Speeches

Mr President, I would just like to draw your attention to the fact that one of the most striking things when it comes to cycling is that they are the biggest offenders on the road. I'll talk very quickly and explain it to you. So, yesterday I was in the pedestrian zone in Strasbourg, one of the cyclists hit me, I was with my back, then he cursed me and left. They think they have exclusive rights. I can give you an even more striking example if you want. In Sofia, because an ambulance was waiting for a dying man from the fourth floor, because there was no elevator and they had to take him down in their hands, he cut all four tires of the ambulance. So I would very much like to finally put the number on all the bicycles so that you can know who is what kind of offender. I am not talking about the one in Bulgaria, simply because I think he is a psychopath.

Madam President, I am one of the shadow rapporteurs of this report and I very much like the Erasmus+ programme, but I can tell you that I voted against it. There are many good things in this report, such as special attention to people with disabilities or those from remote areas, but tell me where in Europe you have ever heard of a school or university where it is chosen on the basis of sexual orientation or ethnicity. This thing never existed and it is completely superfluous to enter into this report. I do not understand why there should be any privileged groups, because this leads, in my opinion, to a huge discrimination of the majority. Moreover, it is a waste of money that could be redirected to something significantly more sensible in the field of culture and education. These are the two sectors that always suffer the most during crises, whether they are health, geopolitical or economic.

Member of the Commission. - Madam President, I voted against and I will try to explain to you very briefly what this is about. There is not a single word in this report about the cause of illegal logging. That's first. But I can tell you what the reason is. This is the wrong energy policy of the European Union. In addition, there is not a word about the so-called domestic logging. These are ordinary citizens who have nothing to heat themselves with and are beginning to chop down in both parks and gardens. I don't exonerate them, but I think this report is absolutely incomplete, and essentially one should think about the root causes of something happening, and not just some people being condemned for doing it.

Madam President, it is good to see you, Madam Gabriel. I personally support the Erasmus+ programme and the opportunities it offers. Of course, special attention should be paid to those who are among us, but have real barriers in their lives. I am talking about people with disabilities from those who are from hard-to-reach places, as of course, and from the poorest regions, and that is where all efforts should be directed. Unfortunately, however, from time to time there are some strange things that do not matter at all for the access to Erasmus, but lead to absolute discrimination, in my opinion, and I have not heard anywhere in the Erasmus programs to choose someone according to their sexual orientation or ethnicity. This is the first time I've heard this in this room. These are some fictions called in the cinema usually this thing. Here lies another attempt to interfere in national education policies with the aim of instilling a European identity, which I do not understand what it means, and so-called sexual diversity. And this should be under the control of some so-called inclusivity officers. This, for me, is money thrown absolutely to the wind, as it is said in Bulgarian, and I think these funds should really be directed to culture and education, which have suffered the most from the health crisis, and from the economic, and now also from the geopolitical.

Member of the Commission. - Mr President, I agree with my colleague Dzhambazki and also voted against. I think it's unacceptable. By the way, at the Conference on the Future of Europe were specially selected, if you do not know, certain NGOs that are for federalism. It is written in the treaties that this is an alliance between sovereign states. I don't think that needs to change. Unanimity must remain. A majority of states cannot decide the destinies of other states and cannot impose any rules and norms that are against their national interest. I liked that there was ‘unity in diversity’. Now I understand that this principle will be violated, and France will want to make a small pleasant empire in the style of the Soviet Union. The Union of Soviet Republics – this is what you are proposing to us at the moment. That is why I voted against.

Mr President, this may seem incredible to you, but I voted in favour. Although in this configuration of Parliament, I have slight concerns, but I hope that this will be good for democracy, and I think it is normal for Parliament to have the right of legislative initiative. I think this is logical and normal, because we are closest to the citizens. Neither the Council nor the Commission meets with citizens. I can sign with both hands and I think we all know how much they know about voters in the European Union, unlike us. And I think it's normal that we can offer things that interest them. Because of the things I see in this House, a lot of them seem to have been invented by people from another planet, by people who have no connection with reality, and that is why I think it should be supported.

Mr President, I think that Poland is a sovereign country that has presented its plan, which, as I recall, has been approved by the Commission. And I think this is normal, because obviously every government should know best what the problems of its people are. And I don't understand why these political insinuations are imposing some strange opinions in which country there is rule of law and in which there is no rule of law. I can tell you that there are no countries in the European Union where there is no rule of law. At the moment you are trying to force Bulgaria to remove its veto in order to enter a country like Macedonia, which does not have the rule of law. That's what I want to tell you. So here begins some strange political and geopolitical, as my colleague Wallace said, conversations in which you will impose on us a state that has done disgusting things with the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

Mr President, I would like to draw your attention to something that you are all missing. This is called ‘domestic logging’ – illegal domestic logging. These are people who can not be heated in the winter, and in some settlements in Bulgaria began to cut down the parks in the settlements. I think this is the result of the European Union's energy policy. I can tell you that gas prices in just six months last year before the war in Ukraine rose by 300 percent in Bulgaria. I understand these people will chop. Perhaps there should be some common energy policy and some protection for the population. I don't blame them for destroying trees. But I'm beginning to understand them. Soon no one will be able to pay for the electricity. Thanks to the green deal.

