What Thijs spoke about.

8

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 18-19 June 2026 (debate)

Madame President, Commission colleagues, I am really, really unpleasantly surprised that the Council is not here. What are we debating? The Council conclusions without the Council. The Commission is not the problem on defence and support of Ukraine. We are not the problem on defence and support of Ukraine. The 27 capitals are deeply lacking a sense of urgency. The Council, in its conclusions, this…

7

Jul

2026

EN Speech

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2025 Commission report on Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Ukraine is squeezing the Russian economy. It regains territory, despite dire front-line conditions. Putin is lashing out with deadly strikes on cities where air defence ammunition has run out. Europe needs four things now more than ever: vigilance, focus, unity and resolve. Vigilance: we need vigilance because Russia wants to break our support for Ukraine. Further probing, a false fl…

17

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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Preparation of the European Council (joint debate)

Madam President, I want to talk about two points on your agenda: Ukraine and defence. They are connected by a lack of sense of urgency, I am sorry to say, in particular with the Member States. There are many good things in the draft conclusions, and you will say to me: 'Yes, look what we are doing'. But condemnations of Russia's attacks don't save lives. Air defence, deep strike capability and int…

16

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

Madam President, colleagues, Commissioner – and, regrettably, no Council on this key topic – we are slowly moving from words to real action on enlargement, but it's too slow. We need a breakthrough – not business as usual! The geopolitical stakes demand it. To the Council, I would have said: have the courage to embrace innovative proposals; do not reject ideas without offering better alternatives.…

19

May

2026

EN Speech

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Europe's response to reduced US military deployments in Europe, particularly at its Eastern flank in the light of the latest US decisions (debate)

Madam President, colleagues, dear High Representative, thank you for what you just said, because I agree with what you said. But to the Member States, I would ask: how much proof do we need that Europe needs to strengthen its own defence and deterrence? Now is the time for bold action: no more incremental improvements. Now is the time for European solutions: we are stronger than the sum of our par…

29

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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Danger of normalising relations with Russia, including its participation in major cultural and sports events (debate)

Madam President, nothing has changed. Russia is still the aggressor. Daily war crimes. Brutality. Hybrid warfare on Europe. No desire for real peace. And why then let Lavrov's daughter represent Russia at the Biennale? Why then allow athletes to compete under their own flag and maybe even championing Russian crimes? No normalisation. Not in sports, not in culture, nor anywhere else like in the G20…

28

Apr

2026

EN Speech

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Ensuring accountability and justice in response to Russia’s continued attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, Council, dear colleagues, we are reminded daily that Russia's war of aggression is nothing less than a terror campaign of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And we know there can be no real peace without justice – justice for those murdered in their sleep by Russians targeting their cities, for those tortured to death in Russian prison camps, for those buried in…

25

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 March 2026 (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, Council, colleagues, Trump's policies once again derailed European security. Rising oil prices, sanction relief, dwindling deliveries of military aid to Ukraine are risks for Ukraine and thus also risks for us. Meanwhile, the Member States' inability to deliver the loan to Ukraine is frankly appalling. They should have avoided giving Putin's Budapest assets the chanc…

11

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Human trafficking and grave human rights violations linked to the recruitment of non-Russian nationals, in particular from Africa, for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, thanks to the authors for this timely resolution. Because Putin uses foreign fighters recruited under false pretence from Africa and elsewhere, and he's running out of soldiers thanks to the effective Ukrainian defenders. The alternative to this – conscription in Russia's cities – would expose a losing war. It is very uncomfortable to watch African fighters …

10

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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Tackling barriers to the single market for defence - Flagship European defence projects of common interest

Madam President, colleagues, thank you for both reports. Short‑term national interests, no matter the origin, are holding back the establishment of a European defence, and nowhere more so than in the internal market for defence. Contrary to what some say here, this is an indispensable part of a genuine defence Union. Of course, we want all the countries of Europe to flourish, but hidden, covert pr…

10

Mar

2026

EN Speech

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EU enlargement strategy (debate)

Mr President, colleagues, in recent days the Commission President, the High Representative and you, dear Commissioner Kos, have all in different ways admitted that the enlargement process is not delivering the required outcomes. For starters, because of some 100 moments to veto one accession process. It's absurd. We also recognise where Member States and the Commission have actually failed candida…

24

Feb

2026

EN Speech

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Four years of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and European contributions to a just peace and sustained security for Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, colleagues, after four years of brutal aggression, terror and war crimes and of Russia breaking its teeth on Ukraine's courage and resilience, we honour the fallen, the tortured prisoners, the abducted children and all Ukrainians who have shown us what real bravery means. Out of fear of escalation, we enabled escalation. What if, in the first year, we had matched the determination…

10

Feb

2026

EN Speech

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Situation in Northeast Syria, the violence against civilians and the need to maintain a sustainable ceasefire (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, this could have been the year in which Syria finally saw an end to the bloodshed and a start of a transition to democracy, building accountable institutions, restoring justice and recognising the rights of all citizens, but the ongoing siege of Kobani and atrocities also on 9 January against the Kurds in Aleppo and their forced displacement tell a different …

