Speeches

Mr President, the persecution of rogue states knows no borders. Russia is also chasing exiled dissidents in the territories of EU Member States. Attempts to assassinate Sergei and Julia Skripal and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in Great Britain and the murder of a Chechen commander in Germany: These are not isolated cases, but systematic state terrorism. China, on the other hand, has set up so-called "foreign police stations" to monitor and intimidate dissidents – Uyghurs, Hong Kong democracy activists and other human rights defenders. Rogue states such as Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey also use violent methods to oppress their critics abroad. We must defend those who defend freedom and oppose tyranny. Every voice that echoes here against the repression of Russia, China and Iran, for example, is a voice for a better tomorrow.

Mr President, a self-respecting Europe faces only one option: China trade has to be pushed down. The controversy that has recently risen to the headlines is a good illustration of the values of Chinese bullshit traders. Shein, a fast fashion company, had sex dolls that resembled children in their range of sales. It's a sick act. In the middle of the womb, France decided to suspend Shein's online store and, as a result, the company eventually withdrew the products from sales. May this be a small sign of success for us. There is a hard line against the Chinese. This same European determination would be needed to curb low-priced imports and break China's dependence. The more we ship here from China, the more we export jobs from Europe to China. The greater the cargo loads from China, the greater will be our dependence on communist dictatorship. It's time to wake up.

Mr President, the protection of the seas is important, but common sense and a sense of proportionality must be present. Here too, the EU should not assume the role of an arrogant conductor. But Mrs von der Leyen wants to save the world's oceans with our money. If we really want to influence the state of the seas, we should look to Asia, where pollution is the worst. Asia is responsible for more than 80% of the world's marine plastic pollution. But what does the Commission do? More cardboard straws and paperwork for Europeans. The most sensible thing would be to force the global culprits to act, and not always add new obligations to ourselves. The Commission's proposal, which is currently on the table, will increase bureaucracy and costs for Europe. Our treasury will soon be empty and the Gulf of Finland will be filled mainly with the Commission's paper heaps.

Mr President, it is terrible misery – this is how I would summarize this equality strategy of the European Parliament. Gender equality is a matter of course to be cherished. However, this paper does not pursue this objective. On the contrary, it is an excellent symbol of why things have gone pine-shaped in Europe. The text is swollen with the extreme left-wing agenda and ideology. The climate emergency and gender inequality are put in the same package. The Commission is called upon to address gender stereotypes. Prostitution is caused by a lack of legal immigration opportunities. Feminist foreign policy, gender budgeting, unemployment among trans women. This list could go on indefinitely, but guess how many times Islamization or the consequences of immigration are mentioned as a threat to equality? Not a single time. I would like to say to the authors of this paper: You should be ashamed.

Mr President, recently, Turkish soldiers entered the UN buffer zone in Cyprus. You may ask, what did they do there? Well, without any excuse, they tried to drive away the Greek Cypriot farmers from their own lands while they were peacefully farming their fields. The UN peacekeepers needed to intervene twice before the Turkish soldiers got the message of staying out. This kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable and Turkey needs to be held accountable. We must not remain silent in front of an aggressor. Turkish soldiers do not belong to the buffer zone, but they do not belong to the whole island either. President Erdoğan should know that his provocations will not change this fact. Cyprus won't be a part of Turkey. Not now, not ever.

Mr President, the 'eat as much as you can' buffet. That is what comes to mind when we discuss the EU's long-term budget today. A buffet where Finnish taxpayers bring food to the EU table without reaching the plate itself, when the EU rushes to empty the plates and at the same time invents new expenses. Once again, the Commission is planning to spend billions and billions of euros on inefficient projects outside Europe. It is completely idiotic that the EU, for example, hugs Africa's coffers open without demanding anything back. At the same time, Europeans are paying high taxes, companies are tightening their belts and more money needs to be invested in defence than ever before. Our citizens deserve to keep the future budget under control, responding to the basic needs and security of Europeans. The budget must reflect the needs of the citizens, not the passions of the European Commission.

