What Helmut spoke about.

22

Oct

2024

IT Speech

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Protection of European journalists reporting on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, said, 'If I had to choose between a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I would prefer the latter'. Freedom of media is the basis of democracy. Putin, of course, kills democracy. But as we see these days, in his country, in Ukraine and in other countries, he kills human bei…

9

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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Recent devastating floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, I would like to express my deepest sympathy for the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina here. I know many have lost their loved ones. A lot has been destroyed. And I have a very clear message to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina: We, the European Union, are on your side. Immediately after seeing the first damage, I spoke on the phone with the Austr…

9

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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Presentation of the programme of activities of the Hungarian Presidency (debate)

Madam President, Mr Orbán, you have spoken of competition on a number of occasions. Why do you discriminate against Austrian companies through higher taxes? And if there is a case before the European Court of Justice, then there is also harassment against these companies. That doesn't bother Mr Vilimsky. This bothers me, because I am the lawyer for the Austrian companies. You spoke of competition …

8

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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The democratic backsliding and threats to political pluralism in Georgia (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner! We're talking about Georgia, but we're talking about Europe. We are talking about right-wing extremists talking about Georgia's sovereignty, but we think Georgia should submit to Putin. They are against foreign influences and at the same time they are happy about Putin's influences. They are pleased that Georgia has passed a Russian law that harms Georgians. These gentl…

8

Oct

2024

RO Speech

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Strengthening Moldova's resilience against Russian interference ahead of the upcoming presidential elections and a constitutional referendum on EU integration (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, we Europeans love liberal democracy. The Moldovans are Europeans, so they also love democracy. On the other hand, Putin – there's nothing more than he hates than our democracy, and because Moldova is a democratic country, he also hates Moldova. So the Kremlin sends titushky, brutal street gangs, to hijack the pro-European government. He spreads propaganda and lies throu…

7

Oct

2024

DE Speech

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The reintroduction of internal border controls in a number of Member States and its impact on the Schengen Area (debate)

Mr President! The borderless Europe is not a dream, but we already had this reality. But unfortunately, as Mr Negrescu has rightly said, fear of right-wing populists has meant that we have not allowed Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen area. Representatives of Romania and Bulgaria demonstrated in Vienna that it makes sense to no longer control the borders within the two countries, but to make …

18

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus

Madam President, Commissioner, I'm thinking about Sergei Tikhanovsky and all the other prisoners, and especially about their families. I'm in regular contact with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and she gave me a short message for all of you: 'Belarusians are Europeans. We share the same values and dreams. And one day, Belarus will take our rightful place in the European family.' But until then, we have to…

18

Sep

2024

DE Speech

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The devastating floods in Central and Eastern Europe, the loss of lives and the EU’s preparedness to act on such disasters exacerbated by climate change (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen! First of all, of course, we all have sympathy for the victims of the floods in Central Europe, in Eastern Europe, but of course also for the victims of the fire in Portugal. The EU is a community of solidarity, which is why it is now being held together. I hope the help works quickly. But I also have to tell you, the help among each other, the help of the peo…

17

Sep

2024

DE Speech

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Continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, first of all, our Ukrainian fellow citizens need us. We have to support them with weapons because they have to defend themselves, and we have to support them with a lot of humanitarian aid. Second, we need our Ukrainian fellow citizens because they are defending European values. They are defending Europe at the same time as they defend their country. What Putin did w…