Speeches

Madam President, the huge majority in Europe wants peace and the huge majority in this House wants peace. But Putin wants war, and the right-wing extremists support Putin. I did not hear one critical word about Putin. They support the war criminal. The US's Witkoff is not a negotiator. He wants to make deals with his former friends in Russia. That is dangerous for Europe, and we must understand that. Then I heard from Hungarians about corruption in Ukraine. Yes, there is corruption in Ukraine, but there are very strong institutions, NABU and SAPO, fighting corruption. So I ask the people from Hungary here, the Orbán people: go to Ukraine, go to Kyiv, look how it is to fight corruption instead of being corrupt. Then you will have a huge advantage.

Ms Ehlers, have you ever been to Moldova? Did you understand how the Russians interfered there in the elections? Do you know what the Russian Trollfabrik is? Have you ever heard about all these Russian bots from Nigeria and from other countries? Do you know how well organised they are? Do you know what people like Dugin write in the internet? That all Ukrainians should be killed. This is Russia. This is disinformation. Is it good or bad?

Mr President, dear colleagues, dear Commissioner, yes, we will build a shield for democracy. We will build it together – the Commission and the Parliament. There are Members in this House who suffered under the communist dictatorship, and the really sad thing is that many of them have forgotten it; some of them sit in Hungary. And now they support the Putin dictatorship. Putin wants to destroy our democracy. He has said it often enough. His people have said it often enough. So believe at least your friend Putin, because, as far as that is concerned, it is very open. So, we need this centre for resilience. It will be the right platform. Let's build it as quickly as possible. The Russian system has billions of euros, works very precise lies and disinformation on Western platforms with fake accounts. Now we see it – Africa, Asia, bots – and the right-wing people parrot the Russian lies. And there's more: on these digital platforms, there is also sabotage and even murder. So, we have to work together. Tell it also to the Americans and the American platforms: 'we will not be blackmailed by you, Mr Trump'.

Madam President, I want to speak about Europe and the former land of the free. The land of the free was the United States and we know it: great democracy, rule of law, checks and balances and a very good partnership with Europe. And I speak about it, and I know it – I used to be a tour guide in the United States. I studied at two universities and everything was great. And then comes this Mr Trump. And what did he say? 'The EU was founded to screw the United States.' He knows nothing about history because we know the reasons why the European Union was founded. What did he do? No free trade anymore and tariffs. What did he do? No partnership with Europe anymore. And he wants to throw Ukraine under the bus of Putin; no democracy anymore. And that's the point where we, the Europeans, have to be strong. And I really ask the Commission to be very united and very strong against the bully in the White House. He tells us not to follow our laws. You know, we never had that before. He tells us not to follow our laws. He talks to the Russians and follows what the Russians want. So we need a strong and united Europe, and I really ask the Commission to be strong and united.

Mr President! Mr Vilimsky of the non-patriots first talked about corruption in Ukraine. Yes, there are. But it is enlightened there, while it is not enlightened in countries such as Hungary and others where the non-patriots are. But it's about people. This week we again had representatives from Ukraine who told us in detail about the 20,000 kidnapped children who suffer in Russia, about young boys who are raised as soldiers there. A journalist has been kidnapped, Dmytro Khyliuk, he has entered a gulag. There they said to him: Welcome to Buchenwald! For those who no longer know what that was, it was a very bad concentration camp. This is how Russians treat people, and Ukrainians don't want to live under Putin's terror regime. That is why, Commissioner, we must do everything we can to help these children and finally the Russian people. assets It is also available to Ukraine. Don't hide anymore. Help the children! You'll understand, won't you?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, There are courageous and less courageous – that's the way it is. Mr Orbán – to be with Orbán – is, of course, one of the less courageous. And he is one who neither likes Europe nor likes a community. And that is why it is quite logical that he, of course, also spies against our European Union. And it is also logical that he is looking for enemy images. And, of course, Europe is an enemy if you are so unsuccessful that you have the poorest country in the EU, if you are so unsuccessful that the healthcare system is broken – and then it still has to go into debt with China because it no longer has money. By the way, this is the next idea: What does China get for this? We know what Russia gets for playing the Russian agent here. We know that he also tried to agitate against Ukraine. And we also know Greater Hungary, of course he also wants to have a piece of Ukraine. The man is dangerous, and we must finally understand that. And, of course, I do not understand that the other countries are not finally taking this up. We have to fight back. We must defend ourselves against him also handing us over to Putin. And worst of all, when the right-wing extremists come with Soros – a bit of anti-Semitism also comes in. This is unworthy for this house, this is unworthy. And we are opposed to Orbán handing us over to Putin.