Madam President, I think Mr Timmermans has fled. Mr Timmermans, whom I do not see, your Fit for 55 package is simply a plan to destroy small and medium-sized businesses. The Social Climate Fund is dust in the eyes. This is a communist scheme that takes money from the rich in your opinion to give it to the poor again in your opinion. In this way, you will also destroy employers, and the money will not be enough at all to help the people who really need it. Linking the fund to the main emissions trading scheme cuts the budget to utter futility. Moreover, you never once mentioned the energy crisis because of the war in Ukraine. How many energy poor did it produce? There will be no money for them either. As ECR rapporteur, I have tried to balance this otherwise indispensable mechanism for all of us. Unfortunately, here sick ambitions prevailed over common sense. Your ambition, Mr Timmermans, will break the backbone of the European economy and produce an incredible amount of poor and unemployed – tens of millions.

Mr President, I am in the delegation for the negotiations with Albania and I can tell you that Albania has done absolutely everything. Unlike Macedonia, which we talked about. My colleague Dzhambazki has already said that the Bulgarian minority has also been recognized. There are absolutely no problems there. I don't understand one thing. Why should the two countries be bound? Why would a country, which two years ago had practically fulfilled everything, now wait for Macedonia for the next 20 years to deal with it until it fulfills something? I can tell you that Macedonia will do nothing. From the Commission came a gentleman who said that in the process of negotiations these problems would be solved. I can tell you they won't solve it. If we do not make a really firm decision and do something normal so that something can happen in Macedonia so that it can become part of the European Union. I'm sorry, but instead of a full-fledged member, we're going to get a tumor. This is what we will get by bringing Macedonia in.

Member of the Commission. - Mr President, I'm sorry I'm about a minute and a half late. I voted categorically against it. A lot of people said a lot here. And one of the strangest things, however, in Macedonia, which has not met absolutely any criteria, I do not know who is telling it, is that there are 150,000 people with Bulgarian passports who are proven ethnic Bulgarians. At the last census, according to Macedonian forgeries, there were 3,000 there. Do you believe that out of 150,000, only 3,000 people said they were Bulgarians? There, the problems are extremely great. I am in the Committee on Petitions and I can tell you that a petition was re-entered two or three weeks ago by Bulgarians who have been discriminated against. This leads to genocide, in my opinion. There, no one dares to admit that he is a Bulgarian, because he will not have a job and will be harassed by the authorities. This country cannot enter the European Union until it has really fulfilled the friendship treaty with Bulgaria, which we signed a long time ago. I don't want to give up the history of another country.

Mr President, honourable Members, many of you, including the Commission and Mr Timmermans, continue to defend the Green Deal. He convinces us that it is thanks to her that the situation is not worse. But this is self-deception. The truth is that Europe is risking the green transition. We have destroyed our energy security, hoping for long-term independence with a green economy. We took a risk and unfortunately lost. Thanks to this, today gas prices exceed a mind-boggling €295 per megawatt-hour. This affects European citizens in particular. I am worried about the consequences for culture, I am worried that very soon theaters, cinemas and all cultural institutions will not be able to pay their bills and will close. How do we compensate for the lack of gas? Are we going to compensate with American liquefied gas, which costs many times more? It will replace one dependency with another. Again as a temporary measure, as I understand it, until the Green Deal starts to bear fruit, which I think will never happen. The Green Deal is not the salvation we seek, as some of you are trying to convince me. It's a stone on our necks that will drown us. It's time to get rid of it and look for real energy independence.

Mr President, we are already discussing youth in successive plenary sessions. The topic is extremely important because not enough is being done to support the young. However, when I hear the expression ‘one young person’, do I understand that I am referring to those youth organisations from the totalitarian regimes of the last century? All the children gathered there and were taught an ideology of a single territory and political order. Is this the way we are going? Our youth is not one. It is very different, as are the 27 Member States of the European Union. It is about support, which must be the same for all young people. Nothing more. There is an awful lot of money and energy being wasted here in an attempt to create a European identity, but I think this is doomed to failure. They don't want totalitarian federalism, they want opportunities to create and work. And I am convinced that their dream is not to destroy their individuality and national identity.

