Speeches

Madam President, we thought we had learned the lessons of 'Qatargate', but no: it is the return of the seals to the European Parliament. The investigation into the Huawei case reveals that MEPs allegedly accepted between EUR 1 500 and EUR 15 000 to sign a letter in favour of Huawei, which described the European regulation of 5G as technological racism against China. On the Huawei side, we assume. Moreover, we even pay for amendments, they say. I do not have strong enough words to express my disgust at the corruption and greed of some Members of this Chamber. They tarnish the image of our institution and further undermine the trust people place in their political representatives. In this case, corruption comes from a former parliamentary assistant who went to work at Huawei. Could we know in full transparency how many former employees, MEPs, Commissioners have gone to work at Huawei? Secondly, we want the new EU ethics body, which seems so disturbing to the right and far right in this Chamber, to finally be created. Finally, we must give the means to the rules we set ourselves to be applied. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the judiciary and the European Public Prosecutor's Office by finally extending its area of competence to corruption cases.

Mr. Speaker, this is the story of a mother who intervenes between the militiamen who forced the door of her home and her two daughters of 10 and 17 years old: "If anyone is to be raped here, let it be me." This is the story of eight boys who went to pick up fruit, were ambushed, threatened with a weapon and raped. One of them was six years old. This is the story of 130 women who, last October, preferred to commit suicide collectively, rather than live broken in an annihilated country where they would be fatally raped. This is the tragedy of Sudan: 60,000 dead, 14 million injured, mass sexual violence, gang rape, forced marriage, kidnapping and sexual slavery. It is the litany of gender-based violence in Sudan today that is clearly aimed at the physical and moral annihilation of an entire population. When I hear that in this Chamber some of the Members are refusing to let us talk about the sexual and reproductive rights of Sudanese women, their right to contraception and abortion, I tremble with shame, because they do not know that women who get pregnant there after being raped go so far as to kill themselves or be denied by their own families. We must see that at the bedside of the militias of Sudan, there are foreign countries that supply them with weapons. We expect the European Commission to finally enforce the arms embargo, which has been in place since 2004 and is still not accepted. Every effort must be made to end the tragedy of Sudanese women and men.

Madam President, Donald Trump's sanctions against the International Criminal Court, heir to the Nuremberg Tribunal, are an unprecedented attack on international justice. It is also a new test for Europe. Are we going to let this fascinated drift deprive the victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes of justice? ICC judges are punished as criminals when they only enforce the law. They are often the only hope for martyred peoples and torn victims, which obviously Trump has nothing to do with. We know Donald Trump has problems with justice, but we won't let him trash everything. Europe must react clearly and firmly. It must protect the Court and its judges by activating the blocking regulation to counter the effect of US sanctions. This should not even be debated. Otherwise, what will we say to Ukrainian mothers whose children have been deported to Russia, if the court cannot continue its actions against Vladimir Putin? What will we say to Afghan women, walled in alive, who are hoping for justice after the court issued an arrest warrant against the Taliban? What will we say to the starving, bombed Palestinian civilians who are waiting for justice? Mr. Trump, you and your supporters are gargle to blow a wind of freedom on the world. The only freedom you breathe is the freedom of criminals. And here we will always stand with the victims and survivors...

Madam President, Cécile Kohler is a French teacher. Jacques Paris is a retired professor of mathematics. Olivier Grondeau is a seasoned traveler and lover of Iranian culture. He's my age, 33. More than two years ago, Cécile, Jacques and Olivier were brutally arrested during a tourist trip to Iran. Since then, they have been imprisoned by the Iranian regime on false charges of conspiracy against the Islamic Republic and espionage. No trial, no evidence, and detention conditions that amount to torture: placed in isolation in cells without furniture, windows, illuminated and monitored 24 hours a day, where they live and sleep on the floor. They can only get out three times a week for 30 minutes to get some fresh air. Why do they suffer this slow death? For nothing: Our compatriots are being held hostage, no more and no less. They are used by the Iranian regime as an instrument of blackmail against us. Here's the modus operandi a regime that has no respect for life and kills its children on a daily basis. I cannot imagine how Cécile, Jacques and Olivier feel from the back of their prison, with no prospect of getting out, but here I can call for the European Union to call for their immediate and unconditional release. For Cécile, for Jacques, for Olivier.

Mr President, 2024 was the warmest year on record, and the 1.5 degree warming threshold was exceeded. This has direct consequences, which we know: they are droughts, mega-fires, floods, cyclones, destroying habitats, displacing thousands of people and costing billions of euros. And it is always the most vulnerable who suffer the most from the consequences of global warming: 80% of heat-related deaths affect countries in the South, while by 2025 the world’s richest 1% of people had already exhausted their carbon budget – within 10 days. So, in the face of global warming, which knows no borders, we have never needed more cooperation between states. Ecology is inherently incompatible with the logic of everyone for themselves and the aggressive pursuit of the national interest. Yet a man, Donald Trump, has just been appointed President of the United States, for whom international relations rhyme with intimidation and brutality. He announced that he would dismantle the standards that protect nature, relaunch fossil fuel drilling or withdraw subsidies for renewable energy. Tomorrow, he may tell us that if the Earth is no longer habitable, we will be able to live on Mars. Against cynicism and the denial of global warming, Europe must be able to protect itself and intervene...

