Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner. We were all really shocked by the Qatargate scandal, but we must all agree here that we are ready to fight corruption and build resilience to corruption. However, we cannot go the easiest way to channel responsibility for the whole corruption scandal to non-governmental organisations. Non-governmental organisations must declare their income. However, we must understand that non-governmental organisations are not equivalent to commercial lobbyists. Non-governmental organisations are actually helping us everywhere in times of disaster, be it Turkey, Syria, war refugees from Ukraine, or support for people scattered around Europe. I therefore believe that we must understand that non-governmental organisations are our true companion in the fight for human rights, freedom of conscience and also in the fight against corruption. Therefore, in the fight against corruption, we really leave room for the activities of non-governmental organisations.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. It has already been said here that, in fact, one of Europe's main and greatest achievements and rights is for its citizens to move freely throughout the territory of the European Union, for young people to receive education, for others to work and for some to receive medical treatment. But also one of the fundamental rights of the people of Europe is the right to vote. And we have already noticed that almost 13 million people live in countries other than their countries of origin. Therefore, the revision of this Directive and the possibility to facilitate the participation of European citizens residing in countries other than their country of origin, both actively and when proposing their candidacies, as well as in the electoral processes themselves. I also join those colleagues who have said that it is extremely important for us to attract people with disabilities, because we can see how strong those people are, how much these people have the initiatives needed to make them heard in the European Parliament. I therefore call on everyone to support this initiative and to further strengthen democracy, to allow us to represent all European citizens.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, you have rightly said that the future of Ukraine lies in Europe. But today in Ukraine, the future of Europe is decided, and therefore we can achieve peace only if all the troops of the aggressor Putin leave the land of Ukraine and the integrity of the territory of Ukraine is restored. This requires the meeting we are talking about to ensure that all sanctions holes are closed, that an international tribunal is established, that Ukraine is provided with all the necessary weapons to defend the country and expel the aggressor, and that European Union negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union are launched this year. I would also like to point out that it is very important to connect Ukraine with the European Union. I would like to propose a re-examination of the possibilities of connecting transport lines, in particular by rail. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people of my country who are tirelessly sacrificing to Ukraine and hosting war refugees in their homes. Glory to Ukraine!

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. I have visited Afghanistan several times and I have seen how caring and talented Afghan women and girls are. And today, it seems to me, we need to be very clear, we need to put pressure on the regime so that it cannot use the financial resources that it currently uses. The drug business was mentioned here. I think that if we were to reduce the use of drugs here in Europe, then their sale in Afghanistan would also decrease. We must also continue to help those most important, weakest groups in Afghanistan, such as women, girls, children and minorities. But we must also point out that those who have left Afghanistan, here in the European Union, will receive adequate assistance so that, in particular, children can attend schools, get an education and perhaps return sometime to order in Afghanistan according to their wishes and understanding. Because that talented generation who grew up, who received education, in Afghanistan, when we were there and supported them, today, in fact, can help our country if we provide them with help.

