What Sebastian spoke about.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Deplorable escalation of violence around the football match in the Netherlands and the unacceptable attacks against Israeli football fans (debate)

Mr President, last week Israeli football fans were brutally hunted in Amsterdam and many were hospitalised. Eighty years ago, things were the same in Europe before the darkest hour. Just three weeks ago, in plenary, I urged the Left to look for the culprits for the explosion of anti-Semitism in its own Palestinian demonstrations. Now speeches and several acts of violence have been taken to the next level, as Jews have been systematically persecuted. Does the left already agree to admit who these barbarians who hunted Israelis are? We on this side of the Chamber know the truth, and for years we have been actively advocating for a policy to prevent such violent attacks, while the left, with its mouth round, is still wondering why the whole problem arises. The fact is that we cannot have any real debate on the problem of antisemitism in Europe as long as not everyone in this Chamber is able to acknowledge its greatest source, the Islamisation of Europe.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Georgia's worsening democratic crisis following the recent parliamentary elections and alleged electoral fraud (debate)

Mr President, while the Georgian people overwhelmingly support the country's European path, the ruling party has taken them further from this goal. It has introduced Russian-style laws, labelling NGOs as foreign agents and so-called gay propaganda. The oligarch behind the ruling party has even threatened to ban opposition parties. There have been widespread reports of voter intimidation, vote buying, double voting and incidents of violence during the recent electoral process. Georgia's President has called the election a 'Russian special operation'. These incidents must be thoroughly investigated. Election integrity is a core European value. Georgia stands at a crossroads. If it wants to honour its people's will for European integration, it must uphold democratic principles and reverse its course.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

UN Climate Change Conference 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan (COP29) (debate)

Mr President, last year China was responsible for 95% of the construction of all new coal-fired power plants in the world. While we are pouring our productive industries into the radical climate agenda, the actions of other countries will completely nullify any and all of the goals we can achieve in terms of reducing emissions. We cannot expect the industries we are driving out of Europe to disappear altogether. Instead, they are simply relocating to other, and most often more permissive, countries where they can make their products much cheaper and more emission-intensive. The current climate agenda will not lead to a reduction in emissions. Its result is, and only is, a reduction in the safety and competitiveness of European jobs. To the green ideologues who are pushing this agenda, I can only say: good luck. Your policies have made Europe less self-sufficient, less attractive to businesses and, ultimately, less secure in these times of global uncertainty.

13

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

EU-US relations in light of the outcome of the US presidential elections (debate)

Madam President, President Trump was once again elected, and he wants to make America great again. Because of our lousy politicians, Europe has managed to put itself in a situation where our supply of energy was at the mercy of Russia, our supply of goods is at the mercy of China, our population growth is at the mercy of Africa, and our defence is at the mercy of the USA. So, should we choose the next new motto for Europe to be 'Make Europe great again'? Yes! Now it's our turn. Whether you like this motto or not, you have to start living according to it. The time of weak men is over. Let us make our energy, goods, babies and weapons ourselves.

24

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Abuse of new technologies to manipulate and radicalise young people through hate speech and antidemocratic discourse (debate)

Mr President, hate speech, radicalisation and anti-democracy. This moment is reserved for the whole House to discuss these issues. In fact, this is a very topical issue, so it is good to discuss it. In fact, we have recently witnessed events that meet all of these criteria: hate, radicalisation and anti-democracy. Numerous Palestinian demonstrations, all the way to top universities, have sparked anti-Semitic screams. The only democracy in the Middle East, Israel, has been wanted to be destroyed, and the radical terrorist organisation Hamas has enjoyed the support of many demonstrators. Why haven't I heard from the left today? I want to remind you of this when you are looking for hate speech and radical speech everywhere, so sometimes go to the Palestinian demonstrations on the left. You may find what you are looking for everywhere else.

24

Oct

2024

Questions FI

Watch

Abuse of new technologies to manipulate and radicalise young people through hate speech and antidemocratic discourse (debate)

Mr President, I fully agree with the speaker that Nazi propaganda needs to be addressed. It's wrong, and you were worried about how it would increase anti-Semitism. I am surprised, however, that you do not mention the side that is currently the main cause of antisemitism, both on TikTok and in other channels. These videos, shouting "From the river to the sea," or Hamas sympathy, are spreading right now. Why did you not mention this?