Mr President, the devastating floods in Spain are reaching the end of the year. Many Spanish families were permanently devastated. It was a tragic moment for many, but it was also a national tragedy. Unfortunately, I have to say these difficult words: Federal development should not be promoted for any reason, even for good reason. The EU cannot and should not become a supranational insurance company for natural phenomena. Realism is that the most effective way of preparing for and responding to these phenomena is at national level. Each country has its own authorities and national budgets, which have to step into the game in these situations. Whether there is water coming from the sky or, as in our case, snow in Finland, which blocks cities, the Member State must respond. I mourn the victims, but let's not use their tragedy as a federal building block.

Mr. President, this conversation has been crazy. Mr Braun – or should we call you Mr Bean – you're kind of becoming like a joke in this House. Let me explain: You said it was Ukraine's fault that there was still no peace. You said, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, when territories had been taken from it, that a peace agreement would have been ready at the table if they had just signed. Would you accept, Mr Brau, that if a foreign power came to Poland to take possession of territories, you would be handed a paper, you would just write it? For the representatives of this position, we in Finland have a name of our own when our own country goes to cheat. My husband and I just bought our own house with a plot of land with borders. If my neighbor comes in and says we're pulling new boundaries, here's the paper signing, I'll call the cops.

Mr President, the figures are now on the table. According to the European Court of Auditors, almost €7 billion of EU funds were spent incorrectly last year. The most money was misused in the areas of cohesion policy and development aid, and I am not surprised. We shovel money both to southern Europe and beyond the seas and waste it. But now we have black on white. So tell us why on earth ordinary Finns should continue to feed this endless swamp when it shows year after year that nothing changes. And, ladies and gentlemen, how much of your fellow countrymen's money can be misused by Ursula and her partners before you intervene? 10 billion, 20 billion, 30 billion? It's just sitting here dumb as if nothing happened. It's a business!

Mr President, I shall now omit this speech I have written and react to this speech by the Coalition Party, which has just been heard. What really annoys me is that people here dare to suggest that the EU now needs to spend more money on housing in order to bring down the cost of living in Europe. The EU is completely lost if, even on the right, which are usually parties of strict economic discipline, such absurd things are being said. I see that this same theme is repeated all the time, when there are floods in Europe, or unemployment in Belgium, or so on, the EU is always called upon to finance these different types of expenditure. We have 27 nation-states in the EU. If cheaper housing is needed or unemployment needs to be tackled, then it is done through the nation-state.

Mr President, building strong relations with Africa is an undisputed strategic need for Europe. But we cannot build them unconditionally; Europe needs to respect itself. Our message to African leaders should be the following: you want to neglect democratic principles? OK, it has consequences. You want to support Russian aggression in Ukraine? OK, it has consequences. You want to refuse to accept the repatriation of your citizens? OK, it has consequences. Europe is sitting on top of a huge economic tool that we are not using. That is insane. The Finnish Government has decided that it will not give development aid to countries that are either supporting Russian aggression, or are not accepting repatriation of their citizens. Let's make this Finnish position a European position.

Mr President, the EU budget has grown to become an uncontrollable monster. Billions of euros are wasted for projects promoting gender mainstreaming, climate ambition, Creative Europe and so on. At the same time, European citizens struggle to make a living. Do Europeans really need more beautiful EU agencies and EU action plans? Instead of feeding this bloated bureaucracy, we should focus on serious topics, not ideological experiments. And most importantly: taking action now. If you need more green or leftist workshops, please pay for them yourself. Let's bring discipline, responsibility and realism back to this Union. The taxpayer's duty is not to fund every Brussels fantasy.

