What Sebastian spoke about.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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The increasing and systematic repression of women in Iran

Mr President, in Islam, women are second-class citizens. Look at Islamic countries like Iran. The government is forcing women to wear a hijab. If you show up in public without a headscarf, you may be imprisoned, tortured or killed. When an Iranian woman was recently suspected of a shawl violation and faced the authorities, she protested by taking off other clothes. Outcome: arrest and transit to a psychiatric institution. This is not just an isolated case. The Iranian government has announced plans to open so-called medical clinics for women who disobey shawl laws. When Europe wanted to be tolerant of everyone, it was also tolerant of such ideas spilling over into the middle of Europe. It's been a huge mistake. If the visitor has even the slightest understanding of this kind of oppression of women, then the message should be clear: You have no business in Europe.

27

Nov

2024

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Hong Kong, notably the cases of Jimmy Lai and the 45 activists recently convicted under the national security law

Mr President, in 1997 Hong Kong was transferred from British control to China. At the same time, it was agreed that Hong Kong would keep its own system separate from mainland China for fifty years. China has blatantly broken this promise. Under the so-called national security law that came into force in the summer of 2020, China has ruthlessly attacked pro-democracy activists. Ask yourself who you see as a threat to democracy. One who would not remain in power if the people could decide. That's what the Chinese Communist Party is all about, fear. Fear that the people will notice how much better societies are built on democracy and freedom than the Communist Party of China has to offer. With economic growth stagnating, all that remains is a gloomy dictatorship. Its true nature will one day be revealed not only to the defenders of democracy who are now imprisoned.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Promoting a favourable framework for venture capital financing and safe foreign direct investments in the EU (debate)

Mr President, the most popular social media app in the United States is owned by China. China is the largest producer and processor of pork in the country. $900 billion of the country's public debt is owned by China. In the United States, the threat of China has been seriously exacerbated. For example, last week, the governor of Texas ordered all state agencies to sell their investments in China and banned agencies from investing in the country anymore. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a ban on Chinese-owned TikTok. We now need the same firmness in Europe. We cannot let China dump its low-cost production here and push our own businesses into trouble. We cannot allow ourselves to become economic slaves to Chinese investors. China is a dangerous country. This must be reflected in how Europe works. Diplomacy must now be replaced by rigour.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Recent legislation targeting LGBTQI persons and the need for protecting the rule of law and a discrimination-free Union (debate)

Mr President, the term LGBTIQ+ is what should apparently be used today for sexual and gender minorities. We're about to run out of alphabets, so let's talk about these letters for a moment. Work in favour of the LGB, i.e. equal treatment of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, is the usual work of equality. It has been going on for a long time in Europe and everyone should support it. There is still a lot of work to be done on a global scale. But when you come to the end of this letter combination, it's a separate matter. Transactivism has also brought us terrible demands, which are claimed to be equality work. I will never defend a woke ideology that allows children to be hurt at different stages of the gender reassignment process. It is not about equality. It's about assault.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Mr President, Europe needs stable, clean and cost-effective energy production. The solution to the energy crisis is right under our noses: nuclear power. But unfortunately, it is not obvious in Europe that it will be seen as a solution. There's been a lot of nuclear idiotism. Let me give you an example that illustrates this idiotism in Europe. In 2010, Greenpeace erected a pole of shame in the middle of Helsinki, a large block of stone engraved with the names of the MPs who voted in favour of nuclear power. Let's look for something smarter! Greenpeace itself has admitted that such a pole of shame would no longer be erected. If a pole of shame were to be erected in Europe, it would be those who opposed nuclear power, such as Greenpeace and the politicians who led them. To the decision-makers in Germany who brought down the country's nuclear power plants, I say: Shame on you.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and hybrid threats in the Baltic Sea (debate)

Mr President, there must be zero tolerance for Russia's hybrid influencing and it must be combated at all possible levels. This applies to threats in the Baltic Sea region as well as at the EU's eastern land border. Therefore, Finland’s eastern border has been completely closed since December 2023. There is only one reason for this: Russia's hostile action when it began pushing instrumentalized migrants across the border. But how do we see this in Russia? Not as a result of the Russian hybrid attack. According to a recent study, up to 38% of Russians think the border is closed because of the Finnish government's anti-Russian policy, which is influenced by the russophobic line of NATO, the EU and the US. This should be taken into account. It's not just about the crazy Putin. As a neighbour of the EU, we have a strongly brainwashed people.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Stepping up the fight against and the prevention of the recruitment of minors for criminal acts (debate)

