Speeches

Dear Madam President, Fidesz MP András László serves Russian interests even on the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes of 1956. In September 2021, the Director-General of the Hungarian National Security Service reported that the Russian secret service had compromised the communication system of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More than 4,000 workstations and more than 900 servers were affected. The Russian intelligence services had access to all sensitive data. Despite this, after three years, the Hungarian government has not provided an answer as to how this could have happened and what steps it has taken to prevent further intrusions. On behalf of the Hungarian people and all European citizens, I call on you to stand up for whose interests you are serving and how you are defending sovereignty, while at the same time leaving our country and Europe at the mercy of Russia. We cannot allow Fidesz to desecrate the memory of the 1956 heroes over and over again!

Dear Mr President, October 10 is World Mental Health Day. Mental health, that is, brain health, is a fundamental right for all people in neurological and mental terms. Research shows that one in four people in Europe suffers from mental health problems in their lifetime. In other words, in Europe, on our continent, more than 100 million people are affected by mental health problems. As a doctor in Hungary, I have had the opportunity to experience the increasing challenges of providing care for elderly people with dementia, increasing depression among working-age adults, and the limited rehabilitation of Hungarians suffering from mental illness. Healthcare professionals, nurses and relatives caring for their family members are under increasing pressure every day. Depression has been one of the leading causes of unemployment across Europe since the COVID-19 outbreak. In Hungary, this situation is exacerbated by political and social circumstances. There is no better proof of this than that Hungary has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. In our country there are only eight psychiatrists per 100,000 people. This is far less than the EU average. Furthermore, psychotherapy, which is an essential treatment for anxiety and mood disorders, is largely inaccessible in the public service system. EU countries are not investing enough in mental health, which is one of the biggest challenges of our time. It is time for greater support for large-scale research, more dedicated resources and a unified EU strategy.

Dear Madam President, Before I was elected to the European Parliament, I worked as a surgeon in Hungary. In a country without basic medical supplies, without toilet paper and without soap in hospitals, where health indicators are deteriorating year after year, where tens of thousands of nurses and thousands of doctors are missing from the health care system. Most medical devices are ageing, and underfunded healthcare facilities cannot finance new devices because they owe billions to suppliers. It is not a very encouraging situation for my country's ageing society. The EU revision of the Medical Devices Regulation is a very important matter that cannot be postponed. Urgent action is needed to ensure that patients continue to have access to life-saving and quality-of-life technologies not only in Hungary but also in Europe. We need to make licensing predictable, more transparent and more efficient. If we do not simplify certification processes, reduce administrative burdens and harmonise national regulations, we will lose valuable time and even lives. These measures are essential to keep innovative products in the EU and make them available. Immediate action is vital for the recovery of patients and to support the work of healthcare professionals, because in an operating room, in a critical situation, one thing matters: Is there a way to save the patient's life or not?