10

Feb

2026

EN Speech

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European response to the attacks on the Ukrainian energy system causing a humanitarian crisis (debate)

Mr President, Council, colleagues, the Council is not here. That's a problem. Europe stands by Ukraine for as long as it takes, but after four years, are we really doing everything it takes to defend Ukraine? The scale of Russia's attacks on civilian infrastructure are unprecedented. Then we can underline and say 'yes, these attacks are war crimes and barbaric state terrorism', 'Russia's approach …

10

Feb

2026

EN Speech

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Building a stronger European defence in light of an increasingly volatile international environment (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, colleagues, the answer to strengthening our sovereignty and security is simple: more Europe, not more slogans. Last month we adopted here a clear agenda for concrete action, which I know you support. We must stop dressing up national reflexes as strategy. Fragmentation is an expensive weakness, you said it, Commissioner, but Member States are not even close to unders…

21

Jan

2026

EN Speech

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Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2025 (A10-0265/2025 - Thijs Reuten) (vote)

Madam President, after paragraph 19 we should like to include the following text: 'Supports all European initiatives in solidarity with Greenland and Denmark; welcomes Greenland's important decision to select Eutelsat, a European satellite operator, to provide its satellite internet coverage; and calls for the rapid development of the European space sector, which is essential for Europe's security…

20

Jan

2026

EN Speech

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CFSP and CSDP (Article 36 TEU) (joint debate)

Mr President, thank you very much, and thank you, colleagues, for the remarks and for the support. While recognising that this could be an architectural moment for Europe, the report, the CSDP report focuses on realistic avenues for short-term progress ‑ I mentioned them in my first intervention ‑ but we do need more. Operationalise Article 42(7) with European command and control, clear definition…

20

Jan

2026

EN Speech

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CFSP and CSDP (Article 36 TEU) (joint debate)

Madam President, dear High Representative, dear colleagues – and I hope the Council is also listening in – first off, I want to acknowledge the vital importance of the EU's CSDP missions and operations, with staff from the EU and non-EU countries often working under very challenging circumstances. But our common security and defence policy devised in Lisbon was a vision for so much more. The imper…

17

Dec

2025

EN Question

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Preparation of the European Council meeting of 18-19 December 2025, in particular the need to support Ukraine, transatlantic relations and the EU’s strategic autonomy (debate)

Mr President, Commission, Council, colleagues, we need a real sense of urgency and determination. For a long time, we in this House asked for bringing Russia's assets in place. So thank you, Commission, for the reparations loan proposal, and thanks to the Council for ending the ability of Russia's assets to block our sanctions against Russia's financial assets. This clears the way. But myths are s…

16

Dec

2025

EN Speech

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Establishing the Reparations Loan to Ukraine (vote)

Madam President, the EPP, S&D and Renew groups requested the application of Rule 170(6) of the Rules of Procedure to the Commission proposal for a regulation establishing a reparations loan for Ukraine. This proposal is an extraordinary and urgent response to Ukraine's severe financial needs resulting from Russia's war, and is intended to increase pressure on Russia to also want peace. Swift actio…

15

Dec

2025

EN Speech

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Incentivising defence-related investments in the EU budget to implement the ReArm Europe Plan (debate)

Madam President, colleagues, dear Commissioner, thanks, first of all, to rapporteur Kols and all other colleagues from all committees. This not-so-mini omnibus is a welcome step forward: bringing Ukraine into the European Defence Fund is a strategic win-win, giving Ukraine's defence industrial base access to funding and incentivising cooperation between European and Ukrainian industries. Opening E…

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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Implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (debate)

Madam President, thanks to all colleagues for the mostly constructive, supportive, encouraging remarks. And thanks to the Commissioner especially for his extra remark on SAFE, because – on defence, close continued cooperation and reinforcing our industrial base together – we need to deliver. I hope, with unleashing every possible creativity, we will still be able to make it. Thanks also to the sup…

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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Implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, 2025 has been a good year for relations between the EU and the UK. I would even dare to say that it has been the most positive year since the UK left the European Union, as it was a year marked by renewed energy and cooperation. After a period of coolness following Brexit, it is encouraging to see that reconnection is coming with this year's EU-…

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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EU response to the continuous airspace violations and sabotage of critical infrastructure in the EU originating from Russia and Belarus (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, every week we witness new incursions into EU airspace and fresh attempts to target us or sabotage our critical infrastructure on our territory, on our seabed. These are not accidents. They are part of a sustained hybrid campaign by Russia to intimidate our citizens, gather intelligence, destabilise our democracies and weaken our support for Ukraine. …

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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EU position on the proposed plan and EU engagement towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, Commission, Council, dear colleagues, Vladimir Putin has a long history of breaking agreements and using fake negotiations to delay and divide. Ukraine and Europe want peace. A fair and sustainable peace – not a peace that rewards the aggressor, delivers impunity, undermines European security, ignores past violations and emboldens future aggression. Unless one side is losing or a pow…