What Michael spoke about.

13

Sep

2022

EN Speech

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Question Time (VPC/HR) The state of play of the war in Ukraine

Thank you very much. Fortunately, all of us, or most of us here, in the House agree that it is Ukraine that must win the war and not the fascist regime in Moscow. Now, at short notice, we do need, of course, to sustain the supply of weapons from the West. And we see there are deliveries, especially also from the United States and Britain. If it had been only the Europeans, it wouldn’t have been en…

5

Jul

2022

DE Speech

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2021 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Mr President! I will inform the rapporteur Paulo Rangel that the debate here has taken the expected course. And that means, I think, that we, as a large majority here in plenary, support the approach that Commissioner Lenarčič has also expressed here, namely that there is still some work to be done on the part of those responsible in Bosnia-Herzegovina before they obtain this candidate status. It …

5

Jul

2022

EN Speech

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2021 Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Mr President, Bosnia and Herzegovina is at a crossroads in its European path. After a year of political deadlocks and secessionist movements, the political agreement reached in Brussels on 12 June and the most recent Council conclusions are strong signs of the EU’s commitment to the European and Euro-Atlantic future of the country. The European Council has declared its readiness to grant candidate…

7

Jun

2022

DE Speech

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The EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Indeed, we have every reason to adapt our foreign, security and defence policy to the needs of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, which is contrary to international law. On closer inspection, I discover with horror many elements of a veritable fascist war of extermination. The US is thankfully ready to engage extensively at the moment, but we as Euro…

4

May

2022

EN Speech

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Threats to stability, security and democracy in Western and Sahelian Africa (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, well, yes, this is a timely debate, but for quite a while now, I would say. Your description, your analysis, I have nothing to criticise about, it’s correct – but timely, as I said. I have been here for quite a while in this Parliament, dealing also with development issues. I recall, for instance, a 2011 Sahel strategy that was written by the Commission. So we h…

4

May

2022

DE Speech

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Discharge 2020 (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear Klaus-Heiner Lehne, dear Commissioner! For an external one minute, keywords: If there is an increased work performance of the EEAS, this must also be accompanied by a corresponding increase in staff and at the same time gender equality and geographical distribution must be ensured. We expressly welcome the Court’s special report on disinformation and its…

4

May

2022

DE Speech

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The social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine - reinforcing the EU’s capacity to act (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. If you help quickly, you help twice. That is why the European Parliament's timetable for imposing sanctions is more ambitious than that of the Council. I very much welcome what the President of the Commission has presented today as the sixth package. But in Parliament's view, the oil embargo should also come now. The Commission should not be exhausted in the rol…

6

Apr

2022

DE Speech

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Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022: including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation (debate)

Madam President, Mrs von der Leyen, High Representative! Thank you for your upcoming visit to Kiev, this is an important signal. And I beg you to take a look at the places of war crimes! Everybody's talking about Butsha. In Motyzhyn, mayor Olga Suchko was kidnapped with her husband and son on March 23, and they were killed because they did not want to cooperate with the occupying power. We now kno…

23

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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Debriefing of the European Council meeting in Paris on 10 March 2022 - Preparation of the European Council meeting 24-25 March 2022 (debate)

Madam President, when I listen to certain Member States’ governments who are speculating about possible oil and gas shortages for the next winter season, I really wonder how long they think and foresee that this war should last. I think we should take now all available measures to shorten this war, and that can only be done by applying now all possible sanctions on the war criminal in the Kremlin …

9

Mar

2022

DE Speech

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Debate with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas - The EU's role in a changing world and the security situation of Europe following the Russian aggression and invasion of Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, With many colleagues, I have spoken out against Nord Stream 2 for years – since 2015. Today is the broad consensus, and we see: In reality, it was not only about weakening and bypassing Ukraine, but also about having a free field of fire, because you have a replacement for a pipeline that was shot down in the war – at least Putin believed. I have also long advocated arms deliverie…

8

Mar

2022

EN Speech

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The situation in Bosnia Herzegovina (debate)

Mr President, I welcome the positioning of Bosnia Herzegovina with regard to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine, and I do that also as a standing rapporteur on Ukraine. I think it is no surprise, however, that Milorad Dodik takes an opposite position. But we all know that Russia cannot deliver anything positive abroad, neither to Ukraine nor to Bosnia Herzegovina, or elsewhere. So I s…

1

Mar

2022

DE Speech

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Russian aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Shanovni ukrajinski drusi, slawa Ukrajini! What is happening here before our eyes is real-time war in Europe, is immeasurable suffering of innocent people, is the biggest catastrophe for Ukraine since the German invasion in 1941 and is the fault and exclusive responsibility of a cynical, constantly lying and inhumane Russian dictator who wants to end the existen…