23

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

The important role of cities and regions in the EU – for a green, social and prosperous local development (debate)

Mr President, the EU does not only live in cities; sparsely populated areas are an important part of the success of the Member States. Especially at the EU's eastern external border, this is also a security issue. The decisions we make on climate policy, for example, have a direct impact on the conditions for living in Eastern Finland, for example. This needs to be understood. The fact that we are channelling new regional aid across Europe from one year to the next is not enough to keep regions alive. Especially for net contributors such as Finland, there is no point in the current system. We pay a huge amount as a membership fee, only a fraction of which comes back to our own regional development. Signs will then be erected on the various projects, explaining how the EU has made this project possible. It's not like this. The Member States have made this possible, and that is precisely why more matters must be decided in the Member States, not in Brussels.

23

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Presentation of the Court of Auditors' annual report 2023 (debate)

Mr President, at the latest, everyone knows that. The EU is not only foolishly spending its money, it is also grossly misusing it. According to the report you presented, EUR 10.7 billion of last year's EU spending was clearly against the EU's own rules. This should be scandalous news, but here it is not. The money is being misused and it will continue and how many times we were assured that the money from the recovery package will go where it was intended. We are now being told that these funds are not even included in this report because they are impossible to monitor. Is anyone surprised? No, I'm not. The nation states need to know exactly where the money collected for the EU goes. This is not the case today, and it is a huge problem in the EU.

23

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Tackling the steel crisis: boosting competitive and sustainable European steel and maintaining quality jobs (debate)

Mr President, in Finland, a single steel mill produces about 7% of our total emissions. It is a fact that should not be abhorred by any climate fanatic. Every European should be proud that we still have steel mills in Europe. China currently produces more than half of the world's steel. Anyone who wants to run down the steel mills in Europe will bow to China. If we do not produce steel in Europe, it will be produced elsewhere. In Europe, there is too much lulled into the idea that if Europe does not produce emissions, we will have solved the problem. Well, we're not. Transferring emissions to other countries will not help the climate in the first place. Instead, for us, it means losing jobs and increasing dependence on totalitarian states such as China. However, such a policy has been pursued in Europe – i.e. an absurd green policy.

23

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Managing migration in an effective and holistic way through fostering returns (debate)

Mr President, I am delighted to see how Europe, Europe's direction in terms of immigration policy, is changing. Poland rejects instrumentalised immigration following Finland's example. Germany reintroduced internal border controls, and now 17 EU countries are calling for tightening of the EU's return policy. However, these 17 EU countries did not take action unnecessarily, but precisely because there is a real amount of work to be done. Those who have received a negative asylum decision pose a high security risk to Europe, so it was only a matter of time before this change in direction took place. The EU's current, even looser, immigration policy has made Europe even more accessible to the migration of living standards to the southern Mediterranean, specifically migration. Or does anyone still think that a person in need will not pass through the first safe country on their way from the Middle East to Germany, Sweden and Finland?

22

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine (A10-0006/2024 - Karin Karlsbro)

Mr President, supporting Ukraine is also a security solution for Europe as a whole. Although the debate we are having gives hope to Ukraine, hope alone is not enough to win the war. It requires funds, ammunition and equipment. Today, we have made a positive contribution to getting them, and that is good. I voted in favour of this new mechanism of support for Ukraine, but because of the name, it is good to clarify that this is not a joint debt, but that Ukraine will be able to pay its debts with EUR forty-five billion of frozen Russian assets.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Situation in Tunisia (debate)

Mr President, over the years, Tunisia has benefited from a number of EU programmes and initiatives. These include, for example, Erasmus+, Horizon Europe and Creative Europe. We are talking about huge sums. Between 2014 and 2022, the EU devoted around EUR 1.4 billion to overall bilateral cooperation with Tunisia. The question is, can this investment be assessed as being worth it? Another question to keep in mind is, how much is it the European taxpayers' responsibility to support Tunisia's green energy transition, as an example? The focus should be on combating the migratory pressure to Europe, enhancing border management and preventing the trafficking of human beings.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

State sponsored terrorism by the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of the recent attacks in Europe (debate)

