Speeches

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade and then abortion promoters had the same narrative as today: ‘My body, my choice.’ That same year, my mother was to give birth to my sister, but it was only at birth that she learned that she was carrying twins, so I had two sisters. My dad was a doctor. Mom had the best medical care, but then they couldn't even diagnose the twins. In contrast, today we know all the details about the baby in each week of pregnancy. We know that the heart of a child begins to beat in the twentieth day. Science has made great progress, and you, abortion promoters, still have the same narrative and that's why you can't win this fight because you ignore science. So, give already once align your attitudes with science and with biological facts.

Dear Chairman, dear colleagues, we really need renewable energy sources because they are better for both humans and the environment. But we will not achieve this with a dogmatic approach, coercion and prohibitions. So who and how will take care of all internal combustion cars if we ban them. Where do we get the raw materials for new battery cars? What about wasted and faulty batteries? I am looking forward to the development of electric cars, but I am interested in how long its durability will really be, with the number of charges falling the capacity of batteries, and the new one costs as much as half a vehicle. How many people can afford all this? Besides, where did we get all that electricity for all those electric cars? Thermal power plants? The green transition is like driving a car. The fastest ride is not the best because you can fall out of a corner, and that could happen to us. If you're going to force it, we could do more harm than good. So the changes are good and necessary, but we need to implement them at real speed.

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, Albania is committed to meeting the official requirements and has my full support in doing so. However, I would like to note one thing that is extremely important for all candidate countries, which is the phenomenon that in addition to the existing requirements that they must meet, some European lobbies present their philosophical goals as official requirements, and this is unacceptable. I will also give a clear example. The legalisation of same-sex marriage is not and cannot be a condition for entry into the European Union. It is unacceptable that these lobbies abuse the difficult position of candidate countries, create painful pressures and thus slow down those reforms that are really needed. Individual states may have individual requests on you Albanians. For example, Croatia may ask you to solve a major problem of plastic pollution in the Adriatic Sea. But no country can ask you for something that is not in the European Union's jurisdiction. That is why I invite you to contact us, Members of the European Parliament, immediately if some European lobby is putting such illegal pressure on you because we want a realistic and fair path for Albania towards membership of the European Union.

Dear Chairman, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, most of the communist elite structure remained in their positions - they are still professors in journalism studies or judges in supreme and constitutional courts. Before 1990, communist politics had harshly placed them in these positions, and today they are protected by the autonomy of universities, the autonomy of the judiciary and the autonomy of the media in which they have a large share of ownership. And of course, they choose the people who will inherit them. The only countries that have at least to some extent managed to stop this vicious circle and undermine this permanent influence of the Communists on society are Poland and Hungary. Thus, these countries have not undermined the rule of law, but have established plurality. Your accusations are inconsistent and not fair. You don't mind, for example, that Macron threatens the independence of the judiciary in France, and you accuse Poland of less. You don't mind when the Mayor of Zagreb bans the flags of the March for Life and allows only LGBT flags and you accuse Hungary and Poland of lack of plurality! Allow Hungary and Poland to live a different worldview than yours and remember that the European Union was born on the idea of cooperation in diversity!

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, with concrete help for Ukraine to defend itself against the aggressor, we need to adopt clear measures to protect the European economy from the adverse effects of the war. In energy and some other branches, we have already started, but tourism as a branch suffers directly since tourist activities are not essential for life, so in the crisis, the tourism sector is the fastest experiencing a decline in consumption. I come from Croatia, a country where tourism is an extremely important part of the economy and has a significant share of GDP. I consider it important that, in addition to national governments, the European Commission also actively encourages citizens to rest in the EU member states and helps provide additional transport lines for tourists from the rest of the world to come to Europe. The world is slowly entering a recession, war is further contributing to insecurity, and we cannot allow the tourism sector to cope with it alone.