Mr President, Finland, too, is already in a situation where the most common suspect of assault is a 14-year-old. In Sweden, young people are even recruited for assassinations and bombings in Denmark. What is the main cause of this problem? Why is it so easy to attract and incite younger and younger people to commit crimes? Where did this culture of violence come from? The answer is uncontrolled immigration and poor integration into Western society. The perpetual mantra of left-wing parties has been that parties on the right speak only of immigration. We have to talk about it now. Look at what is happening in Sweden and Germany and France as a result of uncontrolled immigration. Is this supposed to be quiet? Europe has been driven into chaos by the rejection of facts. You have to be able to say it out loud. Uncontrolled immigration is a threat to Europe.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Mr President, there is now a new Commission available for Europe to lead this continent in a difficult situation. The question now is whether we trust in piloting skills. I've made an assessment and my answer is that I don't trust you. What would Europe need most now? Much stronger support for Ukraine, the suppression of the migratory spiral and the protection of borders, pro-European climate policy and deregulation measures. But are we going to see all this? When I look at the past five years, I do not give the Commission clean papers on any of these. Some have even failed catastrophically. Well, then what is it? The needles continue to be the same leader and no major necessary line changes have been proven in the hearings. Looks like we're getting a sequel. I hope the sequel is not inferior to its predecessor, as is often the case, because then we would be in real trouble.

26

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Political and humanitarian situation in Mozambique (debate)

Mr President, elections were filled with electoral fraud, including ballot tampering, voter suppression and restricting press freedom, all conducted by the ruling party. After the elections, violence has escalated to a point where members of the opposition parties have been murdered. This is the reality of politics in Mozambique. Meanwhile, the country faces another challenge in the north, where a jihadist insurgent group with links to ISIS is killing and displacing people from their homes. This situation in Mozambique highlights to us what we should fight against globally. We must fight against terrorist organisations like ISIS and Hamas. Where these kind of organisations have set foot, we are not going to see flourishing societies. Besides this, we must preserve democracy by standing against anti-democratic countries like China, Russia and Iran, which are promoting their ideologies globally. If their systems win, the world loses. Any amount of development aid is not going to help at that point. We would just witness countries ending up like Mozambique – countries in chaos.

26

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Urgent need to tackle the gender pay gap (debate)

26

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Prison conditions in the EU (debate)

26

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area: the urgent need to lift controls at internal land borders (debate)

26

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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2025 budgetary procedure: Joint text (debate)

26

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia (debate)

Madam President, thank you. I really believe that we should respect the rules of this House. And I really believe that we should not challenge the authority of the spokesperson. Yes, I am on your side with this matter, but it shouldn't be that you are shouting to the spokesperson of this House back and forth. I think she makes the rules, we follow them and that's it. Not like a ping-pong.

26

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia (debate)

Madam President, shame on us! The justification for the EU is said to be 'we are big on big issues and small on small issues'. But in the biggest thing – the threat that is facing the entire European security – how small have we become? A whining mosquito. The Ukrainians are sacrificing themselves for Europe. They are fighting, while we sleep. Ukrainian babies are being bombed in hospitals, while we sing to ours: 'Hush little baby, don't you cry, daddy's going to sing you a lullaby.' Even North Koreans went to fight to Ukraine before our European troops. If we do not stop Putin in Ukraine, the imperial march will continue for as long as it takes. Glory to Ukraine and shame on Europe.

25

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, the Government of Finland has temporarily decided to cease all development aid to Somalia. It is a consequence for refusing to take back their citizens who are designated to be returned. To my country, I say: 'way to go, Finland!' This decision should serve as a model for the migration policies for the entire EU. And why? Because we are pumping billions of euros all over the world through development aid, and at the same time we have over 1.3 million people illegally residing within the borders of the EU. We are simply being used. An easy way to stop this is to say: 'if you refuse to take back your citizens, we refuse to give you money'.

25

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Condemning the illegal unilateral declaration of independence of the secessionist entity in Cyprus and all efforts to legitimise it and reaffirming the need for European solidarity - 41 years after (debate)

Mr President, 50 years ago, the invasion of a hostile state, Turkey, led to the occupation of the northern part of Cyprus, which is still ongoing. Does this sound familiar? This is what we are trying to do in Europe at the moment, when the Russian aggression is trying to move the borders of states as it pleases. How long an area has been illegally occupied is not decisive. However, it will not become the property of a foreign state, just as Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk or Crimean peninsula do not belong to Russia, so does Northern Cyprus belong to Turkey. It does not change whether the occupation took place two years ago or 50 years ago. Scrolling through the years must not pass us to the point where we forget the crimes of the occupiers. We will not forget Ukraine, so let us not forget Cyprus either.

25

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Outcome of the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 in Cali, Colombia (COP16) (debate)

Mr President, every country has a responsibility and a duty to protect nature. We want to give our children a better world than we have inherited. But it is much more than just biodiversity. We may have had a greener planet hundreds of years ago, but well-being is far from what it is today. It also needs to be cherished. We see that Europe is lagging behind the rest of the economy. It will not comfort our children if they are given the legacy of a backward continent where they can say that, by the way, ten years ago, Europe was carbon neutral than someone else. So what do we have to do in addition to cherishing nature? At the same time, we must defend European industry, defend the rational exploitation of our natural resources and, in general, defend the European way of life. It is work for future European children.

