Speeches

Mr President, Commission, Council, dear colleagues, Europe is already under attack. And you, Commissioner, understand the need for bold ambition and courageous action, which the Parliament shares with you. Member States say they do as well, but I'm not sure, at least not about all of them – your Member State excluded. They have had their chance to get European defence right, but they squandered precious time and opportunity for the last 15 years. Despite programmes, funds, platforms to promote true European cooperation, Member States have proven unable to rise above narrow national interests. And this costs us military ability, precious money and desirable jobs. European security is a collective public good for all citizens. It should go hand in hand with resilient societies, with sound education, care and social fabric. No contradiction there. We need a truly European approach to defence that includes European financing, European planning, development, procurement and operational command. Let's get to work.

Madam President, colleagues, Council, Commission, Europe is at a critical juncture. You said it yourself, Minister. We are relevant now or never again to act or to be passive observers of the destruction of the rules-based order. I commend the Member States for their clear understanding that Ukraine and Europe's future requires peace through strength – strength for Ukraine to stand up against Putin and against Trump. The US is forcing Ukraine into an unacceptable surrender it could also achieve without their help. If the circumstances are unfavourable for Ukraine, for Europe, we will not accept it. We have to change these circumstances towards a just peace, or accept the ugly consequences. Now President von der Leyen said that the Parliament was right, asking for more military support all along. Translate understanding then into real united action now, and for all the Member States, President Costa – some a bit more than others – that means sending Ukraine the weapons it needs now. It's irritating – it's appalling even – that there are still warehouses where there's critical air defence that Ukraine needs now. Do what is necessary now for Ukraine, for Europe.

Mr President, thank you for your patience, and thank you, colleagues. On behalf of my group – and I hope many more – I would like to ask our President to convey our deepest concerns about yesterday's statements by President Trump and his government. We all want peace for Ukraine, but the terms and conditions emerging are bad for Ukraine, bad for Europe and bad for the rules-based order. Just good for Putin! The EU and other European allies are not part of the discussion. That is unacceptable and risky. An emergency Council meeting before the weekend should be on the table, ensuring a united message to our US friends that we are not going to do it like this. Not about Ukraine, without Ukraine; not about Europe, without Europe! (Applause)

President, Commission, Member States, colleagues, this Parliament shares the students' demands and hopes for the future of Serbia. The students and all the Serbs that support them want change, and change is badly needed. Autocratic tendencies in Serbia have only increased. But what are they asking? The students are not asking for dialogue on the rule of law, but for its implementation. And ironically, they are suffering precisely this lack of implementation and also convincing reforms. We need EU institutions to reflect on why years of European support have not led to real change. My input to the Commission and Member States: engage with the Serbian Government based on our stated democratic values, treat the Serbian Government based on its actions – verified, implemented reforms and public statements, not backdoor promises of regional stability and future reforms. And without all this, we should not congratulate dear Aleksandr, but be honest to the public. Words mean nothing when the underpinnings of democracy are being removed quietly.

Mr President, three years of a full‑scale invasion and Russian brutality, and what did we learn? Ukraine has already won. Ukraine will be an EU member and we will be stronger with them. And Europe is stronger and more resilient than many thought. Yes, we did a lot financially and militarily. But was it enough? Was it enough? No. We delivered too late and too little on crucial military support to protect Ukrainians and to defend Europe. Yes, to defend Europe! It is not over: promises of quick peace without leverage over Putin don't work. Peace through strength, not without Ukraine. About Ukraine is also about our strength, and also not about Europe without Europe. We can enable Ukraine militarily, curb the shadow fleet, reinforce sanctions and fight Putin's influence in Europe. Peace needs enforcement and solid security guarantees. As we honour the brave Ukrainians, the brave heroes of Ukraine, we should all ask ourselves how much Europe is worth to us as we know it. And this is how much we need to invest in Ukraine.

