What Ondřej spoke about.

17

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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

Madam President, the last European dictator is not ashamed of anything, including imprisoning children. That is a shame. We denounce that, of course. But let's be honest to ourselves – are we doing enough to break him and his regime and help the democratic transition of Belarus? There are European companies actively doing business in Belarus. There are EU members who actively trade with Belarus. H…

16

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

Madam President, advocating for EU enlargement is becoming harder and harder, unfortunately. I would say that it's mainly due to many false narratives and, I'm not afraid to say, disinformation, many of which we've heard today during the debate – narratives that say that actually wanting the candidates to align with the EU acquis, to make some reforms, is interfering with their inner politics and …

16

Jun

2026

EN Speech

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An EU future for the Western Balkans (joint debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my colleague rapporteurs for helping me drafting this report and actually to everyone who contributed to this report because, honestly speaking, drafting a report on a country like Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite a bit of a challenge due to the many problems and to the problems that the…

18

Dec

2025

EN Speech

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30th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, Dayton was a historical achievement. That is without doubt. Anything that ends wars and brings peace is an achievement that should be praised. However, it also delivered a provisional agreement which we have been living with for the past 30 years. Unfortunately, the country is still divided. There are still tensions in society. The constituent peoples s…

17

Dec

2025

CS Speech

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Cases of pro-Russian espionage in the European Parliament (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I regret to say that I do not know how many of you know what it feels like to have a warrant issued for your arrest in Russia and to have you put in jail for five years. When the police are watching you every step of the way because you face death threats. When your secretaries from the envelopes they open, patrons or white powder fall out. When…

16

Dec

2025

EN Speech

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Continuous Belarusian hybrid attacks against Lithuania (debate)

Mr President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I am very glad that a majority of us no longer reject the mere existence of hybrid threats. I am, though, a bit saddened that it took us quite a long time to realise that these things exist, and that a number of Member States had to be subject to serious hybrid attacks from Russia and Belarus. Today it is Lithuania, a country which hosts a big Belarusia…

26

Nov

2025

EN Speech

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EU response to the continuous airspace violations and sabotage of critical infrastructure in the EU originating from Russia and Belarus (debate)

Madam President, when we speak about hybrid warfare, hybrid actions, many people say that they don't exist, that it's some kind of surreal thing. But during the past 20 years, Europe has experienced a series of covert attacks on infrastructure and strategic targets, with a marked increase after 2022. Western authorities have attributed incidents such as arson, assassinations, explosions, acts of v…

22

Oct

2025

EN Answer

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Situation in Belarus, five years after the fraudulent presidential elections (debate)

I'm convinced it is our duty to stand up against those who deprive people of their rights, and that is what Alexander Lukashenka is doing. He is stealing the lives of Belarusians from them, and we, as a Union, who believe in human rights, who share certain values, must speak up for such people who are being suppressed by an autocratic regime.…

22

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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Situation in Belarus, five years after the fraudulent presidential elections (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, later today we will be joined by the legitimate president of Belarus, together with her husband, a political prisoner, five years of whose life were stolen because he dared to oppose an autocrat. I was thinking of speaking about the necessity to protect democracy and human rights, freedom in all its forms, about the necessity to help those who do not enjoy living …

21

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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Stepping up funding for Ukraine’s reconstruction and defence: the use of Russian frozen assets (debate)

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I think that without exaggeration it can be said that the fate of Ukraine's defence capabilities and reconstruction possibilities now lies in Belgian hands. We are running out of cash, and the only way to effectively continue helping Ukraine is to use frozen Russian assets – not just the interest, but the assets themselves. Speaking of military aid, 60 % of a…

7

Oct

2025

EN Speech

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EU political strategy on Latin America (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, I am very well aware of the fact that we are discussing our approach toward the whole region, but I would like to focus on, or point out, one particular country and one overlooked fact. The country is Venezuela and the fact is that there are 41 EU citizens from 12 EU Member States who have now, for more than a year, been imprisoned by Maduro's regime…

8

Sep

2025

EN Speech

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President, dear colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to a sad fact that there are a number of EU citizens being jailed in Venezuela. Some of them have been held captive for more than a year now, and their families have turned to the EU institutions for help. But – honestly, to my shock – they have received letters full of empty phrases. These people do not need indefinite phrases. Th…