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues. As history shows, the aggressor and his associates who committed war crimes are punished. This is illustrated by the Nuremberg Tribunal after the Second World War and the Milošević Court in The Hague after the Yugoslav war. Currently, the whole world is watching with horror Putin's aggression in Ukraine from Bucha to Dnipro. Kremlin forces are committing all possible crimes, shooting innocent people, bombing homes, civilian infrastructure, and raping women and girls. It is therefore essential that the European Union, together with Ukraine and international partners, establish as soon as possible a legal mechanism for convicting the perpetrators of the crimes of aggression. In my opinion, I will repeat, this requires a special international tribunal, so that not only the perpetrators, but also the main planners of all crimes, such as Vladimir Putin, his immediate environment and his supporter Alexander Lukashenko, are punished. Dear Commissioner, show more leadership in setting up this international special tribunal. I hope that it is also possible to gather a majority in the United Nations General Assembly and to give a mandate to create a special tribunal in accordance with the rules of the United Nations. Until then, the Provisional Office of the Prosecutor should collect evidence and prepare it for the work of the Social Tribunal. Dear colleagues, I invite you to support the resolution tabled on the establishment of a special tribunal.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable representative of the Council. Indeed, the message from Dnipro is very clear to us: the Putin regime is brutally beating civilians with minions. In Lithuania, we remember the thirteenth of January 32 years ago, when our men and women were killed by the Soviet regime. Now, 32 years later, Putin's regime is killing civilians in Ukraine. Many of us have said that the signal is to strengthen sanctions in particular, so that there are no holes left, so that the Putin regime can take advantage of the economic benefits of trade with the European Union. But not just sanctions. We not only need to defend the Ukrainian sky, but we need to free the Ukrainian land from the aggressors. We need to send out the tools that are needed today, be it heavy tanks, other armored equipment or artillery. My dear colleagues, the victims of Dnipre still sometimes oblige us to act quickly and strictly. Slava Ukraini.

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, I agree with the Commission that Europe has to do more to protect its critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, for too long, European Union countries were naive to believe that business interests alone will protect its valuable assets. Russian war in Ukraine showed that in time of the war, criminal regimes are ready to attack the critical infrastructure even if that hurts their own economic interests. Yes, the Commission should identify critical infrastructure, but the Member States must increase their efforts to protect it. It is the Member States who have the means to do that. Unfortunately, some EU Member States, for economic or political reasons, are still too relaxed and ready to cooperate with the criminal regimes. For a long time, from this podium, they have been telling Germany also that its addiction to the cheap Russian gas is dangerous. Now we see the consequence. Similar mistake Hungary is doing now by continuing its nuclear power station projects with Rosatom. In my view, a similar mistake was done by selling ownership of the EU ports to the Chinese companies. In times of conflict, these companies will become Trojan horses on the EU soil. The EU should diversify its energy sources. It also must agree on the rules that stakes of its critical infrastructure companies cannot be sold to the state or private actors from non—democratic regimes. We also should work on the better physical protection of our critical infrastructure objects, including the necessary military means.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, unfortunately, we see again that currently Russia is ruled by criminal regime, ready to use any form of violence against any target in order to reach its imperialistic goals. It is a crime against humanity to target civilian objects and to try to freeze millions Ukrainians by that. These criminal genocide attacks and all those who ordered it and implemented these orders, must be prosecuted by newly established international special tribunal. What can we do to help to solve this dire situation for millions of Ukrainians? Yes, we must send thousands of heaters and generators. We must send equipment to fix damaged networks. We must be ready for the possible new wave of the war refugees from Ukraine, who decide to run from the cold. But the most important thing is to make sure that such damage does not happen again. And this is possible only by sending the most modern air defence system to Ukraine and by continuous military equipment to the Ukrainian army. Slava Ukraini!

. – Thank you, President. Commissioner, dear colleagues. First of all, I would like to welcome Parliament's initiative to revise the multiannual financial framework. The events of recent years have changed our world and it makes sense to adjust the decisions we have made in the past. It is particularly important to ensure food security and European autonomy in this area. Putin’s Russia’s war against Ukraine has put food supply systems at serious risk. Another very important aspect of our fight against climate change. The Fit For 55 package should be linked to the Multiannual Financial Perspective. The rapid increase in prices also calls for a revision of the budget. Particular attention must be paid to the situation of young and small farmers. The war has the greatest impact on those countries that are close to the front line. At the same time, the ability of farmers to ensure food security is strongly influenced by differences in payments under the common agricultural policy. Eastern Member States, whose farmers receive the lowest payments, are under the greatest pressure due to the war in Ukraine. We should show European solidarity and deliver on our old promises: ensure an average of direct payments to our eastern European farmers.

