Speeches

Madam President, Profit slump at Mercedes and Porsche; Volkswagen is cutting 35,000 jobs; thyssenkrupp is discontinuing its steel production. Six years ago, Mrs. von der Leyen, here at this point you Green Deal proclaimed: Europe should become climate neutral, combustion engines should be banned, and today you have confirmed this once again. We can already see the result: German industry is no longer competitive; A quarter of a million jobs have been lost. For your second term of office, you have set yourself a great goal again: Victory over Russia. Your commission has already transferred 169 billion euros to Kyiv, to a thoroughly corrupt system. In Germany, the cash registers are empty; Shopping in the supermarket becomes unaffordable; More and more families cannot afford their own homes. Retirees need to collect bottles. But you, Mrs von der Leyen, want 2,000 billion euros for your next budget. EUR 500 billion of debt should be added as an emergency reserve for future crises – and yes, these crises will certainly come, because your Commission will only create the crises it claims to solve. Donald Trump has faked how to deal with megalomaniac world leaders like Ursula von der Leyen: He put them outside the door, and we should do the same.

Madam President, Since Hamas' attack on Israel, the European Union has paid over 1.6 billion euros to Gaza; Germany has added another billion. Without German taxpayers' money, the Palestinians would not be able to feed themselves. This was the case before the war. Nothing is produced in Gaza. Two-thirds of the food must be imported. EU assistance has led to an unprecedented population explosion in Gaza: In 2000, just over one million people lived there, compared to 2.3 million today, a doubling in just 25 years. Nowhere else in the world is the population growing as fast as in Gaza, despite the war. Every woman has between three and four children. I must say that I admire the Palestinians for their wealth of children, but I want us to be able to afford that wealth. That is why we must stop the aid payments, because German taxpayers' money is supposed to serve German families. I want young Europeans to dare to start a family again. We need to invest in our future, not the baby boom in Palestine.

Madam President, The EU has transferred €169 billion to Kyiv over the past three years, Ms Kallas has just said so. Ms Kallas has also announced that Europe will no longer import Russian gas from 2027. What you have not mentioned, however, Mrs Kallas, are the consequences of your policy. In Germany, the chemical industry is being destroyed as a result of your policies. As a result of far too high energy prices, there are mass layoffs at Bayer, BASF, etc. Thousands of families in Leverkusen, Ludwigshafen and Bitterfeld are deprived of their livelihoods because of their policies. With full hands, you spend money, which is actually no longer available. Yesterday in France, the government collapsed because they could not agree on a savings budget. The federal government in Germany is desperately looking for new sources of income. The Chancellor says the Germans have to work more, the Germans should not retire until 70. The welfare state can no longer be financed, says Friedrich Merz. This distinction here in this House in Strasbourg, but also in Berlin, surprises me anew every time. The disrespect, your disrespect for the people who have to fund all this here, that's why my party is so strong in the polls. The pitcher goes to the well until it breaks.

Madam President, Ms von der Leyen wants to pay €1 billion to the government in Albania – to the Socialist Party. It was elected in May, but it has little to do with democracy. Prime Minister Edi Rama has political opponents locked away, international election observers criticize mass vote purchases, there is hardly any freedom of the press, TikTok was banned in the election campaign. In economic terms, Albania mainly benefits from international drug trafficking. With extreme brutality, the Albanian mafia controls the trade in cocaine and marijuana in Europe. Many billions of euros flow to Tirana every year – skyscrapers and glass palaces sprout from the ground like in Dubai. The government is involved in this business, corruption is widespread. Even the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation of the German Left Party speaks of, quote, ‘the kleptocratic control of the state by the Socialist Party’. Experts therefore call Albania a mafia state – the Colombia of Europe. This country now wants to welcome Ms von der Leyen into the European Union. I ask you: What is the added value for our citizens? Why should German taxpayers finance the luxury lives of corrupt politicians and mafia bosses in Albania? We won't do that. We say no to Albania's accession to the EU and we say no to this Commission.

Madam President, 8 000 Bosnian Muslims murdered by Bosnian Serbs under the eyes of the UN Blue Helmets – that is now 30 years ago. Srebrenica is the worst crime against humanity since the end of World War II. Much has been said since then about the failure of the international community, about the failure of the Dutch peacekeeping force, but that is wrong. Americans, British and French had agreed in advance not to fly airstrikes against the Bosnian Serbs, according to the protocols of the Clinton administration’s National Security Council. Dutch and Bosnian Muslims were helpless at the mercy of Serbian troops. Srebrenica should therefore be a lesson for all of us: We can save ourselves the talk of international law if we do not have the means of power to enforce this right. There is no international order without a power of order that can guarantee this order. 400 BC Thucydides wrote: The strong do what they want, and the weak suffer what they need. That was 2,500 years ago, and it is today. We Europeans must defend our interests together so that this never happens again. We have to say goodbye to unrealistic daydreams. But that is not the case with this commission.

