Speeches

The EU has failed in a sad way with regard to Georgia. Now the people are on the streets because of election irregularities. The EU was unfaithful to its own principles and, in its mere greed for enlargement, did not act sufficiently, did not sting hard, and allowed situations to escalate to this point. Instead of addressing the erosion of democracy in a timely manner, the EU has behaved gently with the ruling party in Georgia. In Georgia, a Russian-style agent law has been blocked, and the country has even gone so far as to threaten the opposition with denial. When a candidate country moves in this direction, it is also a failure of the EU. The case of Georgia serves as a dissuasive example to the EU of how it should by no means operate in relation to other candidate countries.

USD 300 billion each year by 2035. That’s how much money will be ripped off from European and other developed countries as a result of the climate conference. For what? For funding climate work in Africa, for instance. Europe accounts for only eight per cent of global emissions. However, we are told to pay up, while China and India only keep polluting more and more. Once again, we have been fooled. And one thing I cannot understand: how can we agree on financing other countries’ climate goals with these astronomical sums, and at the same time have troubles finding the resources needed to defend our own continent? So let’s not be fools anymore and let’s put our priorities in order. For us Europe must come first.

Madam President, are you satisfied now? You demanded a ceasefire with Iran, and in doing so, you have granted breathing space to a regime built on terror, a regime you chose to shield. As a European, I am deeply ashamed. It seems that for the European Union, the lives of ordinary Iranians have no value. You have de facto been saving an Islamist regime. When executions by the regime intensify, as they almost certainly will, how will you justify this moment? You indirectly stood with the mullahs against the US and Israel. You got the ceasefire, but your friends are still keeping the strait closed and making us pay the price. If you want stability, removing the regime would be a real step towards it.

Madam President, Armenia is getting ready for parliamentary elections to be held in June. These elections will define the country's future. They are about taking distance from Russia and its military alliance and becoming closer with Europe. That choice is to be welcomed. Of course, the Kremlin does not accept losing influence quietly. We have seen it before in Georgia, Moldova and elsewhere. We know the playbook. Russian malign influence must be fought on all levels. The future path of the country must be decided by the Armenian people – not by Russia. I have a message to all countries at this same crossroads, deciding between a European path and a Russian one: choose wisely, you don't want your country to end up like Lukashenka's Belarus.

Madam President, the senseless targeting of Ukrainian civilians by Russian invaders should serve as yet another wake-up call for Europe. Time and again, Russian orcs are using drones to hunt Ukrainians who refuse to leave their homeland. Kherson is under daily shelling. In just one week, nearly 5 500 drones were used against the region. However, Russia's meat grinder is not making any real progress. As a result, they have become so desperate that targeting civilians has become their new tactic. When you see what Russia is doing, you must be out of your mind to think they will be driven away through diplomacy. The reality that Europe must accept is that this war will be decided on the battlefield. Ukraine does not need more European debates – it needs more European arms.

Mr President, the Commission's legislative circus, led by President von der Leyen, will make the public breathe. When the EU makes legislation that affects the lives of 450 million people, isn't the basic assumption that we first assess how the proposed law would affect? It will be clear if it makes any sense at all or if the costs get out of hand. This is called impact assessment, which is a normal practice in Finnish ministries, for example, when legislating. But no, the European Commission is not investigating, it is concentrating on drooling. In 2023, almost half of ordinary law-making processes were published without an impact assessment. Now we also have the figures for the following year, when an incomprehensible 84% was published without an impact assessment. Dear Europeans, your affairs are being mismanaged.

Mr President, as long as there are areas in EU countries where the police cannot go, we will have black holes in the rule of law. Sweden and the parallel societies formed there by the immigrant population are a sad example of this. In addition to the so-called no-go areas, the flood of news coming from Sweden is coloured by crimes. Last year, there was news about the trial of a terrible case. An Eritrean immigrant raped a 16-year-old Swedish girl on her way home after a shift at McDonald's. According to the court's assessment, the rape did not last long enough for the man to be deported. Soon this man, too, will be on the loose again, hunting for the next victim. The streets of Europe are full of similar hunters. This is the great real threat to the rule of law that the left is silent about. I'm not going to be.

Mr President, digitalisation and artificial intelligence are gigantic opportunities for growth, but for the EU they appear as gigantic opportunities for regulation. There is the Digital Markets Act, there is the Artificial Intelligence Act, there is the Digital Services Act, there is the Data Act, there is the Data Protection Regulation, there is the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. My speaking time will run out if I continue this list. Do citizens and European businesses really need this regulatory wall that the EU is building in all directions? Now, the European Parliament expresses its concern about what it calls pressure on third countries when the EU has been called upon to reconsider the Digital Markets Act. The accusing finger this time, of course, points to the United States. Instead of insulting the call to review regulation here, would it be worth putting a drink on something else? For example, the fact that the EU is not the current regulatory hell.

