What Helmut spoke about.

8 Oct

2026

EN Speech

Escalations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean following persistent Turkish provocations (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, our Europe is solidarity and our Europe speaks with one voice. International law is not optional. It is the foundation of civilised and peaceful coexistence. Europe stands with our Greek friends and our friends in Cyprus, of course. Türkiye's persistent provocations in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean must be judged against the treaties tha…

7 Oct

2026

EN Speech

Attempts by the ruling party Georgian Dream to ban opposition parties in Georgia

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, the Georgian dream became a nightmare for the Georgian people. Georgia's oligarch is banning opposition parties. We have seen this before – in Belarus. Two dictators, two regimes loyal to Putin, two peoples taken as hostages. Both regimes jail political opponents, both on Moscow's orders, both killing the future of their own nations. Like Putin, they are just afrai…

6 Oct

2026

DE Speech

The 2026 undemocratic elections to the Russian State Duma and its implications on civil society (debate)

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Madam President, dear Vice-President Kallas! Of course it wasn't a choice. Putin is a coward, he hides somewhere and would not be able to deal with others at all in an election. What is really outrageous, however, is that here in this Parliament, where everyone can say what they want, we need to hear people here who are simply copying what Russian propaganda is saying and saying that in their own …

6 Oct

2026

PT Speech

This is Europe - Debate with the Prime Minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro (debate)

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Madam President, Prime Minister, Commissioner, I apologise for the fact that my Portuguese is not perfect, but I like to speak this language. In 1980, I spent the winter in Costa da Caparica and tried to learn Portuguese. Three years later, as an Austrian television journalist, I had the opportunity to make a documentary about Portugal. I met a country that ended a dictatorship, a long dictatorshi…

16 Sep

2026

DE Speech

State of the Union (debate)

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Madam President, You said: "It's about deeds, not words." A year ago, I said: ‘Austrian surcharge − we pay more for products than in Germany.’ This is contrary to the internal market. Please, when do you finally do something? Second point: Democracy Shield − spoke to you. We had a great committee. Now it is about the implementation of this Resilience Centre. I expect this Parliament, this committe…

15 Sep

2026

EN Speech

Funeral for war criminal Ratko Mladić and glorification of war crimes in Serbia (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, Ratko Mladić was a war criminal, a convicted war criminal, and he was responsible for genocide. Who does not know that should go to Srebrenica. We cannot tolerate the celebration of a war criminal. A government that glorifies such atrocities can never be part of the European Union. President Vučić has best relations with China and with Russia. He just wants our mon…

15 Sep

2026

DE Question

Findings and recommendations of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (debate)

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15 Sep

2026

DE Speech

Findings and recommendations of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (debate)

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8 Jul

2026

DE Speech

2025 Commission report on Serbia (A10-0163/2026 - Tonino Picula) (vote)

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I will have this oral amendment, but first I have to tell you and I will do it in German – according to Rule 180, I must have the possibility to say that what he just said is not true. Ich habe gestern gesagt: Es gibt den deutschen Bundestagsabgeordneten der AfD namens Matthias Helferich, und er hat sich einmal bezeichnet als „das freundliche Gesicht des Nationalsozialismus”. Matthias Helferich, M…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

2025 Commission report on Serbia (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, I admire the young Serbian people. They are very brave; they go on the street; they fight for a life in freedom. And then they listen to the Commission, and the Commission says, 'we want to open Cluster 3, we want to continue the process'. No! Right now it's not the moment to continue the process because there is a backlash. There are no reforms, as I hear now. On …

7 Jul

2026

DE Answer

2025 Commission report on Ukraine (debate)

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So, you know, if you start by saying that someone somewhere would have banned something – if I look at what the AfD is doing, what I saw again recently. These are the ones who say they are the friendly face of National Socialism. Please stop these stories. And no matter what, it's all about what's now. Putin, to whom you also went, murders every day. I can bring you the photo now; I'm going to do …

7 Jul

2026

DE Speech

2025 Commission report on Ukraine (debate)

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That was when? I can't remember. When was that supposed to be?