16

Feb

2022

EN Speech

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EU-Russia relations, European security and Russia’s military threat against Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, over an eight-year period, the world has witnessed a systematic, multifaceted Russian policy of invading, destabilising and demonising Ukraine. The reason is not that Ukraine was a military threat to Russia or that Russian speakers were discriminated against. Such claims are wrong. Nor should we buy the argument that NATO membership was such a threat. We know it is not our weapons, b…

15

Feb

2022

DE Speech

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Implementation of the common foreign and security policy – annual report 2021 - Implementation of the common security and defence policy – annual report 2021 (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. We see the potential of the Lisbon Treaty in the area of the common foreign, security and defence policy. We are experiencing the reality of this world and the challenges we face. And before we hopefully act together, we hopefully share a threat analysis as foreseen in the strategic compass. Because if we were not on the road together in the perception and asses…

14

Dec

2021

DE Speech

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Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (debate)

Mr President! The report on cooperation in the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans highlights existing problems in this area, but also highlights achievements in the fight against organised crime. Fighting organised crime there is also a high priority for us in the EU, as we are very closely intertwined with the region. The structures there affect us in the EU. However, it is prim…

14

Dec

2021

DE Speech

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Situation at the Ukrainian border and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. Mr High Representative, I am grateful for your comments and would like to stress the seriousness of the situation. Yes, we are now in deterrence mode. This renewed Russian build-up of troops is unprovoked, unless one considers the simple existence of an independent Ukraine as a provocation – a country that seeks to stabilise and develop democratically, economica…

23

Nov

2021

DE Speech

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Situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, There is much in the Argen in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Presidency has raised a number of issues, but the biggest challenge the country, the EU and the international community are currently facing is the threat to the territorial integrity of the country, yes, the attempt to bury the Dayton peace agreement. This threatens peace not only in Bosnia-Herzegovina, b…

21

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The outcome of the Western Balkans summit (debate)

Mr President, instead of technocratically confirming already taken decisions and bureaucratically assessing any pre-accession progress, I wonder why the danger of a break-up of Bosnia Herzegovina has not been an issue in this summit. The recent concrete steps towards the secession of the Republika Srpska undertaken by the nationalist leadership under Milorad Dodik should ring all alarm bells. The …

19

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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EU-Taiwan political relations and cooperation (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, first of all, my sincere thanks to the rapporteur for the cooperative approach he has taken. There is an island off the coast of mainland China that organises a Chinese society in a democratic and prosperous way and is therefore, as such, a provocation for the Communist one-party state. I welcome this first report on the EU-Taiwan relations in which we explore the po…

19

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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Situation in Tunisia (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, The fact that the economic, social and pandemic situation in Tunisia is difficult has not only been known to all those involved since this spring. By the way, there are many countries that are in a complex transformation process, where, for example, there is also the problem of corruption. Nevertheless, I would not recommend any of the presidents there to sen…

7

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The state law relating to abortion in Texas, USA

Mr President, I speak today on behalf of the PPE Group in order to announce that our Group will not participate on the substance of this debate. This debate does not address a case of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. This debate rather constitutes yet another example of abuse of this House’s so far well—established and highly respected procedure of addressing urgent cases o…

5

Oct

2021

EN Speech

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The situation in Belarus after one year of protests and their violent repression (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, the Lukashenko regime just prevented my arrested innocent friend Pavel Sieviaryniec from attending his father’s funeral. My sincere condolences to his family. Such behaviour shows the evenly Stalinist and fascist character of this regime. We must keep the Belarus issue on the agenda. Personal sanctions must be extended to all involved in the persecution of political …

5

Oct

2021

DE Speech

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The future of EU-US relations (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. If you look at a world map and mark the liberal democracies with which we share common values, if we then complement the existing trade flows and, as a third element, the security arrangements, then the close links between the EU and the US become particularly clear. In order for them to remain our most important strategic partner in the long run, we need to do …

14

Sep

2021

DE Speech

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Situation in Afghanistan (debate)

Madam President, dear High Representative! What lessons we have learned from Afghanistan and what consequences we draw with regard to other conflicts, but also in general, from what instruments we will use in the future in foreign, security and defence policy or create ourselves anew, will be discussed in detail elsewhere. In the short term, I think we all agree that we must also bring humanitaria…

6

Jul

2021

EN Speech

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Situation in Tigray, Ethiopia (debate)

Mr President, I’m glad to see that apparently there’s broad consensus in the analysis, both from the Council, the Commission, and I assume also from us here in Parliament, when we assess the situation in Ethiopia. I think it is a high need to get our act together and to push towards those who are responsible on the ground allowing, in the first place, the access of humanitarian assistance. I think…