Mr President, what does better regulation mean in the EU context? That is now the subject of this debate in the Chamber. Better EU regulation means two things to me: a) there is less of it, b) there is a greater transfer of responsibility to the nation-states. But we have gone in the exact opposite direction. Power is being stolen from the Member States to Brussels, and the EU's regulatory machinery is spreading like a virus to new areas. When are we ready to say "Enough is enough"? Has it occurred to anyone at this time that the EU is not the solution to everything, but is in fact also a major problem? A brake on business growth, a headache for citizens and, like a central vacuum cleaner, a money-sucking machine for taxpayers. If you, a good EU elite, really want better regulation, do the following: Give back power to the Member States.

Mr President, the more you look at an immigration rally, the crazier it gets. Look at the cost to the state, look at the insecurity on the streets of Europe, look at the aggravated sex crimes statistics. It looks bad from all directions. This also applies to auditing. The European auditors had carried out spot checks on the Greek islands where so-called hotspots for migrants arriving in the EU are located. The maximum eligible expenditure for this project was 276 million. Well, what was revealed? These movers had already suffered considerable damage to the furniture and equipment of the accommodation in two years' time. Fire extinguishing equipment was thrown where it hurts. And think about it: some of these international organisations even restricted access to documents for inspectors. Isn't it time to stop this rally?

Mr President, it is perhaps appropriate to teach this Chamber again a Finnish proverb: No collected water in the well stays. But Ursula wants to make the taxpayers pour money into the Brussels laurels. €2,000 billion – the Commission's proposal for the EU's next seven-year cash prize. Wake up, smart people! We do not need to sink the proposed EUR 700 billion to boost green growth. Deregulation is free. We do not have to give the EU the right to tax. We can cut spending. We do not need to invest our money in managing the migrant crisis and its consequences. We can throw the illegals out of here and hit the doors tight. Tapping in Europe's tar is not a law imposed by nature. It was the result of choices made by invertebrate politicians.

Mr President, I disagree with this Chamber. I am not in favour of rape legislation based on consent at EU level. First, it is not regulated at EU level, as criminal law is, in principle, a national issue. Secondly, in Finland, such legislation has already been enacted and I consider it a mistake. Let's imagine a situation where two people are in a completely consensual atmosphere. The other party later comes to repentance and pleads a lack of consent. It is difficult for the accused to prove what has actually happened during the night. The real rapists want to be locked up for much longer than they are currently facing. I want foreigners who have committed rape to be sent outside the borders. I encourage each Member State to contribute to these goals. On the other hand, I cannot recommend legislation that creates uncertainty.

Mr President, has this continent suffered from a lack of public money for green projects? Well, it's not a good time. This continent has suffered from the fact that money has been wasted on green ideological projects when it should have been spent on improving Europe's security. Climate workshops do not stop intruders crossing the border. We are now discussing the activities of the European Investment Bank for 2024. It is an institution capable of accelerating access to funding for the priorities that Europe wants to promote politically. In 2024, the Bank reportedly provided more than EUR 76 billion in new financing for various projects. 60% of this amount, almost EUR 45 billion, went to climate action and environmental sustainability. What about money channelled into defense and security? One billion dollars. So much for Europe's priorities.

Madam President, Europe has been living in a dream world for too long. That dream world is called development aid. We've operated on a naive belief that if we were just 'kind' enough, we would earn loyalty; that if we gave enough away, the world would adopt our values. Nothing could be further from the truth. This childish view has cost the European taxpayer hundreds of billions of euros in the last years alone. And what do we have to show for it? We gave away Europeans' hard‑earned money as charity to cultures that often reject everything we stand for. We chose 'feeling good' over doing business. It's time to wake up. Kindness does not buy loyalty in this world – strength and partnership do. If we want influence, we have to stop being a donor.

Mr President, in how many ways is the left trying to prevent Europe from succeeding? I don't know. I have fallen from the bills a long time ago. But one of their long-time favorites has always been, and that's blocking the U.S. trade. "When you buy American fighter jets, you don't," the left shouted. "When you make a deal with Trump, you don't," the left shouted. When Finland recently agreed on a giant icebreaker deal where we sell icebreakers to the United States, this didn't seem to happen to the left either. The left is already calling for a way out of the trade. Apparently, we can't even sell our know-how when the match is the United States. How about the left, should we soon be banned from watching American films as well, as in the Soviet Union, the doctrines of which you still seem to follow in your U.S. policy? But remember, the US won, the USSR lost. It's time for you to change camps, too.

Madam President, Afghanistan was once a Buddhist nation. Pakistan – once Hindu. Lebanon – once a Christian majority. You know what happened? They were conquered by Islam. For years we have been told that mass migration is just a humanitarian phenomenon – something that we just must adapt to. The reality is much more strategic. Modern hybrid warfare does not always involve tanks or missiles. Sometimes the most effective weapon is the flow of people. When millions are directed towards Europe without control, the consequences are severe. Islam has used this method for 1 400 years, and they have no intention of abandoning this method of conquest. When the Islamic movement gains enough strength, it seeks to seize power and establish a caliphate. This is why peace or coexistence between Islamic and non-Islamic societies is impossible.