President Metsola, dear colleagues, I know there are some people in this House who support a war criminal and support Russia, but what one of our colleagues, Ms Şoşoacă, did recently in Moscow is even more. I quote the Kyiv Post, she said, 'If President Zelensky was to speak in my Parliament, I would break his legs'. So it's an announcement of physical violence against the person, it's an announcement of physical violence against an elected president, and I think we all should know that. I am sure, President Metsola, you know what is the right thing to do.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, October 17 marks ten years since the Swedish author and publisher Gui Minhai was kidnapped by Chinese agents while visiting Thailand. What is he accused of? Writing and selling books, which I think is very important, and especially when you write and sell books about the dictatorship. And China is a dictatorship, and they prove to be a dictatorship, because they abducted him from another country. On this 10th anniversary, we demand his immediate and unconditional release, consular access and independent medical care. When I talk to Chinese diplomats these days, they tell me they want to have more trade, better relations with Europe. They tell us, you know, 'America is not your friend anymore. Why don't we work together?' Yes, but we do not want to work together with a brutal dictatorship. We do not want to work together with a country that just puts any critical author into jail. So I am proud that this House, united, can stand behind this message. I don't see anyone from the right-wing extremists. We'll see. They are not here for this, which is also interesting. No one has to be imprisoned for exercising their freedom and their expression.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Haiti is not only facing a crisis. The state is failing, institutions are collapsing and big criminals now rule with impunity. The Cabaret massacres, where innocent lives were brutally mown, are not an isolated tragedy. This is a symptom of a country where the rule of law has disappeared and justice no longer exists. What to do? First, the people of Haiti need justice. The perpetrators of crimes must bear the consequences. Secondly, we must break the cycle of violence. Thirdly, we must support the Haitian people. The European Union must step up emergency humanitarian aid and ensure safe access for humanitarian workers.

First of all, it was Iran financing Hezbollah and Hamas. They told Hamas to do the terrible crimes of 7 October. And then Israel reacted. No, I am not in favour of bombing Gaza. But Israel has a right to exist, and it is our job to do everything so that Israel has the possibility to exist. And Iran does not have the possibility to erase all Jews and all Israelis, because that is their plan. And there we have to be very clear.

Madam President, Commissioner, Minister! Iran must never have nuclear weapons. I hope we agree on that. This is a terror regime that not only terrorises the opposition, the people who kill women in their own country and does not allow them to live a normal life, but - and Mr Botenga does not want to understand this - also promises to murder all the people in Israel and to annihilate Israel. That's the mullahs' program, and that's why it's not just any regime. This regime must not have nuclear weapons. We know that any dictatorial regime will use this to blackmail others and nothing else. We know – and this is what the two ladies also mentioned – yes, there was this JCPOA attempt and, unfortunately, Trump broke it. That is why, of course, if there is a way, one must try to somehow control Iran. But one thing is also important: These Revolutionary Guards must be on the sanctions list because they dominate Iran's economy. As long as we don't put them on the sanctions list, the sanctions don't make sense either. So: The terrorist organization of the Revolutionary Guards must be sanctioned.

Madam President, Commissioner! We have seen today in this discussion not only that Putin threatens us with hybrid war, but also that he has friends and puppets sitting here. At least two parties in this House, the Austrian FPÖ and the Italian Lega, have a contract with the Putin Party, and it says, among other things, that the youth should be educated together to strengthen the friendship of the young generations in the spirit of patriotism. That is, Putin, who sends his youth to the war for murder and who has the Ukrainians murdered, is to educate the youth together with the FPÖ and the Lega. You have to imagine that. And these are the people who sit here in Parliament. And we know that Orbán has also surrendered. There has been a lot of talk about unity today. The so-called patriots are traitors. We in Europe need to stick together, because there is this threat from Putin – we now know it too. But the threat is not only from the outside, but it is also from the traitors from within.

Mr. Colleague, I wanted to ask you if you were aware of what your Party colleague Mazurek did at Auschwitz. I would also like to ask you what you say about the fact that a party friend of yours wants to be the friendly face of National Socialism. How will you deal with these many forms of anti-Semitism and racism in your group - because you want to govern, you just said - and how do you stand with the identities, wherever you hear the anti-Semitism that is also associated with the AfD?