–The Honourable Chair, it is true that Mr Verhofstadt said that this proposal would not abolish the national lists. However, he did not say the fact that this would weaken the national lists. To date, 100% of MEPs have been elected from national lists, and now this percentage will decrease as a certain percentage of MEPs will be elected from transnational lists. So simply saying that the national lists won't lose anything is simply logically mathematically incorrect, and don't say it. Another thing, rhetoric clearly shows that some European standards are imposed, let's say that people under the age of 18 can vote, from 16 onwards, which is not an initiative of the European Union. And thirdly, when we talk about what is good for democracy, it is good that the voter knows who he is voting for, and I in Croatia can responsibly say that people do not know those people who will lead these lists, and that is why we simply, if what is democratic is to vote for the national lists.

So, you spoke about honesty and I would like to ask you how you comment on your German Government and the fact that Nord Stream 1 is still open – concerning your relation to Russia. And from your Group, at the beginning of this year, it was mentioned that Poland and Russia are very connected – like the Polish Government and Putin are very connected. Do you still, today, think they are so connected with a partnership and that your government is not connected to Putin?

There are indeed political forces in the European Union that do not respect the freedom of others to be different, forcing the media to be uniform, leaning towards totalitarianism and wanting to impose their political profile on everyone. Do you think I described Poland and Hungary? No, I've described the Commission and some of you, dear colleagues! The Commission does not respect the freedom of some to be different, in this case Poland and Hungary. The Commission wants to impose its worldview on everyone. Poles and Hungarians, like all of us, were politely silent when your MPs talked about equal pay, and many of you shouted and interrupted a woman with whom they disagreed. So who is against democracy, against plurality, against freedom? Poles and Hungarians? No, no. Look at yourself in the mirror! We need community today. Ukraine is burning. Poland and Hungary are hosting millions of refugees and the Commission is destabilising the Union by confronting governments that are unwilling to do so. Let us remember that the European Union was built on unity and respect for differences and freedoms. And it is only on these grounds that it can progress!

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, I support this report, but the European Union can do much more. 40% of Europe's energy is spent on housing, and it is today when new houses are built that people install gas boilers simply because they are cheaper, for example, than heat pumps. Once they install gas boilers, they will not discard this investment in five years' time, but will consume gas for many years, and since they will consume gas, they will pay less for the installation of solar panels. And so we are creating new gas producers today that we don't have. This is why it is not good for the European Union to invest only in renovation, as it has done so far, but we must provide subsidies for smarter solutions at the time of new construction. In this way, we will help people reduce overheads, help every family to have a warm and cozy home, reduce greenhouse gases and reduce our energy dependence on Russia. So let's be smart and change Europe's energy policy for the better!

I condemn all foreign interference by third States, but also interference by one Member State in the democratic processes of another Member State. But as often happens in this home, the positive cover of a report is overshadowed by some side agenda that is bad and makes the report unacceptable. So this report wants to put religious communities under control and control, and all non-LGBT reflections agendas equates this report with the spread of disinformation or even hate speech. This intention strikes at the very foundations of democracy - freedom of speech and expression. Religious communities are not foreign factors. They are communities of believers, of citizens, and the Christian worldview is legal and should be acceptable in every society, and especially in the European Union, which was created on the basis of European, on the basis of Christian values. I ask you to accept this and not deny us fundamental rights and freedoms.

Dear Chairman, mass rallies were held in Serbia in support of Putin and Russia's imperialist ambitions. Of these events in Serbia, we must not turn our heads. Serbia is not a nuclear power, but by justifying Russian aggression, it can promote aggressive policies that it itself implemented thirty years ago. It could thus cause instability in the already vulnerable space of its environment. Serbia is a candidate for membership in the European Union. If he wants to continue to do so, he must clearly distance himself from Russia's invasion and Putin's fears. This policy takes hundreds and thousands of lives every day in Ukraine and threatens the nuclear devastation of the world. Every candidate for membership in the European Union, including Serbia, must stand on the side of peace, justice and the right of every people to freedom and self-determination. And the European Union must seek to uphold these values of peace and freedom from all candidate countries.