7 Jul

2026

DE Speech

2025 Commission report on Ukraine (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, “We don’t want to be Putin’s slaves” – this is the phrase I heard most often in Ukraine. Yes, people in Ukraine talk about freedom; They want to live in freedom like we do, and that is why they belong to the European Union. There is still a lot to be done. And if here, of all things, from the right, where there are corruption scandals again, corrup…

7 Jul

2026

EN Speech

Presentation of the Action Plan on Cybersecurity and AI (debate)

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, always in those difficult times, I talk about good news. So, it's good news that there is an action plan for cybersecurity and AI. The good news is that we had a very interesting debate here. And the next good news is that I think most of us have understood it is not true that it's always the Americans who invent and we who have regulation. But yes…

6 Jul

2026

DE Speech

One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

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Mr President! Russia's hybrid conflict management is becoming more aggressive and hitting Switzerland directly. This is what the Swiss intelligence service writes, and this is what I would like to say to my compatriots in my Austrian homeland: So, even neutral Switzerland is threatened and then, of course, Austria. And they also write very precisely: What is new is the extent of Russia’s hybrid co…

17 Jun

2026

EN Speech

Deteriorating situation of political prisoners in Belarus, in particular the case of Aliaksandra Pulinovich

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Madam President, Belarus is a European country. The Belarusians are just Europeans like us, but they have a brutal dictator: Lukashenka. He is brutal, but he is also very weak. He was afraid of a 16‑year‑old girl who was writing graffiti, because the graffiti was against Putin. And Lukashenka is afraid of Putin, so he threw her into prison for ten years. Aliaksandra Pulinovich. Only for graffiti. …

17 Jun

2026

DE Speech

Protecting EU citizens’ data from hybrid threats: the Lithuanian case (topical debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner! Just today someone wrote to me on social media: I should not exaggerate, there is no hybrid war against Europe and against European countries. But here we have the proof: Yes, there is. In this case, it has just affected 600 000 entries from the registration register of Lithuania. It can also meet us in Austria at any time – each of us, with all the consequences. And ye…

16 Jun

2026

EN Speech

An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

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Madam President, dear Commissioner Kos, I want to speak to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not to the ethnic groups. I want to speak to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I want to tell them: many of your politicians are still caught up in the past. But I can tell you, Europe is all about understanding our past, understanding our often difficult past, but to have a better future, espe…

16 Jun

2026

DE Speech

Achieving digital sovereignty and resilience for Europe, in light of recent developments affecting access to advanced AI technologies (debate)

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21 May

2026

DE Speech

The Union’s preparedness for and response to health emergencies: the case of the MV Hondius and the hantavirus warning (debate)

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Mr President! Commissioner! The FPÖ MP Hauser has said so much inhuman nonsense that I want to correct this. The first: He meant, yes, with the Hantavirus a few people died, people died again and again, that's just the way it is. It's unbelievable! Then he said, there's the next plandemie going on. This is a big conspiracy industry. A plandemic that some secret powers are planning, just as Corona …

21 May

2026

DE Question

The Union’s preparedness for and response to health emergencies: the case of the MV Hondius and the hantavirus warning (debate)

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I only have one simple question: What lockdown has just been imposed? Can you explain that? And the second: Do you also believe that this is a plandemic, and was Corona a plandemic?

20 May

2026

EN Speech

Repression and execution of protesters, dissidents, political prisoners and religious minorities in Iran

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Mr President, dear Commissioner, the streets of Iran are stained with the blood of tens of thousands of citizens murdered for daring to demand freedom. Over 1 600 have been hanged by a regime that used the death penalty as a tool of terror. Their only crime is that they were hoping. Women are beaten, killed for the crime of showing their hair, while the families of the oppressors sip champagne in …

19 May

2026

EN Speech

Europe's response to reduced US military deployments in Europe, particularly at its Eastern flank in the light of the latest US decisions (debate)

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Madam President, dear Vice-President, Americans need Europeans; Europeans need Americans. So it's both ways. Americans are not only here to defend Europe, but also for US power in Europe, in the Middle East and in North Africa. Europe is the largest market for American weapons. That should change. I recently visited Ramstein and the FBI in Washington, and I found out that American officials say th…

19 May

2026

DE Speech

EU governance under pressure – institutional responses to global challenges (debate)

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! I quote Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney: “It is my personal conviction that the new world order will be built out of Europe.” And he spoke of common values: Peace, rule of law, democracy. Sometimes you can see better from a distance. Yes, Mark Carney is right, of course, but we need to get faster and better. This is my appeal to the Commission:…

19 May

2026

DE Speech

EU cybersecurity and preparedness in view of advanced AI systems (debate)

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Madam President, Madam Executive Vice-President of the Commission! We agree: Artificial intelligence will rearrange our world and we need to do more to keep us from falling behind. The Commissioner recently said the good news: There are 45,000 start-ups in Europe, and 8,000 are engaged in artificial intelligence. But we need a Capital Markets Union, and we really need to talent Get out of the Unit…