Mr President, it says a lot about the administration about how it deals with demonstrations. The example of Serbia illustrates this in its unpleasant language. In Serbia, the collapse of the railway station took the lives of 16 people and was the last trigger for gigantic protests against the regime. More than 10,000 demonstrations have taken place in the country this year. The government responded with a lot of violence. Beating, tear gas, the use of a vocal weapon, torture, even sexual violence. The government has applied for support from Russia. Serbia is also a candidate country for EU membership. If the way the protests are handled says a lot about the administration, in this case it also tells us that Serbia is far from EU-eligible. From the point of view of EU funds, this should mean that EU money faucets are pulled from such an administration.

Mr President, I tried to be as much in the Chamber as possible, but I had a group meeting. Bombing journalists to cover your criminal life – how disgraceful is that? In Italy, an explosive device detonated under investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci's car. If you end up committing a crime like this against a journalist, you have failed as a human, and you have even failed as a criminal. Violent attacks against media are attacks against our common values. I have a message to all the criminal networks and criminals out there: if you decide to live a criminal life, accept the consequences that officials and journalists will be after you. You don't shoot them, you don't bomb them, you don't try to cover your mess by hurting innocent people and their families.

Mr President, dear Commission, dear leftists, you still don't get it. None of you do. The fate of Europe will not be determined by your 'sustainability' or 'social models'. It will be built by a strong economy. It will be built with borders that matter. It will be built with tanks, ships and fighter jets. Sure, you pretend like you are trying, but in truth, you are not. Europe's security is not being prioritised enough. Our economy is lagging and our borders are wide open. Your methods of criminal neglect will destroy Europe. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen if we continue along your path. Time to face the music. Europe will only start to prosper once your way of doing things is finally done.

Mr President, eight years ago Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered. He was known for his work in which he focused on investigating corruption within the Maltese regime. On the day of October, Daphne stepped into his car, and a moment later, a car bomb tore up a small Peugeot and Daphne. The anti-corruption voice went out. This is a shocking example of how strong corruption can still be in Europe today. Those who fight tirelessly and without fear against corruption are true defenders of the rule of law. In his work, Daphne investigated, among other things, Malta's most ruthless golden passport system, where EU citizenship would be traded for money. He was no longer in sight when it was finally condemned this spring as an illegal arrangement. Greetings to Daphne, the work against injustice will not stop.

Mr President, Russian troops have been halted on Ukrainian soil. They have not stopped because they were following orders from Putin. They have stopped because brave Ukrainian soldiers – with the support of the West – have forced them to stop. If he had his way, Putin would continue his march all the way through Ukraine. Behind Ukraine lies Moldova – Putin's next target. Russia is already conducting aggressive propaganda and other forms of interference in Moldova. Does this sound familiar? Ukraine faced the same onslaught before Russian tanks rolled in. Why? Because Putin wants a more Russian Europe. We can prevent this by supporting countries like Moldova on their European path. I want to see a more European Europe – Europe without Russian propaganda, without Russian interference and without Russian tanks.

Mr President, the Second World Summit for Social Development will be held in Qatar, in a country which still, in the year 2025, implements the Sharia law. Women under the Sharia law are like puppets to men. Women can't marry freely. They can't travel freely. They can't even say no to sex with their husband without a 'legitimate reason'. When a woman gets raped, she can get prosecuted for having sex outside of marriage. This is sick and insane. What message is sent to the women in the world by organising a summit for social development in a country like Qatar? Will gender equality be praised with the royal family, while women in the country are treated like slaves? To me, social development and Qatar don't belong in the same sentence.

Mr President, once again there is federalism in the air. Now we have a paper here in the debate with the message: equalising the taxation of Member States. Well, what if not? What if we accept that the Member States can indeed opt for different tax solutions? The same EU beanie doesn't fit everyone's head. And listen to me: this text declares the importance of curbing harmful tax competition and "the race towards ever lower tax rates". Why do we have to fight lower taxes? Well, the text says that in order to continuously raise the necessary public funds to improve the EU's competitiveness and social and economic cohesion. That is, if Member States decide to reduce taxes, that is a bad thing, because it threatens the EU's consumption agenda. Now there's a limit.