Mr President, honourable Member of the Commission. In fact, it was said: Georgia is an important partner for us and the Georgian people have repeatedly stated that they are choosing the European path. However, as the Commissioner said, the threshold for Georgia has been raised high and we look forward to Georgia's implementation of the 12 recommendations made. We can state that Georgia is making some progress, especially in the fight against corruption, in the digital area of security. However, it must be stressed that the rule of law, the realisation of democracy, free press rights are far from what we would like. I would also like to stress that, on humanitarian grounds, we should absolutely demand that former President Saakashvili be given access to independent medical assistance. Georgia should work towards the consolidation of society and join forces to focus on the implementation of reforms. I would appeal to the Commission to further strengthen administrative assistance for the implementation of those reforms.

Madam President, Commissioner, rapporteur. In fact, we have just talked about the importance of aviation, but rail is just as important, or can even replace it, in many cases with more environmentally friendly means of transport and enable Europeans to travel from one part of the European Union to another. I want to place great emphasis on that environmental aspect, safety and modernity, digitalisation, which has also been mentioned here. Investment in this sector is also very important. And I want to highlight one of the projects that is coming and that could be a very successful example. This is the Rail Baltica project, which connects, as an axis, the north and the south, where we can travel from the northern part of the European Union to the south and combine opportunities for both travel by passengers, with a special emphasis on the ability of young people to reach different parts of the European Union. I would also like to emphasise the opportunity to associate our candidate countries, such as Ukraine, with these projects, so that they can join the common space of the European Union even more quickly.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. In fact, sustainable mobility is essential to protect both the possibility of movement itself in the European Union and to protect our nature without polluting the environment. However, it is also important to allow European citizens to move freely and to ensure that they can do so on time and have the opportunity to move around in our free space. But I also want to stress that it is particularly important to create decent working conditions for those working in aviation when adapting these rules, because timely flights are conditions for recreation. This should be done and guaranteed not only in our legislation, but also in practice.

Mr President, Commissioner, in fact, if we want to provide good help to our patients, we must have three things: professionals, tools and patient confidence. Today we are talking about the tools we can use to treat patients. I would like to call on the Commission not to lower the quality requirements, but to reduce the bureaucracy that is currently weighing on our medical device manufacturers and sometimes preventing them from ensuring the required quality and quantity of devices. I would call on all of us to make a concerted effort, by cutting red tape, to implement the boom in production in the European Union, thus ensuring that patients and doctors have the necessary number of medical devices, but at the same time actually reducing the bureaucracy that is burdening, and thus, without delaying the further implementation of our decisions, to have a changed situation already in 2024.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable colleagues. The criminal Lukashenka regime in Belarus continues to intensify its repression against any criticism of the authorities. There are more than a thousand four hundred political prisoners in the country, more than a thousand four hundred people in prison just because they wanted to express their opinion and were not afraid to do so. The European Union must remain united and continue to exert pressure on the regime. In the upcoming package of sanctions, sanctions against Russia and Belarus need to be unified to prevent Russia from using Lukashenko's assistance to circumvent existing restrictions. The creation of a special international tribunal dedicated to Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine requires the immediate inclusion in its jurisdiction of facilitators from other countries, such as Lukashenko, who allowed the use of Belarusian territory for war crimes against Ukraine. The European Union must continue to support the democratic opposition in Belarus, increase systemic cooperation with it, promote its consolidation and unification, so that when the dictator of Belarus is finally overthrown, opposition forces can start building a modern and democratic Belarus.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, in fact, I join my colleagues in congratulating them that such a document has been tabled and I hope it will be adopted. But colleagues also mentioned how dangerous such critical infrastructure attacks are for the European Union, how many such attacks have occurred, German cases and others. But we also see Putin using attacks on infrastructure to wage war against Ukraine and push the Ukrainian nation into a really cold winter, putting lives in grave danger. Dear colleagues, I believe that we all need to support this decision and, in particular, to monitor how these decisions will be implemented, both at European Union level and in the Member States. Because I believe that by acting only together and using common finances, we will be able to protect this infrastructure. I agree with the expansion of infrastructure, especially in the food and health sector, because I believe that these areas have proved to be particularly important during both the pandemic and the war. Thank you.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner. Racism is a shame. I welcome the Commission's willingness to continue its work on the elimination of racial discrimination. The European continent that survived the Holocaust cannot allow any discrimination based on gender, orientation, skin colour or nationality. Now Europe is also suffering from Putin's brutal military aggression, but in addition to the military aggression, we see massive propaganda, Putin's propaganda against the Ukrainian people. Some far-right forces are trying to use social hatred against war refugees to spread that propaganda. Honourable Commissioner, I believe that we must continue to strengthen our anti-discrimination forces in our daily work, but also pay more attention to education so that our young generation understands that we can all live in peace and unity in Europe.

