Speeches

Mr President, like my previous speakers, those who will speak after me, I would also like to express my deep complicity for what happened in Bratislava. And I must say that it was such a pleasant surprise for me that all relevant political parties and movements in Slovakia condemned this shameful act. It was a very important message to the public that even political parties and movements that adhere to more conservative politics or conservatism said no, this is not the way. The question now is how to deal with what happened. We cannot say that Slovak society would be different from other European companies. We are no more homophobic or more racist, or anything more than other European nations. We're exactly the same. I went to support the rainbow. pride at a time when most of today's European Parliament politicians were still in kindergarten or school. I've been here for 20 years and I remember how Kinga Gál and I prepared fundamental rights report after the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon, as we have sought every word for the protection of minority rights, but also for social rights. So my final word, Mr President, would be that we seek common ground, that we seek common solutions, that we do not use the plenary for what divides us, but for what can bring us together, how can we improve the situation ...

Mr President, Commissioner, talking about any measures to combat climate change without talking about a very good forestry strategy is essentially reprehensible. And the situation in the forestry sector is very dramatic and deteriorating. Not only because the prices of wood as a commodity continue to rise and continue to rise due to ever-increasing demand, but forests are decimating huge droughts in the summer seasons. At the same time, they are decimated by fires. Climate change is having a negative impact not only on the resilience of forests to the fires themselves, but also on the prospects for wood production in the coming years. This is why we have long been reminded that forest ecosystem management needs to be improved and adapted to modern challenges. The European Forest Strategy must build on existing foundations and include the protection and restoration of biodiversity and forest ecosystems, based on the principles of sustainable forestry and underpinned by clear indicators and indicators. It is equally important that the new Forest Strategy is in line with the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. In my opinion, this requires an unconditional commitment to the strict protection of our most valuable old-growth and old-growth forests. And as part of these efforts, we should also explore how to incentivise and increase funding for the sector, as well as how to make sustainable use of adequate services within the ecosystem.