Mr President, Iran's state-sponsored terrorism is not limited to the Middle East. Now it has spread even within the borders of Europe. Thus, the efforts of the countries of the Middle East to exert influence have already shifted from financing Islamisation in Europe to direct action. Iran has long been a terrorist state from Israel's point of view. The EU must now adopt a stricter stance towards a country that has received billions and billions of dollars of money since the EU and the US lifted sanctions against Iran. The Iran nuclear deal was already a very good sign of European naivety, but at the very latest we should have learned our lesson from Iran's funding of Hamas' terrorist acts on October 7. Now, however, Iran's terror has also found its way through our door. It's the last moment to wake up.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

People’s Republic of China’s misinterpretation of the UN resolution 2758 and its continuous military provocations around Taiwan (debate)

Mr President, while China is threatening its neighbours in the South China Sea, Europe seems to be completely unable to break away from China. Are we really so baffled eastwards that we are pursuing a permissive trade policy that makes us dependent on China when Uyghurs are oppressed, Taiwan is surrounded and Filipino fishing vessels are attacked? The Chinese Communist Party has been oppressing its people for years, so Europe should not have any excuses to hide behind. We are living in the last possible moments to break the umbilical cord. China cannot be put under pressure if it is not isolated in the global arena. China is taking advantage of the conflicts raging around the world, imagining that we have forgotten the threat it poses. That is why Europe should say as clearly as possible: We have not forgotten and will act accordingly.

22

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

Urgent need for a ceasefire in Lebanon and for safeguarding the UNIFIL mission in light of the recent attacks (debate)

Mr President, I would like you to pay attention to the gentleman who is sitting in 457, the left-wing MEP who was here to speak on the toilet just now. He's wearing a shirt with a QR code, and when he's filmed, the QR code reveals a site that's a Palestinian political site. I would like to ask you, Mr President, whether it is permissible in this Chamber to wear such political shirts, political expressions, because I would think that the rules of the game should be the same for everyone?

22

Oct

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine (debate)

Mr President, German Chancellor Scholz's pursuit-of-peace policy, and Hungary's blocking of different forms of support, are dangerous for Europe. This now-discussed new cooperation mechanism is a highly crucial piece of support for Ukraine in its fight against totalitarianism. I specifically want to address my colleagues on the Left who weren't on board with the effort to support Ukraine in September. Nobody sings the songs of peace when someone breaks into your home or home country. Nobody wants this war to continue. Everybody wants a long-lasting peace. But we also want Ukraine to restore the integrity of its sovereign territory. The best way to ensure peace is to ensure that Ukraine has the proper means to fight off the aggressor. Once Putin realises the hopelessness of his effort, he will cease. But he only speaks in the language of force. Let's give Ukraine another victory tool, not the thoughts and prayers of a fool.

21

Oct

2024

Speeches FI

Watch

One-minute speeches (Rule 179)

Mr President, European airlines are doing the right thing when they are no longer flying in Russian airspace, but China is unscrupulously doing otherwise. By flying over Russia, Chinese planes use a shorter route compared to European airlines. This is not a fair competition. I therefore propose that Europe should now take action against its two biggest geopolitical opponents. What if, for example, we set a 48-hour cooling off period for the arrival in Europe of the Chinese aircraft currently in Russian airspace? This would have two significant benefits. First, from the point of view of our companies, the situation would become fairer as China would not be able to take advantage of this dirty competitive advantage. Secondly, Russia, and thus the military economy of the country, would stop receiving money from the Chinese for the use of their airspace. These, if any, should be our common goals.

21

Oct

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

A stronger Europe for safer products to better protect consumers and tackle unfair competition: boosting EU oversight in e-commerce and imports (debate)

Mr President, what is the greatest way to guarantee that a product is safe and responsibly made? These are the three key words: made in Europe. With Chinese e-commerce sites like Temu and Shein forcing their way into Europe by flooding our market with theor products, a 'made in Europe' tag has become harder to find. While we regulate ourselves more than ever, products that are being made far more unethically and emissions-intensively are getting shipped to Europe. But the EU can only blame itself for this situation. By driving our manufacturing away from Europe, we have created an opening for China to poach our industries and thus make us dependent on them. But unless we want to become an economic vessel of Beijing, we must significantly cut back our dependence on China, and we need to start doing it now.

21

Oct

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Empowering the Single Market to deliver a sustainable future and prosperity for all EU citizens (debate)

Madam President, Mr Letta's report offers us the right diagnosis of the state of the single market. However, as with so many other EU proposals, the cure might be worse than the disease. Mr Letta states that the single market was never finished and now it needs profound reforms. These reforms would include public investments, investments for green projects on an EU level, the creation of a European degree, infrastructure projects in Africa, and so on and so on. Yes, the core message of Mr Letta's report seems to be the reduction of regulation. But does all of this sound like that to you? The single market didn't fail because it was not finished. It failed because the EU intervened with regulations that have started to suffocate the European economy. The solution to failed regulation cannot be more regulation and more EU control.

21

Oct

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Signature of acts adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (Rule 81)

Madam President, I raise your attention to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure and more specifically to its paragraph 3. The rule stipulates that, as a general rule, the questions shall be answered by the addressee within six weeks of being forward to it, and that those designated as priority questions shall be answered by the addressee within three weeks of being forwarded to it. Although I am new in this House, I know I am not the only one who has experienced that these deadlines are often not met. Madam President, I would warmly welcome any means that would push the Commission to better stick to these timelines set in the Rules of Procedure and respect the rules of this House.

18

Sep

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

The Hungarian “National Card” scheme and its consequences for Schengen and the area of freedom, security and justice (debate)

Madam President, whether acknowledged by them or not, the national card scheme presented by the Hungarian Government poses a severe security threat to Europe. In late June, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Austrian capital, Vienna, had become a hub for Russian espionage in Europe. Mr Orbán should not be so naive to assume that his friendly relations with President Putin will not result in Russia trying to use this visa scheme to make Budapest just another Vienna. Mr Orbán's initiative is on track to let the Russians establish another beachhead for its extensive espionage operations right in the middle of Europe. Good intentions or not, Mr Orbán, I think you should strictly reconsider this very dangerous policy. If not, other European countries will unfortunately have to start vetting the people coming from Hungary with extreme prejudice.

17

Sep

2024

Answers FI

Watch

War in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle-East (debate)

Israel is a multicultural society and within it a different population is able to live well with each other, but I can also say in Finnish what I just said here in English. 40% of Palestinian Muslims agree that suicide bombing is a way to defend Islam. We have seen this development, that all the time from the Gaza Strip and also from the West Bank, including the surrounding states, these attacks are coming on Israeli soil, and this October 7th was one good bad example of this, and therefore it is not safe at the moment to have a two-state model.

17

Sep

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

War in the Gaza Strip and the situation in the Middle-East (debate)

Madam President, for almost a year now, scores of hostages have remained in dark tunnels in the hands of Hamas. Although shocking, the horrific terrorist attack on Israel did not come as a surprise. In 2013, the world famous Pew Research Centre polled Muslims all around the world. One result in particular was quite shocking: 40 % of the Palestinian Muslims said that a suicide bombing in defence of Islam is often or sometimes justified. So is it any surprise that something like 7 October came to pass? The border wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip exists for a reason: so that the Israelis wouldn't constantly have to fear for their lives. Israel has offered the Palestinian Authority a two-state solution time and time again to no avail. The Palestinians simply don't want it. To them, the only solution seems to be an intifada. If Hamas came out of hiding and laid down their weapons, the fighting would cease in an instant and the humanitarian situation could start significantly improving. The whole world seems to want peace. The only question is, does Hamas?

17

Sep

2024

Speeches EN

Watch

Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)

Madam President, since the last time we discussed supporting Ukraine here in July, no major EU developments for ensuring Ukraine’s victory have taken place. It is quite bizarre that however later today we will be debating a plan that seeks to spend hundreds of billions of euros every year for things like decarbonisation. Actually, this is great news. It shows that if the European countries so choose, they already have the resources needed to help Ukraine to defeat Russia. In addition, not everything is about money. Last week, as a group of MEPs, we sent a letter to High Representative Borrell to increase pressure for allowing Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil with Western weapons. Restricting Ukraine’s ability to hit strategically important targets is like forcing them to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. Russia is not pulling its punches. So we should not be telling Ukraine to do so either.

17

Sep

2024

Questions FI

Watch

Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)

My fellow Members, the fact that the West has armed Ukraine in the fight against Russia, the fact that Ukrainians have died, it is not the fault of the West, it is Russia's fault that Ukrainians have died. You are suggesting that peace should be agreed now that Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is absurd talk! What if Russia attacked this war, for example, after winning Finland? Would it be your opinion that when Finnish children and women are killed, we start negotiating peace with Putin? Or should the West support us Finns?