Mr President, corruption is like poison. It's a poison that too many decision-makers are mistaken to drink. That poison has been drunk and spit in people's eyes here in the EU, too. Some have been caught, some probably not. There's been a Qatar shock and a Huawei shock. Both sides have been suspected of paying EU decision-makers to get a policy they like. Think about it from the voter's point of view. He trusts his only voice to the person who gets to the decision-making position. And this decision-maker then decides to take this dirty money and decides to pursue not the interests of his own voters, but the interests of, for example, Qatar or a Chinese company. If the decision-maker decides to do so, I wish him only one fate, without going to prison through the starting screen.

Madam President, dear Iranian people, I am so sorry. There are genuinely good people in Europe, but this Union is rotten to the core. For decades, EU leaders have watched the prison being built around you. They have appeased your torturers and shaken hands with your male leaders while your beautiful women have been veiled into darkness. Dear Ukrainian people, I am also so sorry for you. Our leaders praise you for sacrificing yourselves for our security, but the lack of help has kept your beautiful people being thrown into Russia's meat grinder for over four years already. In the Iranian case, our stance goes beyond all parody. When the USA and Israel help the Iranian people, and European security, by taking down the regime's killing capabilities, this House shows them the middle finger. Yes, gas prices hurt, but nothing hurts like an Islamist nuclear bomb. That is what we cannot afford. How is it possible that European countries cannot come together and focus on what really matters, instead of letting the EU micromanage everything, down to naming food particles? Let's stop licking the boots of bombers and join the USA and Israel's campaign to free Iran. When Iran is free, I see a beautiful country that Persians will have rebuilt – so beautiful and developed that it could one day join the European Union. But they will never join us, because they will never forgive us – the club that watched them being butchered.

Mr President, when a Finn takes drinking water from a tap, does it need the EU to ensure the quality of its drinking water? When a Finn goes to the toilet, does it need the EU to ensure that wastewater is treated in the right way at the other end of the pipe? When a Finn dips for a swim on a beautiful summer day, does it need the EU to make sure that the snorkel does not get blocked by pollution? No, the Finn doesn't need it, but the Finn hasn't been listened to here before. We are now discussing the Water Directive in order to feed the Member States with new standards for surface water and groundwater. New obligations, which are expected to create additional administrative and financial burdens for Member States. This is politics, ladies and gentlemen. Brussels is handling the affairs of 27 countries in a way that makes sense here. Brussels is pulling that same bathing cap at the head of every one of us. And it's a tightening cap.

Mr President, now all savers are listening. Doesn't that sound great when we talk about developing banks, deposit insurance and resolution capabilities? Deposits are safer and crises are avoided. But the reality is harsh, the Commission wants to save bankrupt European banks on the backs of Finnish savers. It's not really gonna happen to me. If there are banks in the EU that cannot survive, the losses of investors are not borne by Finns. What was warned by the Finnish Parliament? The changes now proposed may lead the Commission to propose to merge national deposit guarantee schemes into a single deposit guarantee scheme in the Banking Union. It's not really gonna happen to me. If it is not possible to guarantee citizens' deposits in the member states alone, it is not up to the Finns to guarantee this. It's a point.

Mr President, I am not in favour of conversion therapies. They cannot achieve what they are trying to achieve. Human sexuality does not change by talking. This is just cheating on yourself. Then there will be a big but. That, but the fact is that banning conversion therapies at EU level is a completely different issue. Do we really want to enter an area where we control interpersonal prayers? At the same time as there is direct evil within religious communities that does not seem to touch EU decision-makers. Seeds of radicalization are sown in mosques. Islam lays the foundation for the oppression of women and forces them to cover themselves up. As far as homosexuals are concerned, there is a prevailing belief in Islamic culture that homosexuals should be stoned to death. So remember, spiritual Christian discourse does not threaten democracy, radical Islam threatens.

Madam President, last week we saw the true face of the EU again – the face of a coward that hides behind diplomacy because it lacks the guts to act when it matters. You once again criticised military intervention in Iran while hiding behind the very security this intervention guarantees. Where is the will to shape outcomes? The readiness to act? Not visible. Because of this, Europe is not a serious power; it is a spectator handing the world to actors like the IRGC, to those who institutionalise violence, export terror and spit on every norm you claim to defend. If Europe wants to be a geopolitical actor, it must act, decide and yes, use force when required. But right now, Europe equals weakness. That's a shame for us and that's a shame for the ordinary people in Iran.

Mr President, Europe's blue-eyedness is matched. Dependence on Russian gas was an expensive lesson in what happens when we bind ourselves to hostile actors. But what do we do now? In the heat of the green transition, you have dismantled functioning energy utilities and built up a new dependency on Chinese critical minerals and technology. These blue-eyed decision-makers in Europe take us first to the ditch and then to the ally. The solution cannot be that Europe moves from dependence on Russia to dependence on Chinese materials and chaines itself to trees when a mine is opened in its own backyard. The green amputation, which has been going on for years, narrows the financial room for manoeuvre of citizens. The implementation of the Green Party programme does not make ordinary citizens happy. The ordinary citizen is satisfied when the peat burns in the boiler, the atom cracks in the reactor and the energy bill is reasonable.