Speeches

Mr President, the success of tomorrow's Europe depends on the success of today's youth. Every young person in Europe must have a chance to make their dreams come true. Every young person in Europe must have a chance to shape their surroundings and Europe itself. We cannot set the future of Europe without those who will be at the forefront of it in a few years. We need to learn from the past and not see youth as it has been until now, just as participants in an activity, but as the key to prosperity for the future. Young people want to be part of the process of setting the future. They want to belong somewhere, they want to be more involved, they want someone to be interested in their opinion or solutions. Our task is to listen to and take into account the opinion of those who want to participate in shaping the future of Europe. But we also need to listen to and meet the needs of those whose voices are not heard, mainly because of a lack of access to quality education or modern technology, or simply because of poverty. It is important that we use the Conference on the Future of Europe to make Europe stronger and more modern by engaging young Europeans. A Europe where every child or young person gets a chance to develop not only themselves but also their surroundings. Uncertainty and fear, that's what beats young people today. But we can only remove their insecurity and fear if we really stick to the motto of today's debate "One Youth, One Europe".

Madam President, I am concerned that the Slovak Smer party, under the banner of social democracy in Europe, continues to be part of the Social-Democrat family here in the European Parliament. He spreads shameless lies and, moreover, basically cooperates with fascists who deny the Holocaust or celebrate the birthday of the fascist president from Slovakia during World War II, i.e. Jozef Tiso. In the Smer party, they say openly today that if they win another election, they will make fascists, who have already been convicted of racism, ministers in their government. Ladies and gentlemen, the corruption-swept social democracy in Slovakia is willing to cooperate with the fascists, because their leaders, as well as their patrons, are threatened with imprisonment. These people have nothing to do with social policy or democracy. Dear friends of social democracy, please do not get your name dirty and oppose the actions of the Smer party, which abuses the pandemic to spread delusions, incites to escalate tensions and cooperates with condemned fascists.

Madam President, like many, young people today live in uncertainty and fear, whether for their health or the health of their loved ones. They are afraid of the future, wondering what direction to take, whether they will be able to apply, find a job, secure housing. Young people today live in an online space that has its pitfalls. Today we have no idea how this will affect them. Many of the young people I meet on a regular basis today have a much greater sense that no one is listening to them. Many times they do not know how, but they want to express their opinion, they want to become more engaged, they want to do things differently and better. Young people need to be encouraged today, especially those with fewer opportunities from poor regions. Today, we must place much greater emphasis on supporting the poorest young people who live in difficult conditions. Some are also cut off from information from the online space for financial reasons. The European Year of Youth must also play an important role in this, so that as many young people from all backgrounds and backgrounds as possible can participate in this activity.

Madam President, one of the main principles of the rule of law is to create the conditions for a dignified life for every citizen of the European Union, without distinction. Often the problem is not in the money, but in the politicians who manage this money. In my country, we have already had a second programming period and we have enough money to improve the living conditions of the poorest citizens, so that they no longer have to drink water from the stream, and so that poor children can fulfil their dreams. However, since addressing the problems of the poorest Roma does not bring voices to politicians, many Roma still live in the conditions of the African continent without access to drinking water. Municipalities and towns have no problem building bicycle paths, buying buses or trams, but they do not want to build a water supply for the poor. It is time to raise the warning finger so that poor people in developed Europe no longer live without drinking water or sewerage. This is about upholding the rule of law. The Union can no longer just look at it. It is not possible, on the one hand, to finance cycle paths and, on the other hand, to accept that cities and municipalities refuse to build a water supply for the poorest.

Madam President, in the rule of law, respect for human rights or fair and dignified treatment of man is a principle to be followed by all. In Europe, we have been discussing the adequacy of police interventions for a long time. I will mention the cases I have dealt with recently. The case of abused boys from the police station in Košice, Slovakia, where police forced Roma boys to undress and then slap each other. Police officers in this case were acquitted and cleansed by Slovak courts. Another case of police raids, also from Slovakia, from Moldava nad Bodvou. This case was also rejected under the carpet in Slovakia. The citizens concerned did not receive justice before the European Court of Justice. I will also mention a recent case from a Belgian airport police station against Ján Chovanec from Slovakia, who died after an intervention in the presence of an assassin policewoman. How much time have we devoted to American George Floyd, and how much time have we devoted to these cases? Friends, have you heard about the case of young Roma Stanislav Tomáš from České Teplice? He, like George Floyd, dies after cops kneel on his neck. In this case, as is customary, the inspection authorities failed or did not begin to investigate the contested police intervention. All the European cases I have mentioned here are known only because of the random production of videos. If these videos weren't, we wouldn't even be talking about these cases today. Not only the control authorities fail, not only the black sheep in the police force fail, but also the monitoring of police interventions that we do not control. Every European police officer must be equipped with a camera so that their intervention can also be evaluated at any time.