8

Jul

2025

EN Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Georgia (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, I will be a little bit critical now. During the debate about Bosnia and Herzegovina, I said that we need to do everything to make sure that we oppose Russia when it tells countries aiming for EU accession that the EU is not an option. I said that we must show that the EU is the best option. I am afraid we failed to do this in Georgia. Look at th…

8

Jul

2025

EN Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, you mentioned the commemoration of Srebrenica on Friday. Honestly, I will be there too, but I would be much happier to visit the country on a more cheerful occasion than this one. Thank you all for your remarks. I think that I won't hurt anyone's feelings when I say that we share a productive approach and that is very, very good. I see also that we share the und…

8

Jul

2025

EN Speech

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2023 and 2024 reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, the report on the 2023 and 2024 Commission reports on Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first report since the election of this House. Now, the main aim of the report was to show strong support for Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession path. The country is not just some country we don't know much about, but pretend to care about. Bosnia and Herzegovina…

7

Jul

2025

EN Speech

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Commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, this week we commemorate the horrors that happened 30 years ago in Srebrenica and those who have lost their lives – only because they believed in something else than their murderers. We have spent these 30 years convincing ourselves that nothing like that should happen again, only to watch new atrocities happening around the world. The innoce…

1

Apr

2025

EN Answer

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Dramatic situation in Gaza and the need for an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement (debate)

I don't agree with you that Israel would be feeding Hamas and Israel is not Benjamin Netanyahu. I never said that. I think that it's up to the Israelis to choose between a prime minister who has gone a bit wild, I would say, and someone who would have the approach of his predecessors, who were much more successful in the solving or the solution of this very complex and difficult question.…

1

Apr

2025

EN Speech

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Dramatic situation in Gaza and the need for an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement (debate)

Madam President, dear High Commissioner, dear colleagues, I think that we tend to have this debate or take it from the bad end. And, you know, we sometimes tend to discuss who is the one to be blamed, who is the one behind this conflict. And many people say it's Israel. Israel who is stealing land from the Palestinians, who is preventing them from enjoying their freedoms and all that. I think the …

1

Apr

2025

EN Speech

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Safeguarding the access to democratic media, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (debate)

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, I can see that the debate about freedom of speech and all the freedoms that we value and cherish can be pretty tough. I would say that the Radio Free Europe is a matter of the heart for people from Central and Eastern Europe and from the Balkans as well, because it served as a window into the free world for the people of countries that were under c…

12

Mar

2025

CS Speech

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Secessionist threats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the recent escalation (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I admit to you that I am amazed that there are still people among us who claim and are convinced that Russia is not our enemy, that it does us no harm, that we are not at war with it. Unfortunately, we are at war with him, we are at war with him in a hybrid war that is being fought, among other things, in the Balkans. And I wonder if the s…

21

Jan

2025

EN Speech

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Need for actions to address the continued oppression and fake elections in Belarus (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, four years ago, Aliaksandr Lukashenka stole the election from the Belarusian people and proclaimed himself a president for the sixth time. Since then, the repressions against his own people have hardened. The regime brutally suppressed all protests. Freedoms which we enjoy and are used to in our society simply ceased to exist in Belarus. Many of…

26

Nov

2024

EN Speech

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Reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, I think we are very good in producing various resolutions and condemning everything that we can. But I remember or recall that there were times in the past, not too long ago, when these resolutions and proclamations of outrage and condemnation were somehow backed up by concrete, real action. And what about now? As I said, we have numerous proclamations, we have va…

23

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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EU actions against the Russian shadow fleets and ensuring a full enforcement of sanctions against Russia (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, I have to be honest that I hate listening to lamentations about things being too complicated or impossible. We cannot on one hand assert electromobility and on the other overlook floating ecological time bombs which Putin sails across the seas. We repeatedly put ourselves one step behind those who endanger us and our friends by being unable to adopt solutions that…

8

Oct

2024

EN Speech

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

Mr President, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I would firstly like to remind my colleague that it's actually Russia that is interfering with Georgian affairs, because Russia is occupying one fifth of Georgian territory. Anyway, two years ago, when I was in Georgia with our national parliamentary delegation, during the meetings that we had with officials, members of the opposition and the ci…

18

Sep

2024

EN Speech

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The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, I am very grateful that we are speaking about this topic, because these types of declarations and resolutions are very necessary and most needed because they show that we care. The only thing I'm asking myself from time to time is if they are enough, if we are doing enough, and if everything that we do works. Because whenever I talk to Sviatl…