000 civilians in Iraq because of the fictional pretext of weapons of mass destruction? Where were the condemning resolutions when the US, again in violation of international law, bombed Yugoslavia, Libya or Syria? Where was Europe when Ukrainian mercenaries killed children in Donbass or burned civilians in Odessa? I hope that the events of the last days are a lesson for all of us, that every war is bad, friends, every war is bad. Not only those led by the Russian Federation, but also those led by the United States of America. Every war must be condemned. What is happening in Ukraine is horrible and it must end. It has to end. But there is also the horrible hypocrisy of some of you, colleagues, who overlook wars simply because they are not waged by Americans.

Madam President, the European Court of Justice has today approved that the European Union can punish Hungary, Poland and other states for not respecting so-called European values and the rule of law. Hungary, for example, has passed a so-called Orbán law that bans pedophiles from entering schools. You know what, congratulations. You have brought the Bolshevik principle that law is the will of the ruling elite above the law to absolute perfection. You live in your own world. You lose touch with reality. You don't see the world around you, and that's what it looks like. This is how the whole of Europe suffers. You think you are the masters of the whole of Europe. You sit here proudly as some peacocks, and you want to dictate to everyone what they can and cannot do and punish anyone who disagrees with you. It is no wonder that Great Britain has left the European Union, and sooner or later other countries will leave, because this is not the European Union that we have joined. This is just disgusting political totalitarianism. We keep our fingers crossed for Poles and Hungarians. Slovaks are with you.