Mr President, in the early days of this truce between Israel and Hamas, I think of the Israeli hostages and their families as I think of the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians killed and those who survive today in a destroyed world. The terrorist attacks of 7 October were unbearable. They had to be condemned unambiguously, as Israel’s reply, which killed tens of thousands and destroyed entire parts of the Gaza Strip, including hospitals, schools and refugee camps, had to be condemned without stuttering. If one were to agree that the mass killings of Hamas were not an act of resistance, one must also be able to say that Israel’s reply was not self-defence. I denounce the moral and political bankruptcy of those who have not been able to hold these two ends, who have never ceased to have empathy with variable geometry – and there were many of them, in our European societies and in this Chamber. But it is not too late. This truce in Gaza is fragile, and it is now time to put pressure on it to last. Benjamin Netanyahu has already announced the colour, as he gives himself the opportunity to resume hostilities when he wishes. Once the ceasefire is permanently established, the time will come for justice and then for peace. I will always stand with those who want to find a solution so that the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in security and equal freedom side by side. The security of some depends on the freedom of others, and vice versa.

Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, corruption of public officials and politicians is a direct threat to democracy. This is an offence against the people. It undermines trust and weakens the public interest by diverting public funds and decisions to private interests. Corruption scandals are numerous, and I mean they are not isolated facts. They are the product of a system that allows these abuses because there are not strict enough rules to fight against conflicts of interest and corruption, both in the Member States of the European Union and in the European institutions where we are. I can tell you about the "Qatargate". I could also mention a case at home, in France, where the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, has just been sentenced today to one year in prison for corruption and trading in influence. I can tell you about Didier Reynders – colleagues mentioned this – or Henrik Hololei, a former Director-General in charge of transport at the Commission, who was offered several round trips in business class by the airline Qatar Airways, at the same time as he was negotiating the opening of European airspace for the same airline – and this gentleman is still working at the European Commission! Soon we will have to vote on a directive on the fight against corruption in Europe and in the European institutions. As one of the negotiators of this directive, I encourage this Parliament to adopt the strictest and most effective rules possible. We must raise the voice of European citizens, who want to be exemplary in the face of Member States that will do everything possible to empty this text of its substance. The anti-corruption arsenal will have to be strengthened, as it is the means for the money powers and also for hostile foreign powers to enslave us for their benefit. Repression will not be enough. We must also prevent corruption upstream, with strong preventive measures to combat conflicts of interest, back and forth between the public and the private sector, to make appointments transparent, in short, to decide to put an end to corruption, because if we do not act, we will lose our credibility and the trust of our fellow citizens.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, ten years after what has been dubbed the ‘umbrella revolution’ in Hong Kong in 2014, one thing is clear: the situation in Hong Kong continues to deteriorate, it is catastrophic. For the demonstrators, the umbrellas were not just a poetic gesture, it was a necessity to allow them to protect their faces from tear gas or facial recognition, an over-equipped police force determined to fight. The urgent resolution we are considering calls for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai and the 47 from Hong Kong, the activists among the most well-known figures in this pro-democracy movement. There are eight women and 39 men, aged between 14 and 80. Jimmy Lai and the Hong Kong 47 are sentenced to up to ten years in prison simply for protesting. Most were intimidated to the point of pleading guilty and they pay a heavy price for expressing their opinion and daring to oppose the Chinese ogre. In total, there are hundreds of people arrested, registered, imprisoned for defending a democratic ideal. Today, the observation is clear: China did not keep the promise to maintain a democratic system in Hong Kong until 2047, a promise that was at the heart of the British government's handover of Hong Kong in 1997. And China is locking up those who oppose it. The European Union must always stand by those who defend freedom of expression, democracy, the freedom to inform, to demonstrate and to express themselves, because these demonstrators are not just defending themselves, but also defending our interests and those of all democrats around the world. We must therefore state loud and clear that China's decision to impose the national security law on Hong Kong is a violation of international law and human rights, that EU member states must be called upon to take China to the International Court of Justice and that sanctions must be applied against Chinese and Hong Kong leaders.

Madam President, since 1970, global biodiversity has collapsed by 68%. Nearly one in three tree species on earth is threatened with extinction. Wild vertebrate populations are declining extremely sharply and human activity has degraded more than 70% of glaciers. The collapse of biodiversity is an existential crisis for humanity. We depend on her to feed us, to make our medicines, to amaze us too. The first COP on biodiversity took place in 1994. Here we are sixteen COPs later, in 2024, with a whole bunch of new targets to meet by 2030. One of these goals was to mobilize $200 billion a year to safeguard biodiversity. This was the main objective of this COP, in Cali, and by the end of the summit in early November, only $0.4 billion had been raised out of a total of $200 billion. Yes, 0.4, a figure that I must mirror with the fact that, a few days later, as a result of the election of Donald Trump, Elon Musk's fortune jumped by $41 billion, a surge comparable to all the greatest fortunes on the planet at the same time. We live by and in nature: If we do not live in harmony with it, we will perish with it.