Mr President! Germany is broke. Pension insurance is bankrupt, health and long-term care insurance – bankrupt, unemployment insurance – bankrupt. We Germans pay the highest taxes in the world, 1000 billion euros a year, and yet there are no corners and ends. Bridges and roads are dilapidated, schools are dilapidated, over 7 million pensioners have less than 1000 euros a month, there is hardly any home ownership. At the same time, we also pay the highest contribution to the EU, by far, almost 30 billion euros a year, even though, according to the European Central Bank, we are one of the poorest countries in Europe. But instead of easing the burden on German taxpayers, you always want to impose new burdens on us. Moldova, Albania or Ukraine should now become members of the European Union, because Ms von der Leyen hopes for more weight on the world political stage. This will not work; We Germans will no longer let us be plundered. We're going to turn off your megalomania. You can count on that, because that's what my party is elected for. Please tell your Commission President: Whoever is to perish will be arrogant beforehand, and arrogance will come before the fall.

Mr President! Ms von der Leyen has made the continuous enlargement of the EU a strategic priority of her term of office; The Commission expects this to be of greater foreign policy importance. The EU needed to become larger and more members, so that Ms von der Leyen could play a more important role on the world stage. Therefore, in addition to Ukraine, Moldova should also be included in the EU. What kind of country is this? Moldova has been in a deep economic and social crisis for years. The economy has been shrinking for three quarters, even worse than in Germany. Inflation is high, with food nearly 10%. Moldova is also a very corrupt country – 30 years of reform partnership with the EU have done nothing. I therefore ask the Commission: What is the added value for our citizens? Why should our taxpayers transfer €2 billion to Moldova? How do you make sure this money doesn't disappear into the pockets of corrupt oligarchs? We have enough construction sites in Germany, France or Poland. If you take in more and more members, then the shop here will fly around your ears, and that's exactly what we want to prevent. Therefore: Moldova cannot become a member of the EU.

Madam President, Ten injured police officers, one official half-dead: This is the conclusion of a demo for Palestine last week in Berlin. Yes, the war in Gaza is terrible – we condemn both the 7 October massacre and the bombing of civilians by the Israeli Air Force. But: This conflict must not be fought on German roads. Anyone who attacks and hurts German police officers is wrong with us. Since October 7, Jewish life in Germany is only possible with police protection. In Berlin alone, 500 police officers are deployed around the clock to protect synagogues. Christians are also being attacked more and more often, or women, or gays. The violence on German streets is escalating, and the CDU is responsible. Angela Merkel brought the Intifada to Berlin because she did not want to close Germany's borders, because she does not care about the fate of the Germans. And Friedrich Merz continues in the same way: Refugees are to be flown in directly from Gaza. Colleagues! Our concern should be less about the Middle East than Europe. If we do not return soon, we will lose our homeland. There are majorities in favour of better policies, including in this House. Let's finally tackle it!

Mr President! In 2011, the CDU decided to shut down all German nuclear power plants, and in 2020 the shutdown of all coal-fired power plants by 2035 at the latest. Since then, Germany no longer has a reliable energy supply. The resulting supply gaps were closed with gas, and this came from Russia. This dependence has not changed to this day, only the gas is no longer coming from Russia, but from America at even higher prices. This misery is due to political wrong decisions such as the energy transition and Green Deal. We pay the highest electricity prices worldwide, our industry is migrating. More than five million Germans can no longer heat their homes in winter. Ms von der Leyen now wants to fill the gas storage facilities and ban the import of Russian gas. We do not see this as a long-term solution. We also want to be independent. It is only necessary to clearly identify the causes of the existing dependencies. Those who shut down domestic energy sources such as coal or low-cost nuclear power plants should not be surprised if prices rise and supply bottlenecks arise. The solution to the energy crisis is therefore not import bans or gas stocks. The solution would be to reverse the completely pointless climate policy.