Madam President, Commissioner and colleagues, migrant smuggling is a ruthless business thriving on false promises. Smugglers lure migrants with guarantees of safe passage to Europe. But the reality is a nightmare. Vulnerable people are cramped into unsafe boats or left to suffocate in overcrowded trucks with criminals filling their pockets. We need to stop them. But just as relentless as the behaviour of the smugglers is the fearmongering by some colleagues in this House, doing their utmost to shift the blame on the migrants. Let me be clear: migrants are not criminals. The testimony of our colleague was very clear: among them are people fleeing war and persecution, falling into the hands of organised crime networks who treat them as cargo, being instrumentalised, used, tricked and manipulated. We have to stop dehumanisation by dismantling the smuggling networks and invest in a humane migration policy and in safe pathways.

Madam President, Council colleagues, I must say I was a bit disappointed with the Council conclusions in December, and it's nothing personal, dear Mr Costa – you are depending on 27 Member States. The Council conclusions on Ukraine 1 to 9: good. But which countries that so far have given little to nothing of their military stockpiles to Ukraine did you convince since? On enlargement, 'continued importance', 'their place is in the EU': great. But the question is, do we really want it? I don't see the commitment. Too much appeasement of destabilisers in south east Europe. Then Georgia: for 55 days, they are on the streets for their European future. And we come up with some diplomatic passport sanctions next week. It's a reflection of the dangerous waiting mode the Member States are in. We wait for 5 November, we wait for 20 January, and we hope. If you really want what you are saying, you need a more federal Europe with majority decision-making on foreign policy, on defence and much more. I wish you all the best.

Mr President, colleagues, Netanyahu never prioritised it, but hostages are being released again. He prioritised the destruction of Gaza, but the killing of Gazans has stopped for now. I'm glad there is a fragile ceasefire. But the only thing that changed since this deal was brokered eight months ago is finally putting enough pressure on Israel and Hamas to accept it. But it wasn't the EU. I wish I could credibly urge the Commission and Member States' governments to help turn this fragile ceasefire into durable peace through real pressure to watch truth, justice, reparations and a viable two‑state solution, but I can't, not credibly. I deeply, deeply hope I will be convinced of the contrary. But so far, European leaders, those holding the EU presidency no less, actively attack the rules‑based international order by undermining the position of the ICC. There cannot be durable peace without justice and accountability – accountability for all crimes committed by Hamas and Israel.

Madam President, dear colleagues, in the Western Balkans, our credibility and strategic interests are at stake. So support what we need more of, and no appeasement of autocrats and destabilizers like Vučić and Dodik – you would think. So do give North Macedonia clear guarantees that constitutional amendment will remove Bulgaria's objections and do not lead to new ones. Do not reward Serbia's backsliding on fundamentals, user spyware, destabilising non-alignment with CFSP. Do lift the sanctions against Kosovo and stop shifting the blame for dysfunctional dialogue to Pristina. And in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the opening of accession negotiations has not inspired more action, so there we need a change in tactics and engagement. One or two countries in the EU before twenty-nine is possible. So not another press point with enlargement 'blah blah' please. But mobilisation of political will for Europeans in the Western Balkans, for Europe.

Madam President, Commission, Council, we have to get the Member States out of their irresponsible waiting mode, perfectly reflected today by the Presidency, actually. President von der Leyen was right: Russia is weaker than we think. This is the moment to further bolster Ukraine. Supporting the energy network is great, but we need the Commission to push Member States to deliver the air defence that Ukraine needs now. Ukraine does not need more messages of unwavering support, but more of what works – ATACMS, MANPADS – to defend Ukrainians and our shared values and destiny. I don't believe in a turn of events in January magically leading to a fair, just and lasting peace, but even if you do, we need a strongly defended Ukraine and Europe. We fight for a world we want, not the world we have. This should be a defining moment for Europe. It is time to use the full strength of our tools to create the future we want, and to proactively make clear to our allies – including the United States – what we want and what we need from them, and to get out of the waiting mode.

Mr President, High Representative Kallas, welcome. Listening to the whole debate, I must say one thing: I am disgusted by the way some people here talk about people. It is dehumanising. I want to have it noted that from the far right the word deportations has been used several times, and I do not want to normalise that. We will only get one chance to get this right. The fall of the Assad regime is not a guarantee for stability, in particular because Türkiye and Israel are vigorously pushing their own agendas. So, how to convert this situation into an opportunity? Adding to the useful ideas that have been raised by my colleagues, I want to say to the High Representative to consider investing in our very diverse and knowledgeable Syrian communities in our societies. They are very knowledgeable and they can be of help. Also promote and support initiatives to transitional justice, offer direct and indirect peacebuilding and dialogue, and work on the protection of minorities, in particular the Kurds in the north.

Madam President, I would like to move an oral amendment as a new separate paragraph between paragraph 16 and 17 because of new developments yesterday. The oral amendment is as follows: '...regrets the decision of the Slovak Prime Minister to accept the official invitation of the Russian President to participate in the commemoration of Victory Day in Moscow next year'.

Madam President, Council, Commission, some are apparently under the impression that Russia's war of aggression will end soon, and they act accordingly, going to completely irresponsible waiting mode: wrong and a gift for Putin. Nothing has changed really, since the US elections in terms of what we have to do for Ukraine and for ourselves. Nevertheless, we see a completely absent sense of urgency in most capitals. And I also note here a striking difference between the Commission and the Council: not surprising, because the government that you represent blocks crucial funding at this moment for Ukraine. What has changed is that North Korea sent soldiers and weapons to the front, and that Yemenis are being brought to Russia under false pretext. And, as is often the case, the prospect of negotiations is intensifying the battle, Russian gains and countless deliberate criminal attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure. Why are we letting this happen? Apart from the Baltic countries and two or three others, nothing extra is happening at this critical moment. Some of our Member States – and you all know which ones – only did a fraction of what others did. Some still have modern air defence and MANPADS needed in Ukraine. What are they thinking? Smartly saving some money? I don't want to find out what price Ukraine and Europe will pay for this inaction. We must ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself and using it without restrictions, do more instead of less and give Ukraine the strongest possible position on the battlefield and at any table, and deliver more aid in view of the winter that is coming. Europe must step up and ensure crucial conditions: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine; peace must be fair, just and lasting based on Ukraine's peace formula and international law. And we need solid security guarantees for Ukraine first with NATO membership on the table.

Mr President, let me start with the strongest possible condemnation of the violence in Amsterdam last week. Nothing at all justifies the organized chase of Maccabi fans or other Israeli visitors. What animates these people? But also the intimidation of Amsterdammers, the removal of Palestinian flags, mistreatment of a taxi driver and hateful racist chants are unacceptable. What inspires these hooligans to visit Amsterdam? Those guilty of violence, anti-Semitism, hate speech or threats should be prosecuted and punished. Everybody. With this kind of intense polarization, politicians need to build bridges and not throw oil on the fire. Mayor Halsema and the Amsterdam police deserve support. The breeding ground for all forms of hatred and discrimination must be removed. But how? You don't fight anti-Semitism with Islamophobia or by addressing people as a group in their background. This is done by clearly anti-Muslim rhetoric from right-wing and far-right politicians in the Netherlands. That's not how it should be, I tell them. Living together and seeing each other first and foremost as individuals does not work if conditions are imposed on your citizenship in every incident. To label any criticism of Israel and anger at Gaza and the Middle East as anti-Semitism actually promotes polarization and hatred and does not work. It increases tensions and doesn't make anyone safer. My fight against anti-Semitism – our fight against anti-Semitism – coexists with my deep aversion to Netanyahu’s misconduct. There is no contradiction between them. We must de-escalate, counter anti-Semitism and discrimination with every fibre in our bodies, but not make the mistake of thinking that we can fight hate with hate. We must forge a coalition of people of good will, take courage from what went wrong to do better tomorrow and keep our hearts soft, in the Netherlands, everywhere.

Mr President, Commissioner, in recent months oil tanker Giant unhindered along the European coasts, with seven hundred thousand barrels of oil on board. An old rusted tanker, full of Russian oil. The risk of a massive environmental catastrophe is high, while Putin's oil continues to flow, funding his war of aggression. Despite everything that has happened, the urgency to really paralyze Russia is lacking. Where are the measures to remove these ships from the sea, if they call at our ports for supplies and cause danger? Putin built his shadow fleet before the sanctions and the oil price cap, and now hundreds of tankers are sailing. Some Member States are chaining up ships for a trifle. Why can't we do that in the face of Putin's catastrophes? Update lists of photos every day. Maintain on disabled signalling, on repainting and on re-pumping. Let them complain when we get them off the sea. We must outsmart Putin, protect our seas and do everything we can to support Ukraine.

Madam President, Commission colleagues, in China's prison camps, about 1 million Uyghurs are currently detained, many without trial, among them Ilham Tohti, the 2019 Sakharov Prize laureate, imprisoned for his peaceful advocacy for Uyghur rights. The Chinese regime deems his freedom of speech – simply asking for basic rights – to be separatism, resulting in a life sentence. Uyghur families often face sudden disappearance of loved ones, with detainees forced to abandon their identities in a process that the Chinese authorities call 're-education'. Even Uyghurs in the EU face repression of Beijing's long arm, extreme intimidation, threats to family members there when you speak out here. This transnational repression within the case of China, even police stations throughout Europe, must end. It's our duty to protect our citizens. Stop the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and the human rights violations by the Chinese authorities and protect our citizens here.

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, arguably, nowhere in Europe you see more Ukrainian flags than in Tbilisi. The people of Georgia stand in solidarity with Ukraine in their courageous fight against Russian aggression. A struggle the Georgians understand all too well. Yet, Georgia is torn. There is a government moving away from the EU path, implementing laws that counter European democratic values and fundamental rights, such as LGBTQI rights. And we have the Georgian people, civil society, clearly and passionately advocating for Georgia's EU future. I think the Commission and Council too long, in the spring, continued with expressing concern. But I appreciate your clear statement today on the need to restore credibility. So please keep supporting the young generation and civil society in Georgia.

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, the future of the Republic of Moldova is in the European Union. That much is certain. Will it be easy? No. And the interesting thing is that Moldovans know better than anyone else what difficult task was and still is ahead of them. But they want it. They know what is at stake. This is a country where we can really make a difference, despite the threats, despite the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and Russia's attempts to destabilise Moldova. Moldova is working tirelessly on the reforms, while at the same time fencing off Russian disinformation amidst Putin's war of aggression – and Putin is also trying to keep Moldova weak and unstable. With the Russian influence pressing down on Moldova's neck, it is far from easy to move forward. That is precisely why we must reinforce Moldova's resilience and intensify our support. This involves extending the CSDP mission beyond 25 May and boosting measures to strengthen Moldova's institutions and security forces and it also means integrating Moldova more closely into European security and defence initiatives, ensuring that it stands strong against external pressure. And despite the challenges, Moldova continues to make impressive progress towards EU accession. Their belief in the idea of Europe is strong and what I admire most about Moldovans is that they don't try to brush up their track records. They are honest about what is not completed yet or what requires more time. They are improving the rule of law, advancing judicial reform and combating corruption. They are proving their commitment to their European future. And to accelerate that, we call for a dedicated financial instrument and for more funding to accompany the accession. Moldova's future in the European Union is in our common interest. It will be key to the stability of our continent having Moldova in our family. Let us do this together with Moldova and build a stronger, united Europe. And thanks to the colleagues for working on this resolution.

Madam President, Commission, colleagues, we have seen a year of innocent people being murdered, missile attacks, dehumanisation with all the consequences in Gaza and now Lebanon. Despicable. All of it. I want to thank Mr Borrell for standing up for human rights and international law despite his difficult position, and I call on the Member States to finally agree on something – something relevant in the route to peace. Because yes, I am also angry about many things, as many of us. But what can we do to support the soft forces to stop this impunity, to find common ground again in humanity and the right to be free and safe? If people in the entire region – mothers, fathers, who lost family members and friends, sometimes generation after generation – still hold on to the possibility of peace, to sit down to negotiate, then we cannot, we must not, give up. We need a regional ceasefire and a credible restart of the peace process.