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, this report is contradictory. It calls, on the one hand, for the space for civil society to be expanded and, on the other hand, for the same space to be narrowed, defining the value framework within which civil society should develop. This framework imposed by this report, and in particular the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs, is very clear. He emphasizes LGBT and similar associations as well as associations to help illegal migrants. Poland and Hungary are criticized, and not all other countries are mentioned where associations promoting Christian values are completely discriminated against, which do not receive any money from national governments. On the other hand, we have associations on the left side of the political spectrum that do not receive almost any money from citizens, but that is why they receive huge money from national governments and European institutions. And that money makes up the vast majority of their budget. What kind of non-governmental organizations do governments charge the bulk of their budgets to? Civil society in the European Union looks very bad. In fact, they are no longer civil society organizations, but institutes that promote the ideas of politicians who fund them. You cannot determine the profile of civil society from the political level. This profile needs to be determined by the citizens themselves. That's why it's called civil society. So, let civil society develop freely and be plural, consistent and just!

Dear Chairman, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, according to the recent census, Croatia has lost 400,000 or 10% of its population in the past 10 years. Most of them moved to Germany, Ireland and other Western countries. They are mostly professional and highly educated people. So, when we look at how the overall European policy, including cohesion policy, affects Croatia, the situation is clear that Croatia is investing in the education of these people, and these people are contributing to the economic development of other countries. Growing economic disparities between poorer and richer countries will certainly not contribute to cohesion. Exactly the opposite. That is why the conclusion is very clear: The European Union needs to take a realistic view of the situation and provide better and more effective instruments to support the development of poorer countries and to catch up with the developed ones.

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, it is good that the European Union protects original products and thus prevents some new products from benefiting from an old, original, genuine indigenous product. Usually these new products try to be as similar as possible to the original product in order to mislead people as easily as possible, as Mrs. Bizzotto said. Now let's look at the arguments. Prošek, therefore not ‘prošek’ but ‘prošek’, is a wine which, as Mr Flego said, is mentioned not only in 1840, but even in the book ‘Path to Dalmatia’, published in 1774. So, 248 years ago. So it's not about a new product that would like to benefit from the name prosecco. In addition, as we have already heard, prosecco is a sparkling wine, light wine. Prošek is a dessert wine, sweet wine. So, completely two different products. Prošek is produced in only 200 hectolitres per year, sold almost exclusively locally. Therefore, these are facts that simply give Prošek all the rights to be recognized, to be protected, as well as all other autochthonous products.

Dear Chairman, nomen est omen. In the name of this point, you have stated your main objective: One youth, one Europe, I would add - one society, one European superstate. I have heard a lot of good suggestions today, but it bothers me that you are using young people to promote this unitarism, this European superstate in which there is no longer unity in diversity, in which everyone should accept one of your European worldviews. How far you are willing to go is shown by the judgment of today's European Court in which not only Poland and Hungary are condemned, but everyone who thinks differently, especially those who promote Christian values. But if the young people hate something, it's a uniform. Every young person feels special, feels original and does not want to be part of some amorphous mass. So, if we want to make a successful youth policy, let's respect their originality, respect the differences.

–The Honourable Chair, the Honourable Colleagues, when your child or close family member gets cancer, you would do anything to cure it. That is why it is very good that the European Parliament stands in solidarity with so many such destinies and that we fight cancer together. This is especially important for my country because, unfortunately, Croatia is at the forefront in terms of the number of cancer deaths in Europe! Since the European Commission, together with a large number of Members of this Parliament, behaved during the pandemic as a sales representative of vaccine manufacturers, I think that now, in the future, these sales skills should be used to promote the importance of early detection of cancer. Namely, a lot of people postponed their examinations and early diagnostic procedures due to COVID measures and that is why we now need to make an extra effort and a lot of money for preventive systematic examinations in order to detect malignant diseases as early as possible.

Ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament should, as a matter of urgency, adopt a decision on the accession of the European Union to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Convention, which is a very important international fisheries organisation. However, for this report there was no place on the agenda of this plenum, and for the promotion of abortion, there is always room, on every plenum, right? And now I could explain that the genetic structure of the fetus is significantly different from the genetic structure of the mother, that it is a completely different organism, in 50% of cases of a different sex and you will not want to listen to it, you will talk about it, you will repeat your narrative, that it is one organism. You're right about that, too. But this debate in the European Parliament is completely meaningless. If you want to discuss this, stand as a candidate for national parliaments, as this competence belongs to national parliaments. Speaking of these topics, there is much we can do together to, say, help women better reconcile their private, family and professional lives. Let's make society fairer together, let's protect those women who get fired when they get married or when they get pregnant. So let's deal with these topics, this work, this agenda that we have in common and in which we can be effective. So, do not burden the European Parliament with imposing your worldviews. This is neither the purpose nor the meaning of the European Parliament.

Dear Chairman, Honourable Ladies and Gentlemen, organised crime is flourishing in chaos, and state institutions in the so-called Western Balkans have not strengthened enough to prevent it. Crime grew during the chaos of the war, and continues to grow today, when irregular migration is a fuel for organised crime. human trafficking, organ trafficking, terrorist activities, strengthening the chain of prostitution and slavery; these are all unintended consequences of the migration verse, and this verse is largely due to irresponsible statements by European politicians about the welcome of illegal migrants. I support the measures against organised crime in this report, and in particular the call for enhanced protection of the external borders of the European Union, as this is support for the important and responsible work done by the Croatian Border Police. Anyone who criticizes Croatia for defending its border and the external border of the European Union should bear in mind that this at least somewhat prevents criminal chains from intensifying their activities on the territory of the European Union.

On 6 October, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, two months ago, issued an opinion on the Istanbul Convention, according to which the European Union should respect the principle of subsidiarity and the right of the Member States to decide on the matter themselves. This report, contrary to the decision of the Court of Justice, prompts the Council to take that decision, thus disregarding the Court’s decision and undermining the rule of law. Violence begins when women are viewed exclusively as objects of sexual lust, and much of the political spectrum promotes sexual lust, while true, lasting and faithful love, such as marital love, is muddy and devalued. Such a culture generates sexual violence, and now in response to this violence, the same ideologues offer to deepen this ultraliberal culture through the Istanbul Convention and gender ideology that directly strike human dignity and identity. That's not a good path. Let us turn to the promotion of the human dignity of every woman - only in this way can we reduce violence.

The Honourable Chair, Honourable colleagues, when I listen to colleagues from the Greens, it seems as if the Member States and agricultural organizations are naughty guys who make a mess, who do not know what is good for agriculture, who do not know what is good for sustainability in agriculture and who, as I say, cut the branch on which they sit. And you Green colleagues from the European Parliament seem to know exactly what is best for them and agricultural production. Well, I don't think so. So, they are people who rise early every morning and lie down late and know what is good for agricultural production and agricultural sustainability. And I support this proposal precisely because it has listened sufficiently to the farmer, which has sufficiently supported small producers. And one more thing I'll point out, and that's demography. More children are born in the village than in the city. How much cheaper housing is in the countryside than in the city. And of course, children born in the countryside will more easily opt for entrepreneurship in agriculture than children born in the city. So, in addition to looking for a balance between environmental protection and competitiveness in the Common Agricultural Policy, we certainly need to think about people, who are key to the sustainability of agriculture, and this sustainability is more important than the sustainability of any other production, because agriculture is the only activity that has always existed and will always exist because we will always need food. People are the first and most important precondition of agricultural production, so the preservation and rejuvenation of the village must be both a Croatian and a European priority.