Mr President, Victoria Rochtchyna was 27 years old. She was a journalist, had been imprisoned by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine for a year and died on 10 October. His death is in addition to that of 25 Ukrainian prisoners of war, executed by the Russian army since the beginning of October. A total of 177 Ukrainian POWs have been killed by the Russian army since February 2022. This is only a manifestation of Russia’s long-standing disregard for international law, and in particular for the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which are supposed to set limits to the barbarity of war and protect civilians, humanitarian personnel and prisoners of war. The Russian army’s war crimes continue because they go unpunished. Impunity has been the bedrock of Russian imperialism for several centuries. There has never been any remembrance of the crimes of the former USSR or the colonization of its territories, which always follow the same pattern: rape, deportation of indigenous peoples and forced russification. As far as Ukraine is concerned, the European Parliament has asked for this on several occasions, and we will repeat it as many times as necessary: Russia must be held accountable before the International Criminal Court. We call for the establishment of an ad hoc international tribunal to investigate and prosecute the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine and end impunity.

Mr President, Commissioner, the rule of law is fragile and in Europe it is in danger. Inherited from our history, the Enlightenment and our great democratic revolutions, it is now questioned by those who would like to be able to lock up exiles, exclude homosexuals, allow corruption and bring justice to justice. In short, it is questioned by the extreme right. In France, we have a new interior minister who recently declared that the rule of law is, I quote, "neither sacred nor intangible." We can see the ideological influence of Viktor Orbán, whom we received in this Parliament this morning. It must be remembered that a democracy without the rule of law is not a democracy. In your report on the rule of law, Commissioner, which is a valuable contribution, you are devoting chapters to judicial independence, corruption and media pluralism, but no chapter is devoted to the fight against discrimination, including hate speech, especially against minorities, or how environmental and human rights defenders are criminalised in Europe. We think it's a failure. My question is simple: Will you give yourself the means to analyse the situation of human rights defenders and the level of discrimination in each Member State, be it xenophobia, anti-Semitism, racism or homophobia?

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, since 23 September, a huge death machine has moved from Gaza to Lebanon. Israel's strikes against Hezbollah have already killed 1,400 people, including children, medical personnel and firefighters; 1.2 million people, including 350,000 children, had to leave their homes. Have we lost our humanity to the point of considering it to be self-defense? Make no mistake, this is the same pattern that led to the near-destruction of Gaza in repeated disregard for the international rules that govern conflicts, without Israel achieving its war goals, that is, the release of hostages or the destruction of Hamas, because we do not fight terrorism by destroying territory, by destroying its youth and its schools. This is where impunity leads. Netanyahu has ignored calls for a ceasefire by the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, rulings by the International Criminal Court, and now even considers the UN Secretary-General to be persona non grata. He chooses the forward flight. I want to make it clear here that Israel's response to Hezbollah's rockets does not give the right to kill thousands of Lebanese civilians, to destroy entire buildings, neighborhoods, infrastructure...

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Captain Paul Watson is 73 years old and has dedicated his life to protecting the oceans. His missions with Sea Shepherd have removed more than 5,000 whales from the Japanese harpoon. And yet, while he has worked in the interest of humanity, he has been imprisoned for 60 days in Greenland pending possible extradition to Japan. The same country continues to fish for protected cetaceans for commercial purposes, such as fin whales, only a few days ago, and it is true that this had not happened in nearly 50 years. What is this world where we lock up environmental defenders while biodiversity collapses, while states and multinationals that kill biodiversity go unpunished? On the one hand, we have lost 70% of vertebrate species and 49% of marine species in less than 50 years, and on the other hand, environmental defenders and advocates are increasingly being criminalized. Nearly 2,000 of these defenders were killed between 2012 and 2022. So the Paul Watson case is not isolated and I denounce here the misuse of the Interpol Red Notices which are supposed to fight against terrorism and serious crime, and certainly not against those who defend the living and our common humanity. Captain Paul Watson must be released.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime is bringing the hatred of women to its climax. Over the past three years, 28 million Afghan women have been gradually removed from public space, deprived of education, forced to completely veil their bodies and cover their faces. This August, the Taliban passed a new law to promote virtue and prevent vice. For the Taliban, virtue means prohibiting women from singing, reciting poetry and reading aloud in public, putting on makeup, wearing perfume and even looking at a man who is not from their family. This is gender apartheid and one could even speak of genocide, a patriarchal mass crime. Afghan women are locked in themselves, their mental health is deteriorating. There are many suicides, but a whole country is unscrewing. I ask the question: How much should we hate women to deprive them of education, to erase their bodies, to not tolerate them singing, to speak in public as I do here, or to control where their eyes are? The ideology of the Taliban is the misogyny carried to the supreme stage, the same misogyny that has been killing for millennia and will continue to kill if we do not stop it, whatever form it takes. So, for Afghan women, we call on the countries of the world not to normalize their relations with the Taliban regime. We call for gender apartheid to be enshrined in international law as a crime against humanity. And if in Afghanistan the voice of women is eradicated, let us make it heard in this Chamber, let us be the relay.