Mr President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, imagine a friend, a family member, a loved one held captive on trumped up charges in a dictatorial regime, in this case, the relentless and extremely repressive regime of dictator Lukashenka. Lukashenka violates the very basic human rights of political prisoners. They suffer torture and lack of medical treatment, but many of them are also held incommunicado for up to two years now. We don't know how their health is, where they are. It is pure terror, intended to intimidate and to pressure an entire society and to scare every dissenting voice. It is the harsh reality for many families of Belarusian political prisoners. Putin's lapdog is a coward and he is afraid. Despite their suffering, they remain courageous, hopeful and unbroken, and their courage encourages us to keep raising our voice on their behalf. We stand with them. We stand with the United Democratic Opposition of Belarus, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, with Mikalai Statkevich, with my friend Ales Bialiatski, the Nobel Prize winner. We stand with brave activists like Ivan Murauyou, and we stand with Andrei Hnyot, a Belarusian journalist and activist currently imprisoned in Serbia and the most recent example of Lukashenka's and other autocrats' abuse of arrest warrants to capture political prisoners, political opponents and get them extradited. We must further isolate Lukashenka's regime, mirror the sanctions on Belarus, and keep working in support of the free people of Belarus. I want to thank my colleagues for the good cooperation on this once again strong and united call for freedom for Belarus, and first and foremost, a call to free the many political prisoners now. Zhyve Belarus!

Mr President, thanks to the authors and all the colleagues that support this important call. We need, as a minimum, to fight to protect those women who are in direct danger. And I want to stress one point in particular, related to the former EU employees in direct danger: some are already dead. There is a limited list of less than 20 remaining people and their direct family who worked for the EUPOL mission – and they are in danger. I know the High Representative has tried to put this issue on the agenda of the foreign ministers many times. I call on the Member States to sit together and to solve this shameful shortcoming. They are counting on us as an employer.

Dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, we know what we have to do, but we're not doing it. And that's strange, because this is about defending Ukraine and about our own security and values. When Ukraine asked for tanks, we knew we had to give them. We were going to give them, but we waited. We discussed. And with the ATACMS, the same. And today we know, we must, we will allow Ukraine to strike back against the positions in Russia from where it's being attacked. But we decide to discuss a bit longer. We know what we have to do, but we are not doing it. Too many Member State governments are too busy with national political power games instead of trying to build and enhance the support – first to make sure Ukraine will be free in its entirety, and second because it's in our own interest. Our security and the vision of Europe for over 70 years is at risk. Let Ukraine strike back, and force the sanctions and go after Russia's allies. Give Ukraine what it needs to win. Slava Ukraini!

Madam President, thanks to all colleagues from the political groups who tabled this text. We ended this term with a clear call on Member States’ governments for more air defence systems. We see almost every day why these are necessary. But still, many Member States have systems in storage that can be delivered, should be delivered, to protect Ukrainians, to protect also our collective European security. I am glad this legislature starts off with reaffirming our strong support for Ukraine. We will continue to push Member States to take their responsibility, finally and swiftly delivering to Ukraine everything it needs to win. Ukraine is Europe and the free people of Ukraine will make our union of values stronger.

Mr President, let me first thank colleagues Bütikofer and Santos for their indispensable work on fighting for human rights. Civil rights in Hong Kong are by now fully curbed, and the reinforced security law made it even more chilling. But how did we get here? The PRC imposed security legislation, formalising already existing pressure on Hong Kong, in clear breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The UK, nobody ever really attached effective consequences to this breach. And we know how autocrats perceive this: ‘Oh, we can go ahead!’ Free media silenced, Jimmy Lai in prison, Andy Li and Joseph John arrested and tortured, democracy defenders fleeing the country without saying goodbye to family – and even then, they are not safe from Beijing’s long arm. We demand restrictive measures against John Lee and all PRC officials responsible for the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, up to the highest level, in defence of Hong Kong’s civil rights and of international law.