25

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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The outcome of the G20 Leaders' Summit (debate)

Mr President, the world's powers once again gathered around a round table at their G20 meeting. The meeting focused on the following motto: a fair world and a sustainable planet. This was a dirty show. This meeting was attended by countries that represented anything but what they were discussing. Has Russia attended the meeting concerned about justice, having carried out more than 1,500 attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours? Is China concerned about justice when it persecutes Uyghurs and pro-democracy activists? Is Saudi Arabia the right country to talk about justice, when women only got the right to drive a car a few years ago? These countries are not building a fair world. This has to be said out loud: They are a threat to it.

25

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (debate)

Mr President, when we talk about violence against women, it is extremely important to identify where in the world (words are not included). Although more needs to be done in Europe to eradicate violence, it is still the case that a single woman wins the lottery in Europe. There is no recognised practice in Europe of maiming girls, punishing women for disobedience or non-compliance, or using rape as a legally valid retaliatory measure. In many other countries, unfortunately, this is the case, and in the last ten years these countries have become a mass influx of migrants into Europe. There is a risk that in 20 years' time Europe will not be the safe haven for women's rights as it is today. That is why we must defend our European values and our culture. Let's say a strict no to European Islamization and sharia law enforcers.

14

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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EU actions against the Russian shadow fleets and ensuring a full enforcement of sanctions against Russia (RC-B10-0161/2024)

Mr President, oil trade is a key source of revenue for Russia to finance its invasion of Ukraine. In order to circumvent the sanctions, Russia has created a large shadow fleet, a network of hundreds of tankers, with which it seeks to hide the origin of oil on the international market. In addition, the vessels are uninsured unnavigable ratchets, which pose serious environmental risks. We need more targeted sanctions. All vessels of the shadow fleet and their owners must be named. The EU must reassess its relations with the countries that are preparing the Russian shadow fleet. As long as the EU imports fossil fuels from Russia, the impact of the sanctions will remain weaker than intended. Therefore, the import of Russian fossil fuels should be completely banned. It is our duty to do our utmost to eradicate the oil trade financing the Russian war machine and to prevent the shadow fleet from operating. That is why I voted in favour of the resolution.

14

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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UN Climate Change Conference 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan (COP29) (B10-0156/2024)

Mr President, those of us who opposed this resolution did not do so because we did not care about the environment and the climate. We are simply opposed to the ideology in the name of which Europe, whose emissions account for only 7% of global emissions, will have to sacrifice the future of several hundred million people because of that 7%. Our steel mills are closing, car manufacturers are putting a note on the hatch, and thousands of people are going to the mileage mill. What do we say to the citizens of our countries when they come to ask us why we drove them into unemployment and their family's social security benefits? We feel that in this Chamber we take greater responsibility for the climate than in our size, but where is the responsibility for the economy, jobs and people's livelihoods? At the same time, how can we discuss increasing our defence capabilities when climate ideology shackles much of the potential of our production? Down with the crazy green business, up with the European economy and industry. That is why I opposed this proposal.

14

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Enhancing Europe’s civilian and defence preparedness and readiness (debate)

Mr President, Mr Niinistö, thank you for your work for Finland and thank you for your work for Europe. This report is a gift to us, a fiery alarm clock made by That sort of thing. If we allow Ukraine to disappear, then the current and future Member States can start to happen next. If tanks crossed your land border today or critical infrastructure collapsed, would you manage? Is there cash when your card doesn't work? Do you have dry food and water when the shops were empty, which was seen only during the pandemic on a smaller scale? Are there batteries, candles and generators when there is no electricity? Do you know where the nearest bomb shelter is and if there is one? Are you mentally and physically ready to protect yourself and your family? While the Member States must assume their own responsibility for preparedness, society is made up of citizens, each of whom has a decisive role to play.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, today marks exactly nine years since the terrible terrorist attacks in Paris, in which hundreds of people were murdered and wounded in cold blood by ISIS terrorists. After the Paris attacks, it took only a few months for the Brussels metro and airport to be hit in the same shocking way. Just over a year ago, an illegal ISIS supporter shot dead two Swedish football fans in the middle of Brussels. The repeated attacks show that Islamist terrorism is not a distant threat, but a reality in our midst, in our Europe. Western Europe has failed completely to protect its citizens. Substantial changes are needed in immigration policy. Border controls must be tightened, asylum seekers must be outsourced outside the EU and those illegally staying in the EU must be returned to their countries of origin without delay. The memory of the victims of Islamist terrorist attacks obliges us to do so. Europe needs to be made a safe place again.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

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Fight against money laundering and terrorist financing: listing Russia as a high-risk third country in the EU (debate)

Mr President, let us be frank: Russia is a terrorist state. With its barbaric war of aggression, Russia is trying to subjugate the Ukrainian people to their will. Attacks on the civilian population, destruction of infrastructure, summary executions of civilians and prisoners of war and other serious human rights violations are appalling examples of Russia’s continued war crimes. Two years ago, the European Parliament, in a resolution, designated Russia as a state that supports terrorism and a state that uses the means of terrorism. Since then, Russia's war crimes have continued. The country has established unprecedented close ties with Iran and North Korea, both of which are blacklisted for terrorist financing. There should be nothing unclear here. The European Union should, as a matter of priority, designate Russia as a high-risk third country in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing.