Speeches

Mr President, I had the honour of meeting personally with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The timing could not be more urgent. Today marks the 47th anniversary of the revolution of the IRGC terrorists. For 47 long years, the Islamist regime has ruled Iran through fear, torture and arbitrary detentions. My message to President Metsola was clear: this House must hear the voice of the Iranian people, and that voice is Reza Pahlavi – a clear, unifying leader whom the Iranian people themselves recognise matters now more than ever. If this Parliament is serious about standing with democracy, freedom and human rights, then it must also be serious about who it chooses to listen to. Europe must choose, and it must choose to give Iranians their country back.

Mr President, Uganda's President, who has been in power for more than 40 years, has placed the only credible opposition candidate under house arrest. 40 years in power, and challengers are put under house arrest – this is not democracy, it is criminal. Now listen to what the EU's official policy is at the same time regarding its support for Uganda: 'The EU cooperates with Uganda to promote the country's green transition, support sustainable and inclusive job creation and investment growth and strengthening democratic governance that advances social inclusion and human rights.' It seems the support policy has not been very successful. The EU must now decide whether we want to continue financing these regimes that laugh at our declarations, with gold teeth flashing, or is it time to adopt a new mantra for development aid as well? Here we draw the line.

Mr President, look at Albania. Migrant waves are hitting the shores of Europe. Countries like Albania are the ones that are taking the first hits. The Western Balkan route has been a growing pathway for illegal migration and human trafficking. Albanians understand that we need strong cooperation to tackle issues that are cross-border in nature. The country signed earlier an agreement with Italy that allowed the transfer of migrants to centres in Albanian territory. This is what cooperation should look like. It is called the Albania model. While the leftists here are cooperating with each other, trying to make Europe less safe with their reckless migration policies, Albania shows you that with cooperation between the EU and third countries, we can make Europe safe again. We need more Albania models.

Mr President, what are we doing to ensure that labour immigration does not lead to exploitation of migrants? Believe it or not, there is no need for EU-wide strategies. There is no need for complicated new legislation, no need to increase the power of trade unions. We need higher income limits for labour migration. If a person is willing to come here from thousands of miles away for inhumanely dispossessed wages, it tells us that he is not coming here for work. He comes here because work is the key to European social security. When this is the primary objective, the newcomer is exposed to exploitation and exploitation. If we want to have people here who are looking for work, we need higher income limits. The Finnish government raised the minimum income threshold for labour migration to EUR 1,600 per month. This is the only right direction.

Mr President, this paper on the EU's anti-poverty strategy is a prime example of how detached the European left is from reality. It contains numerous references to declarations, indicators and holistic approaches. Poverty is defined as structural injustice. Well, these are the structures you, the good leftists, have been building in Europe for decades, and yet your solution always seems to be the same: more public money, more transfers and more EU legislation. This left-wing Christmas gift list is expensive. It's ineffective and it's absurd. The endless expansion of public power and transfers is not the solution to poverty. It will eventually lead to the destruction of a state as a state or a federal state. The truth is that poverty is reduced through work, entrepreneurship and responsible immigration and economic policies.

Madam President, it is very difficult for me to celebrate the International Day of Education. The women and girls in Islamic countries, such as in Iran, face tremendous suppression. They might never see a system called education. The Islamic regime of Iran allows girls as young as nine to be married. Can you imagine? A nine-year-old should be in school not getting forcefully married. But this is the reality the Iranian regime has to offer its people, and the people of Iran are sick of it. They have gone to the streets demanding change, demanding freedom at the risk of execution. So no, I cannot celebrate the International Day of Education. Not yet. When the Islamic regime of Iran is finally overthrown, then it will be time for celebrations.

Madam President, the EU has been supporting both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with hundreds of millions. We've entered into so-called partnership with Rwanda to help them advance the green transition, amongst other things. But how can they turn green when their hands are dripping in blood? Rwandan-backed M23 fighters have killed civilians. They have targeted human rights defenders and journalists. They have used rape as a weapon and tortured women. Thousands have been driven from their homes. Congolese forces and allies and allied militias have committed abuses of their own. We cannot claim to defend human rights while funding governments connected to armed groups committing atrocities. We have a moral duty. It means using the financial leverage we have as a tool to help end this bloodshed.

Madam President, the decision of Spain's socialist government to legalise more than half a million illegal migrants is an act of self-deception without parallel. A Spanish left-wing MEP even celebrated this as an opportunity to replace native right wingers and so-called racists with migrants. The message was clear to millions of Spaniards and, at the same time, to hundreds of millions of Europeans: if you believe your country should have clear borders, you are racist and you should be replaced. Shameful. What kind of obsession do you leftists have with bringing shiploads of people here who do not want to adapt to European culture? If you hate our European culture so much, those ships do sail in the other direction as well. We do not need half a million new illegal arrivals here – not a single one. Europe needs to start expelling these illegal intruders.

Mr President, for those of you who constantly search for racism where it is not, hear this out: in Sudan, ethnically motivated violence against non‑Arab people is happening on a scale that is hard to comprehend. Survivors speak about seeing piles of dead bodies in what they describe as an apocalyptic scene like the Day of Judgement, they said. We are not talking about mean comments online, which in themselves are enough to make some of you want to censor the entire internet. We are talking about mass atrocities committed on people based on the fact that they are black. This cannot and must not be swept under the carpet simply because the aggressor does not look a certain way. The ethnic violence in Sudan is a stain on humanity.

Mr President, religious cleansing is under way in north‑east Syria. After Bashar al-Assad's fall, we were promised a new Syria. However, the extrajudicial executions, destruction of property and deliberate attacks carried out by extremist Islamist groups in the Syrian transitional government speak a climate of open religious hostility. This is unacceptable. The Kurdish people have been among our most reliable partners in the fight against ISIS. They have defended not only their freedom, but Europe's security as well. Yet the silence in Europe is deafening. Europe must stand for clear principles: the protection of civilians and zero tolerance for terrorism. The Syrian transitional government that engages in ethnic and religious violence must not be granted legitimacy.

Mr President, the word of Russia is worth less than the toilet paper we wipe ourselves with. So when Russia promised to enter into a so-called 'energy ceasefire' with Ukraine at the end of January, only a stupid person could not have guessed what would happen next. Four days later, the Russian war machine struck again. Make no mistake, the brave Ukrainians had no misgivings about the sincerity of Russia's commitment to this 'ceasefire'. You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth. You must fight and hit back. And that is why it is so painful to see some of you in this Chamber, still waffling on what to do about Putin's rampage. History will judge you if you choose to let the tiger continue its spree of terror.

Dear Mr President, Europe is in chaos. The only reason for this is the uncontrolled migration that has been going on for years. It's a point. In the Helsinki metropolitan area, more than half of the population in certain areas is of foreign origin. The most depressing thing, however, is that compared to the European peer countries, Finland is still doing relatively well, at least for the time being. The great countries of Europe are already being lost. Germany is not going back to the past, nor is France. Even the countries of the Middle East have awakened to this reality. The UAE is restricting its students' access to the UK because it fears that the Muslim Brotherhood has gained too much foothold in the UK. France and Britain will be able to compete over who will be Europe's first Islamic nuclear-weapon nation in a few decades. European decision-makers: You get what you order. Is that enough?

Madam President, imagine your daughter being arrested for not wearing a headscarf. Imagine your wife never returning from a protest, and you being forced to search through body bags. Imagine the internet shut down, losing contact with your son abroad and being left completely alone. If you step into the streets, you do not know whether others are still protesting in other cities or whether you are simply walking out to be killed. This is the daily reality for Iranians, while here they receive only lukewarm words of encouragement. And yet they continue to march against our common enemy. They do not ask much of us. From our warm halls, only with decisions on paper can we help: stronger sanctions, visa bans on the families of oppressors, trade embargoes, terrorist designation and an invitation to hear their voice, Reza Pahlavi.