Member of the Commission. - Madam President, I also thank the rapporteur for the work he has done on this subject for more than a year. This is a good text. Cancer has really become a scourge of modern society. Every European has relatives or acquaintances who have been affected by some type of cancer. However, if universal experiences bring us closer together, then this report should have the ability to unite us. I therefore hope that we could vote in favour of it, although I have some reservations about setting unrealistic quality and control standards. Colleagues Dreosto and Baldasare said absolutely right words in relation to alcohol. However, the contradictory elements in the text should not overshadow, in my opinion, the message that we will send, namely that cancer is already the number one enemy. We must not abandon anyone who suffers: neither young, nor elderly, nor poor, nor those living in hard-to-reach or remote areas of the European Union. For once, let us not just be politicians, but normal human beings.

Mr President, I am glad that we have finally admitted that we are not making decisions together with young people, but instead of them. Too often, young people are offered several months of unpaid internship with the promise of a permanent job. Eventually, however, they were fired. I understand if it was a matter of competence, but I think they're just using them. Perhaps incompetent are those who interview them, who constantly hire new interns, who are then fired again. These are the people who should be fired. This is extremely unfair, as many people would not be able to afford it. Even in the time of feudalism, the master gave his apprentice food and a bed. Our standards are probably lower. Don't you think it's absurd to try to reach the feudal achievements of a few centuries ago? We just came back hundreds of years ago with these ideas.

Madam President, first of all, I would like to point out that I hate the word "reproductive". It may be medically correct, but there is something extremely derogatory about it. It completely depersonalizes the act of creating a unique life. We don't make copies, we make originals, colleagues. I think it is very telling that such a vocabulary is increasingly being used, especially in our Parliament. We deliberately eliminate the positive in the conception, birth and upbringing of our children. We talk about the process as a factory process, we depersonalize it and thus alienate people even more from it. Why should young people want to create children when they are told that this is a mechanical process of reproduction, that it is better to live their lives and there is no need to deal with a family. This is one of the main reasons why the population of our continent is ageing. Children are not produced in a workshop or on a conveyor, they are created and raised by a family, by a mother and father, colleagues. This is a sacred building block of society, it is not just a combination of individual rights, just some simple sum, it is a rather complex concept of rights, duties and a lot of love. The European Union has obviously completely forgotten the simple truth that I just said, but we will not stop repeating it to you and defending traditional Christian family values. They are at the heart of our civilization.

Member of the Commission. - Mr President, I like this Commission initiative. Too often we decide, instead of the young, what problems they have and how they should be solved. And it's really time to ask them. And not only to inquire, but also to hear them. I don't agree with the limited budget. I do not know how activities will be provided in all Member States in one year for 10 million. Not everything should fall on the Member States. The European Union must show young people that it is ready to set aside money for them from the European budget as well. However, I am very worried about some trends that are increasingly creeping into European policies. I'm talking about the deliberate division based on ethnicity, race, sexuality. It is absolutely unacceptable to pay special attention and attach importance only to the problems of minorities, at the expense of everyone else. In this way, you only create division and incite hatred. All young people should have an equal chance, no matter who they are or where they come from. Otherwise, we're just creating young people who hate each other. You are against radicalization, but you are actually encouraging this process.

Mr President, I have repeatedly said that the pandemic hit the cultural sector the hardest. Cinemas, theaters, concert halls and all others closed first and opened last. Hundreds of thousands of artists and workers in the sector were left without work and help came only in part. I was therefore very pleased that we started this own-initiative report. However, so far, I don't think there's enough talk about cultural issues. I thank the rapporteur, Mrs Semedo, and my shadow colleagues for their work. Together, we were able to reflect many of the problems that accompany culture and art. I am very pleased that special attention has been paid to copyright, thank God. Being recognised and protected is, in my view, a sign that we take good care of artists. They were an additional source at the time. To my great regret, however, certain left-wing policies that have no place in culture and art have crept into the report. I refuse to support a text, however good it may be, since it gives preference only to certain groups that are based on race, gender and sexual orientation. Art is art, sorry, only the creative beginning is important for it. Let us not forget, colleagues, which are the political regimes that dictated these things in the beginning and complied only with them. And that is why I have introduced an alternative text that is balanced for the benefit of all in culture and art, without distribution in gender and affiliation, no matter what it is.

Madam President, Commissioner, Members, you have printed €2 trillion to rebuild Europe's economy. I think you did this as a form of blackmail. You're trying to impose the economic model of the Green Deal on us, and it's actually so insane that it has caused an enormous surge in electricity prices. But let us not forget that the Commission demands that we close the mines and the thermal power plants. Currently, they produce nearly 50% of Bulgaria's energy. Isn't it strange to talk about recovery and at the same time insist on destroying our economy, raising people's bills and jeopardizing energy security? In fact, so tragic will be the social effect. I've said it before, the miners won't become ballerinas, they'll just become unemployed. That is why I urge you to forget the learned phrases of pseudo-protectors of nature and think about the needs of people and business. In Bulgaria, there is a need for rapid infrastructure development in support of small and medium-sized enterprises, business modernization and digitalization of the administration. These are the necessary measures.