Madam President, colleagues, the spread of lies, disinformation and hoaxes on the internet, especially on social networks, is a world-changing threat. Social networks are no longer just about making contacts, spreading information, or even having fun. Half-truths, lies that spread at incredible speed around the world, destabilize society and cause chaos. Social media, on the one hand, also produce an enormous amount of profit through the spread of half-truths and lies, on the other hand, are de facto unattended compared to traditional media. If any traditional medium today were to spread the message that the cure for the destruction of any virus in the body is drinking or even intravenous administration of a disinfectant, the next day this medium, a traditional medium, would be awaiting a lawsuit. Social media is not at risk of this. Without any problems, they spread information that significantly endangers the lives, health or property of ordinary people without facing responsibility. It's time to stop talking about the regulation of today's unregulated social media and start acting until it's too late.

Madam President, friends, let me begin by thanking Tomaszowi Frankowski for his adventurous work for this report. Ladies and gentlemen, today we are witnessing how the lack of support for poor children in sport is deepening the elitism of rich families, rich, rich children. Sport is becoming increasingly expensive and, unfortunately, an inaccessible affair for poor children. Unfortunately, I have to say that many sports are not available to the poorest children in Europe. I've had dozens of meetings with poor parents who actually gave me the truth. The availability of sports is conditioned by good financial family condition. In other words, hundreds of thousands of European families cannot pay their children to train or buy sports equipment. Many parents like to be able to provide their children with at least basic needs. There is also an exception from time to time. As was the case in my country, for example. In the case of a poor girl from a Roma settlement, her name is Anna Maria, who managed to win a competition in the run, to pass without any sports preparation or equipment. She was even wearing regular ballerinas, in which she went to school. Her victory in ballerinas literally shocked many. Her victory is also a warning to all of us about the lack of institutional interest in poor children who have talent but whose parents are unable to support it because of poverty. It's not just about one special Anne Mary. There are many such Anna Marys in ballerinas that deserve our support. I therefore consider it important that, when setting up and building European sports policies, we also think of an important element of inclusion, or we must create the conditions for sport, even for the poorest children in Europe.

Mr President. A few weeks ago, I met in person with the head of the European Anti-Fraud and Corruption Office, Ville Itälä Mitetelov. Slovakia is a small country and is lagging far behind in the absorption of EU funds. However, when it comes to the misuse of EU funds, especially during the times of former SMER governments, Slovakia excelled. This is evidenced by another dubious case from the days of former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini and his deputy prime minister, responsible for computerization, Richard Raši, concerning a secret IT project related to the cybersecurity of our country, worth more than fifty million euros, financed by the European Union. This case, like many other cases of previous SMER governments, whether Pellegrini or Fico, not only undermines citizens' trust in politicians, public institutions, democracy and the rule of law as such, but also damages the financial interests of the Union, which, of course, is already a criminal offence. It remains to be hoped that the newly created European Public Prosecutor's Office, in cooperation with the law enforcement authorities of the Member States, in this case Slovakia, will act in such a way that the actors of this case are duly punished.

Madam President, I understand that some Europeans, after a year of pandemics that have limited our lives, are being asked to voice their opposition to the regulations adopted by individual governments. However, we cannot allow their anger to overshadow their eyes and believe in fascists and populists. The extremists are now doing the same thing Hitler once did. They feed on misfortunes and tell people what they like, not what is needed. Today, it is not enough just to save health and social conditions or jobs. Today we must fight against populists and fascists who, under the guise of loving words, spread hatred, irritate people and, at the same time, gain popularity. Among them are the same fascists who deny the Holocaust. The same aggressors who incite violence on the streets. Their ambition is not to save people's lives or health or save jobs. Their only ambition is to get the power they want. The hate that neo-Nazis spread is a threat that we cannot underestimate. I myself, as an ethnic Roma, am subject to various attacks. Threats about the physical destruction of me and my family have gone so far that we had to have police protection from the same fascists and aggressors who are now rallying against the measures. What is currently happening not only in Italy is an urgent challenge for the whole of the European Union. We need to communicate better with people. People can't be afraid of ending up without income in uncertainty. But we must treat those who spread the ideology of fascism and extremism as criminals, because fascism has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Fascism is a crime.