Speeches

Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, after the COVID pandemic, we are facing significant issues related to trust. Trust in vaccines – even those that have been used safely for many years – trust in manufacturers and even trust in medical professionals. We have vaccination of children going down. We must learn from past mistakes. Therefore, in this case, we need to act precisely and to avoid unnecessary measures and restrictions. To do this, we must gain a clear understanding of how the virus is changing and spreading. Genetic sequencing is essential for this purpose, and the EU can assist affected countries, particularly those dealing with Mpox, in developing this capability. From the presentation to the ENVI Committee by the ECD, we understand that this situation is not comparable to previous pandemics and that there are different modes of transmission involved. It is important to remind risk groups about safety measures, and to acknowledge how mortality rates are associated with inadequate health care conditions in affected countries. We have to support affected countries. Every outbreak is significant, but we must not lose focus or be distracted from other dangerous infections such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, etc..

Mr President, it is indeed a difficult debate, and no one is arguing, perhaps here in this Chamber, that there must be no incitement to violence on social media or that we should all come up with ways to limit Russian propaganda. But some of those sitting in this room still remember what it means to live in a situation where all information is controlled, censored, and there is something that determines what is good, what is wrong. And isn't it that under the guise of good wishes and child protection, there is simply a desire to shut up those who think differently? Here many colleagues talked about the need to protect children from dangerous information. But when there is a negative objective reality for the same children, it is said that people can change gender, or when the legalization of drugs is presented as harm reduction, it does not bother anyone. Are the standards really the same for everyone?

Mr President, dear colleagues, Lithuania was once waiting for help. In the middle of the last century, he went out to fight in the forests and, without help, drowned into decades of occupation and massacres. Today, Ukraine is waiting for that help, and for those who say that war is the worst solution, I would suggest that we say that to Putin, who has attacked Ukraine. And he, even today, can take this war and end it. And when we all decide whether to provide more assistance to Ukraine, I think that the key question is whether there is a will to resist. And that will to resist is obviously there, because those who planned to occupy Ukraine within a week are in a long war today and Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom and independence. Helping them is the duty of all of us.