Mr President, why do we do this to ourselves? We are deliberately creating a European works council hummingbird, which is not even clear to the parties involved. That's just the starting point. Labour market policy is an area where the EU should have nothing to do, but it is only here that it is twisted. This is where the representatives of this Commission come in and talk wonderfully about how Europe is now starting to invest in competitiveness and simplifying. If so, why are companies saying this time too that this proposal is now increasing the administrative burden for the company? I've heard this before. There is so much regulation out of this house that companies are always allowed to copy a paragraph from their previous position: "This will add to our burden." Is it time to start dismantling it?

Madam President, we spend a significant amount of time on our phones every day. If this considers you too, you should be worried. Let me explain. The European Commission has made it clear that it is not truly committed in defending fundamental rights online. It once created legislation called 'the DSA'. It was a deliberate act to restrict the freedom of speech. Unfortunately, it succeeded in it. The right to privacy and protection of personal data are the next target. Soon we will have an EU-level vote on the infamous chat control proposal. Let me be clear: if this proposal ever becomes law, it will be the end of privacy as we know it. Breaking encryption will open the doors for mass surveillance and allow hackers to access our most private communications. This proposal must be stopped.

Mr President, Russia is engaged in a systematic hybrid war against Europe. Information operations, assassinations, cyberattacks, instrumentalisation of migrants, sabotage of critical infrastructure, electronic warfare and GPS interference. The recent airspace violations are even exceptionally arrogant by Russian standards. The airspace violation by Russian fighters against Estonia was the most serious in depth and duration during the country's NATO membership. A drone attack on Poland required military intervention. Drone sightings are also of concern in other countries. When Russia tests our borders, there is no room for hesitation. Russia is an offensive terrorist state that believes only in power. European countries must defend their borders resolutely. Enemy drones and destroyers must be shot down if necessary. And let's not forget: The best guarantee for peace in Europe is Ukraine's victory.

Mr President, the Taliban's Afghanistan is a living hell for women. Girls are banned from schools. Women are locked out of work. Faces of women must be covered with an Islamic face veil. These are not cultural traditions, they are calculated acts of oppression rooted in extremist ideology. Even after a deadly earthquake, Taliban monsters stick to their insane principles. The UN is trying to help, but Afghan women workers are banned from entering the UN compounds. Helping becomes difficult, while at the same time Afghan women are restricted from speaking to men. This is Islamist insanity. We cannot remain silent. We must refuse to legitimise the Taliban in any form. We are defending women and girls by opposing Islamist tyranny.

Mr President, if agriculture dies, we too will die. European food producers must now and in the future be guaranteed the necessary support to maintain production. But problems begin to fall into your arms when the bureaucrats in Brussels are allowed to decide where to put this support. Behind closed doors is lined all over the world with climate play money that doesn't really help that small Finnish farmer. It may well be that this small farmer's economy is going to collapse because of Brussels. For example, I find it absurd that, by means of an EU decision, 25% of direct agricultural payments have been earmarked for eco-schemes in the name of climate work. Is this really about maintaining security of supply in agriculture? No, it's not. The EU's agricultural policy must go back to why we support agriculture at all. So we can have European food. It's not because farmers are forced to make climatic changes.

Mr President, Trump did what the left would never have done. His peace plan for the Middle East brought the first concrete step to peace. Be honest, good left. Did the Palestinians benefit more from the symbolic and hasty recognition of the State of Palestine and the performance excursions of the left-wing Influencers or the concrete diplomacy carried out by Trump? It's painful for you, but Trump took this fight. The United States did not have to recognize a Palestinian state to promote peace. They did not start whining about sanctioning Israel, unlike the EU and von der Leyen. The United States knew there was only one way to end the war: pressured Hamas into peace. Europe must now give all its support to this plan. We need to get the terrorists out of Gaza.