Dear Chairman, Dear colleagues, as colleague Weimers said, we are almost daily shocked by news of the murders and persecutions of people because of their faith, even from countries that have quite strong economic and political relations with the European Union. Faith significantly and crucially shapes the identity of many people, and the right to freely profess religion is one of the basic postulates of human rights, among the greatest civilizational achievements of the European continent. It took the European Commission two years to appoint a person to the vacant post of Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Religious Belief, and the Commission did so this summer. But the appointed official left the post at the end of the summer to take up another post, and the post has now been vacant for several months. We must not break our own standards of democracy and pluralism and turn our heads away from people who are persecuted and discriminated against because of their religious affiliation. I therefore call on the Commission to appoint a Special Envoy for Religious Freedom as soon as possible.

Dear Chairman, Dear colleagues, the treatment of the sick is the most humane thing we can do and that is why it is good to support the development of pharmacy. But the pharmaceutical industry is also one of the most profitable businesses in the world. What is our main goal - is it health or is it money? If it is health, then we will acknowledge the fact that the vaccinated are also transmitting the COVID virus, and we will test both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, if we want to reduce the transmission of the virus. Of course, the vaccine has its effect, but not as they said a year ago when they said that the vaccine would stop the pandemic only if we needed to have 70% of vaccinated people, and today we see a large number of newly infected people right in countries that have very many vaccinated people. We need to look at these facts and redefine the strategy, not just to put pressure on citizens. If health is the goal, then we need to invest a lot of energy and a lot of money in the development of drugs, and unfortunately there is no word on this in this report. If the goal is money, then we can pretend that we have not found out anything in the past year. We can impose meaningless COVID certificates and we can force mandatory treatment. What will we decide: for reality and efficiency in the fight against COVID or for ignoring facts, suppressing human freedoms and for conflicts?

–The Honourable Chair, the Honourable colleagues, said a year ago that vaccinated people cannot transmit the COVID virus and cannot have more severe forms of disease, but today it is evident that they can. All statistics from European media agencies confirm this. I don't want to tell anyone here whether to get vaccinated or not. I just want us to look at all the facts related to the benefits of vaccination and to look together for forms of fighting the pandemic on the basis of the facts, and not for vaccination to be dogmatically glorified and therefore put pressure on people and blackmailed. The decision to vaccinate should be a truly free decision of every man. I have already repeatedly urged the Commission to invest much more money and resources in COVID treatment, and I am doing so again. We don't really have to fight about vaccinations and divide people. Let the person who wants it be vaccinated, and we all certainly want to strengthen natural immunity and significantly improve the treatment of the sick. We really need to fight this pandemic together.

Dear Chairman, Dear colleagues, I certainly support any dissemination of knowledge, student mobility and recognition of diplomas. But I also want to say that education, in addition to this informative character, means not only the transfer of knowledge, but also its formative character that shapes young people and their values and their identity. We have often witnessed attempts by some political forces from the left to impose their worldview on other states and all children and all young people. In doing so, they do not respect the right of the people to their system of values and the right of parents to decide on the upbringing of their children. The value system is extremely important for the construction of young people, and these values are also linked to better educational outcomes. Therefore, let's respect plurality, spread knowledge and help young people develop their values to develop into mature and constructive and happy people. Thank you very much.

–The Honourable Chair, the Honourable Colleagues, the countries of the so-called Western Balkans were expecting concrete dates and were only given a pat on their shoulders. We must not allow the European perspective of the so-called Western Balkans to become a cheap floskula that is only repeated at summits. We have to be concrete. On the other hand, we must not introduce Serbia into the European Union just to move it away from Russian influence, or Bosnia and Herzegovina to move it away from Turkish influence. Of course, the European Union must not allow itself stronger Russian, Chinese or Turkish influence in its own backyard, but all Western Balkan countries need to make the necessary reforms and not hope to enter the European Union through geopolitical blackmail. I am glad that the Brdo Declaration emphasizes the resolution of bilateral relations, including relations with the Member States of the Union, because we know that there are a number of open issues that Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina avoid resolving with Croatia. I think primarily of the equality of Croats as a constituent people and the change of the electoral law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the resolution of the war legacy and the issue of the rights of the Croatian national minority in the Republic of Serbia. Croatia has done its part, and now we expect others to do so in the spirit of reciprocity.