Thank you, Mr President, honourable Vice-Presidents of the Commission, I really agree with the statement that we must overcome the war in Ukraine caused by Putin's Russia and the consequences of the deaths of Ukrainians, who are losing their lives, and of Europeans, who are suffering from the increase in energy prices and food prices. In fact, some have spoken here about the need to agree on negotiations, on peace. The best peace is if the Ukrainians win. We have received a message today with the support of the European Union and the Russians are already withdrawing, Putin's Russians are already withdrawing from Kherson and the Ukrainians are continuing to liberate their lands. But at the same time, we must also help our citizens, where Putin would also like to divide European unity, and that people take to the streets against their power. We need to adopt the measures that have been mentioned here. Both minimum wages, price restrictions, heating compensation and global warming, so that European citizens really feel the support of the European Union and help Ukraine continue to fight for our European values.

Thank you, Mr President, honourable Commissioner, I would like to congratulate you on this initiative and on your support for Ukrainian scientists. And I think that here colleagues have set out the facts about what Ukrainian science is suffering for, what scientists are suffering for, how infrastructure is being destroyed and what help is needed both now and in the future to rebuild Ukraine after the war. But I want to draw your attention to one fact. The people of Belarus are also suffering as a result of Putin’s Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially those who have resisted the Lukashenka regime supporting Putin’s aggression. And this year alone, one and a half hundred scientists have been fired from the Belarusian State University. Perhaps we could, thinking not only about the consequences of Ukraine, but also about the consequences of this situation against the backdrop of the aggression against Ukraine, include at least those scientists from Belarus who have fled to the European Union. And so that they can also join European science and receive support. Thank you.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, honourable colleagues, the Lukashenka regime continues to actively support Russia's war against Ukraine. He receives Russian armed forces on the territory of Belarus, begins the mobilisation of Belarusians and provides weapons to Russia from his storage facilities. Lukashenko has once again shown that his only goal is the preservation of the regime. Due to the preservation of power, he is ready to sacrifice the sovereignty of his country, to go against the will of the Belarusian people, as many as 80 percent of whom do not support Russia's war against Ukraine. However, the Belarusian regime itself is maintained by Russia. Therefore, Russia's defeat in Ukraine is the most direct way to democratize Belarus. The European Union's response must be continued military, financial and humanitarian support for Ukraine. The countries of the European Union must not give in to the increasing attempts of the Belarusian regime to establish contacts with the governments of the Member States of the European Union. The European Union's position is clear: Lukashenko is an illegitimate president who stole presidential elections in 2020. The European Union must continue to actively pressure with sanctions all those involved and supporting the Lukashenka regime. And Lukashenko himself must find himself together with Putin in a special tribunal. We also need to further support the Belarusian opposition and the Belarusians, who have been forced to leave their country because of constant persecution and threats.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, in fact, we have been arguing for some time about what to call Putin's Russia, when it supported terrorism in different regions of the world, but there comes a time when some actions overwhelm the cup. And here are all those who were in Bucha, those who were in other parts of Ukraine, those who saw reports from Ukraine, many mass graves being unearthed, and those who today see falling rockets fired from Russia into kindergartens, schools, civilian buildings. Isn't that terrorism? It seems to me that this is a unanimous assessment of all of us from different political platforms. And the children who died, the civilians who died, that is what Putin is doing today, intimidating and implementing the ideology of his great Tsarist Russia. Let's unite, let's have a unified name and a unified response to Putin's terrorist actions.