Madam President, Commissioner! Anti-Semitism existed in Europe long before the Holocaust. I know this from my friend Ari Rath, born in Vienna in 1925. He had to go to a so-called Jewish class in elementary school, at a time when the Christian socialists had led a very authoritarian, a dictatorial regime. He also always said that he had just gotten away – then, of course, before the Nazis. But it started much earlier. The Nazis made it worse. This is the lesson we must learn: If anti-Semitism starts again, then it will not stop here, but can get much worse. That's why it's so dangerous for right-wing extremists to use these anti-Semitic codes. I know what they mean when they talk about the East Coast. I know what they mean when they call Soros. I know what they mean when they say that they are globalists. I also hear that in Austria from the far-right party, and I also hear that from the Russian anti-Semites. That's where they fit together again. It is the responsibility of all of us that Jews can build their tabernacles all over Europe these days. We are at the Feast of Tabernacles, and the right-wing extremists laugh about it. I am in favour of Jews everywhere in Europe being able to build their tabernacles without suffering from their anti-Semitic codes. Because it is true: In all areas, anti-Semitism is rising, yes, from the left, from right-wing extremists and from migrants. Our responsibility is to stand up against all these forms of anti-Semitism.

Madam President, one of the first memories of my life was the Iron Curtain, you know, as a little boy, and I saw the Iron Curtain to Hungary and to Czechoslovakia, as it was called, and I couldn't believe it, you know – the towers with the soldiers and their guns. And then I was so happy, like all the others, when it was open, and we had our friends and we could live together. And it's still, by the way, a beautiful trip from Vienna to Bratislava on the Danube. And now we're working together, and we have the same rules. Together, we live with the rule of law, and that's really good. But then I hear the recent findings of the EP Budgetary Control Committee's findings, and they reveal troubling cracks in Slovakia's management of EU funds, especially the misappropriation by the agricultural payments agency. And I really have to tell you: it's the money of the Europeans. We live together. We should have the same rights and the same duties and our money for everybody, but not for the corrupt people.

Madam President, We often talk here about the different forms of hybrid war. Today we talked about a particularly dangerous form of hybrid war that Putin is waging against us in Europe. I say this so clearly because many people in Austria tell me: We are neutral; If we just keep quiet, nothing can happen to us. Today's debate has shown that, of course, something can happen to all people in Austria who board a plane, because this influencing of flight data can become so dangerous at any time that it can lead to a plane crash – and I want my compatriots to understand that too. And this in combination: Mrs. von der Leyen's plane was disrupted, and afterwards the disinformation campaign started, that all those who say that, of course, this can not be true at all. This makes it all the more important – I am very pleased – that we have a Defence Commissioner – Commissioner Kubilius, thank you very much – and that we now and that you also ensure that this Galileo navigation system becomes so secure that we can protect the people of Europe – including the people of Austria.

Madam President, Madam Minister, Commissioner! I want to speak in German because people in Austria often ask me: What are you doing in Brussels? What are you doing for us in Austria? And I say: I want to protect you. I want to protect you from poisonous food, from fraudulent financial investments. We decide many things, but I also want to protect you from false, fake information, such as that coming from Putin's factories of lies. And for that we have this Democracy Shield; However, we still need to build it up fairly properly, together with the Commission. Against what? Against fake media – as we know, this ‘double-minded’ history of Russia – against managed migration flows – we have also learned in the Committee how strong they are – cyberattacks, sabotage. There is a hybrid war also against us, also against us in Austria and, of course, against Europe. And we oppose it, but we must also oppose the digital platforms in the USA, because one of the sentences of an expert I have noticed is: The business model of some of these platforms is hate. Hatred earns money. This is not what our Europe should look like. This has nothing to do with censorship, my dear friend, it has nothing to do with censorship, but it has to do with protecting people, just as we protect them from toxic food. And one more thing: The Republic of Moldova is particularly under attack, a small country, and Russia wants to falsify elections there, has spent $350 million to unsettle the people there, to misinform them. And the patriots, they voted against it today. We say we need to support the people of Moldova; The patriots voted against it, they are traitors, they want to extradite the Moldovans to the Russians. We want to protect them, together in Europe and just like the people of Austria.

Madam President, Madam President von der Leyen, as an Austrian, I would like to say to you: You are talking about the internal market; It needs to be expanded, yes. But it cannot be possible that the same products from the same chains are much more expensive in Austria than in Germany! So please, finally make the single market – the Commission can do that. An essential topic: Serbia. I've been to Serbia many times, and I have to tell you: Many people are disappointed with you because you are still too strong with the autocratic President Vucic because you do not side with the people. Marta Kos, the Commissioner responsible, is doing it now – finally! But the people there also want from you that it is clear that such an autocratic system has lost nothing in the EU. Thirdly: Russia. Thank you very much for saying now that Russian assets belong to Ukraine; As a loan at first, but please do it at last! You are finally doing it – we need it, the people there need it, and it is also good for Europe.