Mr President, the Iranians have risen up bravely against their torturers. For 46 years, the nation has been occupied by an Islamist dictatorship. They have been brutalised, murdered, and for too long have their crimes gone unheard. Not anymore. What we are seeing in Iran is a revolution that will change the world. Also, the EU needs to act swiftly: ‑ Stop the appeasement policy, tighten sanctions and isolate the regime that executes its own people. ‑ Proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. ‑ Stop trade with Iran. ‑ Listen to the Iranian people and invite Mr Reza Pahlavi to address this parliament ‑ the man whose name the people chant in the streets of Iran. ‑ Coordinate attacks with the US to weaken the regime to collapse. We can either forever be seen as traitors and hypocrites, or we can help the Iranians rid themselves of this regime.

Mr President, the Commission has once again visibly taken Elon Musk and the X-someplate to its teeth. More specifically, it blamed X’s Grok AI for being able to create images of underdressed people. X reacted quickly and said he was changing his service - that's good. But I ask, why is there only Musk and X in the headlines again? Is the Commission aware that similar images may have been made, inter alia, through the application offered by ChatGPT? When the Commission openly starts tampering with only one platform that has repeatedly been on its teeth, it raises questions. The Commission is a major power. It's so big it's supposed to be searching before it starts messing around. Keep this in mind: It is not your job to fight Elon Musk.

Mr President, after reading this paper, I have to brush my eyes once again. So the EU really wants to strike its dirty hands at the emergency stocks of our Finnish medicines. It is clear that every European country has completely different needs for the storage of medicines. In Finland, securing the availability of medicines is in a special position, as our supply chains through the Baltic Sea are vulnerable in a crisis situation. We know how many medicines we need to have in our warehouses, and Ursula von der Leyen, who deals with vaccines with lost texts, does not. Nevertheless, the Commission is being presented here with rights to redistribute national stocks of medicines. That is, in practice, if other countries have not taken care of their medicine stocks, the EU could come and order medicines to be transferred to these countries from Finland's stocks. No, I'll tell you.

Mr President, when I started as a Member of the European Parliament, I thought that the European Parliament would be the one that would specifically oppose the Commission's federal fanaticism. How wrong I was. I am now reading direct excerpts from the European Parliament's report on the initiative for common EU company legislation: "Parliament stresses that Member States should not be able to maintain or introduce in their national law provisions derogating from common EU company law." "Parliament calls on the Commission to assess the benefits of a single framework, including on tax issues, as part of common company law." I ask you, dear colleagues, in the middle and on the left, when will this EU bowing of yours end? When will this dissolution of nation-states end? The more Member States are oppressed, the louder you shout here, 'Yes, thank you.' You're just EU masochists.

Mr President, sexual harassment is an abuse of power. All its forms are reprehensible. Let's start with the facts and Spain, which we are discussing today. Fact number one: The Spanish socialists have built their political identity on zero tolerance, equality and moral superiority, but in their own structures harassment has been commonplace. Then move on to the European level. Fact number two: This is what we don't want to talk about here. Immigrants from developing countries are overrepresented in sex crime statistics across Europe. Fact number 3: The consequences of the avalanche of migrants have been catastrophic, especially for women's safety. Ladies and gentlemen, ultimately, each country is a reflection of its own population. If we bring the Third World way of life into our own structures, we cannot be surprised when sexual harassment increases.

Mr President, how dare you parties on the left and centre talk about the rule of law? How dare you portray yourselves as the arbiter of what the rule of law is? You have shown time and time again that you are willing to accept even the most blatant violations as long as the victims are your political adversaries. Banning the most popular party in Germany – why not? Go for it! Arresting people and confiscating their electronics if they post something online that might hurt somebody's feelings – disperse, nothing to see here! Imposing massive fines on social media companies because they do not peddle the agenda that you want – oh wait, you support that too. Your hypocrisy is astounding, and you should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves.

Mr President, the arrogance of the EU is already on par. The EU-wide Non-Discrimination Directive is being pushed again. The Brussels batons really think that they are some kind of high priests who alone have the ability to determine what discrimination means. As if they – and only they – were able to lay down the right rules on these issues. It's not like this, is it? Finland already enshrines in law our own vision of what kind of rules we see as reasonable, and year after year we are the happiest nation in the world. Did we need the High Priests? We didn't have to. No wonder this proposal for a directive has not made much progress in 17 years. It will tell you all the essentials about this whole thing. The rules under which Finns treat each other should continue to be decided only by Finns.