Thank you, Commissioner, for your attention to the children, especially the disappearance of the children. You gave us beautiful numbers. How many of these missing children are there, and that they often disappear from the families of migrants or war refugees. My colleague mentioned a new influx of them, namely children of Ukrainian refugees, but also children abducted by Ukrainians from occupied territories and taken to Russia. Perhaps, as you propose to revise the anti-trafficking directive, we could allow candidate countries for accession to the European Union, so that our systems, in which these missing children are recorded, can also accommodate Ukrainian abductees and take them to Russia in different camps or, as Mr Putin has now proposed, facilitate the adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia, because perhaps, in this way, we could help them to return to their families and Ukrainian dinghies.

Dear Commissioner. First of all, I would like to thank you for your attention and concern for the war refugees from Ukraine since the beginning of the war, for the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive, for the material assistance provided and for the current initiative for allocating part of the funds to non-governmental organisations and local authorities. I would also like to thank all the Europeans who have welcomed Ukrainians, including my own, the Lithuanian people, who have shown great attention in devoting their homes, feeding, dressing, getting into work. Honourable Commissioner, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that Putin's aggression in Ukraine was also caused by another influx from Belarus, whose people do not support their authoritarian regime under Lukashenko, who are facing the same problems here in the Member States of the European Union. Therefore, I invite you to pay attention and provide assistance also to refugees from Belarus.

Honourable Commissioner, I really want to thank you for your report and your attention to mental health. As a doctor, I can say that, in fact, mental health determines not only the state of mental health, but also the physical health of people. The pandemic, war, tensions have shown that mental health attention is actually not enough. That is why we need to unite our efforts so that not only the Member States, but also the European level, take a decision that people with mental disabilities are more integrated into our daily lives, that those stigmas that still exist are removed for them, even the environment that exists in our daily lives, that people with mental disabilities are also adapted, that they can be more easily oriented and more involved in our joint work, so that they can feel full citizens of the European Union.

Mr President, honourable Commissioner, I agree with the statements made by colleagues that we really need to limit the excesses in this situation as a matter of urgency. These include introducing taxes, capping gas prices, especially for electricity generation, and distributing the revenues fairly between small and medium-sized businesses and poorer European, European families. However, I want to point out one more thing: we need to fulfil our commitments very responsibly. It is a pity that Commissioner Dombrovskis left, and I wanted to tell him that farmers in his country are receiving lower direct payments, as are Lithuanian farmers in my country. Although this was promised when the accession process was in place. I therefore invite you, Commissioner, and Commissioner Dombrovskis, to make sure that all commitments are implemented. Only by acting in solidarity will we be able to get rid of Putin's energy blackmail and stop nationalism and populism in Europe.

President, honourable Commissioner. As we have heard, the covid does not shrink, although perhaps the virus changes its shape. We responded by setting up HERA, a specific authority that could issue recommendations and warnings on the direction of the pandemic. I would like to ask you whether HERA itself is fully formed and we can expect it to work at full capacity, and we will be able to have very clear priorities for vaccination procedures and the introduction of treatment methodologies. Since the chronic covid that stays actually does its own, so, as colleagues have said, we would like to invite the Commission to act more effectively by encouraging the dissemination of correct information on both vaccine availability and transparent procurement. We are also actively calling for joint efforts, a stronger European Health Union and joint purchases of both vaccines and medical devices. I would like to ask how the Commission is going to make full use of its potential in the fight against covid.