Mr President! 26 years ago, NATO bombed Belgrade – Clinton wanted to force Serbia to withdraw from Kosovo. Support came from Germany from Joschka Fischer. The war in Kosovo was the first combat mission of German soldiers since 1945. A war of aggression in violation of international law without a UN mandate, decided by a green foreign minister. It was the prelude to a foreign policy that knows no rules and has severely damaged Germany's standing in the world. Fifteen tons of uranium-containing bombs were dropped over Serbia, resulting in frequent cancers. This is green policy. At home you are against nuclear power, abroad you drop nuclear-contaminated bombs. Green politicians only come from international law if it suits them right now. Today, Kosovo is a Failed state – Almost a quarter of the population has left the country, with over three billion euros of EU funding being wasted. The Federal Intelligence Service calls Kosovo the hub of organised crime in Europe. You want to take this country into the EU now? Not with us. 26 years after the attack on Serbia, we must see: It was a mistake. It was a mistake to leave the Greens to the government.

Mr President! German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel spent a year in prison in Istanbul – Erdoğan’s judges accused him of terrorist propaganda. Two years earlier, the EU Commission had transferred 6 billion euros to Turkey for the care of Syrian refugees. Only last December Mrs von der Leyen added another 1 billion because we are still unable to protect our borders ourselves. We now see a similar case in Algeria. For refugees, the Algerian president has received millions from the EU, although Algeria earns a lot of money from the export of gas. The writer Sansal has been imprisoned for six months now – and the Algerian president also cares little about teachings from Brussels. Why too? The cancellation of the election in Romania, the cold position of Le Pen in France or the spying on the AfD in Germany show that freedom and democracy are under existential threat here in Europe. Before we give good advice to the rest of the world today, we should therefore first turn around at our own door. We must defend our democracy in Europe against its enemies in Berlin, Paris and Brussels.

Madam President, Congo is a resource-rich country – for years, Chinese and Americans, Russians and Europeans have been fighting over natural resources. Only 12 months ago, Brussels concluded a raw material deal with Rwanda – the deal also promised the supply of rare earths. The problem only: Rwanda has no rare earths at all, but must first capture them in eastern Congo. In January, the fighting there escalated, the whole region is in danger of sinking into chaos. The war in the Congo is also the result of a foreign policy that is completely foreign to the world – over €1 billion has been flowing from Brussels to the Congo in the last 15 years for development aid that does nothing and seeps into the pockets of corrupt politicians. And that's the problem. While the Chinese have contractually secured access to Congo's natural resources, we are sending money for the climate and have failed to establish reasonable trade relations. 60% of the cobalt in Chinese electric cars comes from Congo, while our automotive industry is no longer competitive. Therefore: We need a realistic foreign policy. We should save ourselves development aid in the future, because we now need it ourselves.

Madam President, Ms von der Leyen needs money – €800 billion for rearmament. In addition, it intends - I quote - to convert private savings into investments; the President of the Commission refers to the Savings and Investment Union. Even the name is a label scam. Of course, Ms von der Leyen does not want to save money – on the contrary. They want to spend more, the money of the people. For the war in Ukraine, all of Europe's savings accounts are to be looted. We Germans know very well how confidently you, Mrs von der Leyen, deal with taxpayers' money. As Minister of Defence in Berlin, you have awarded public contracts under your belt. The Bundesrechnungshof (Federal Court of Auditors) referred to – quotation – systematic infringements of public procurement law. Several million euros were paid to friendly advisors without a call for tenders, incriminating messages and chats were deleted. To investigate the allegations, the Bundestag set up a committee of inquiry, but you, Ms von der Leyen, escaped the threat of dismissal by fleeing to Brussels – praised away by Angela Merkel. Here you go on like this: Vaccines for €35 billion in the coronavirus crisis – again via SMS, again with a good friend. Also in this case, the prosecutor's office investigates, and also in this case, all incriminating messages from your mobile phone have disappeared. You want 800 billion euros now, bypassing Parliament. We can't let that happen, colleagues! This woman should never be allowed to go into debt on our behalf. This woman should never have access to people's savings. We also want better equipment for the Bundeswehr, but we do not want our tax money to be distributed to friends and acquaintances of the President of the Commission. Stop sending billions of gifts via SMS!

Madam President, Debt brake, border closure, heating law: Friedrich Merz never lied during the election campaign, but always told the truth. For this statement I could be punished in Germany, because, I quote: ‘The deliberate dissemination of false factual claims is not covered by freedom of expression.’ This is not a bad April joke, but a sentence from the exploratory papers of the CDU and SPD. As Chancellor, Friedrich Merz wants to ensure that the truth is always told in Germany – i.e. debts must be called assets. Anyone who does not do so will soon become a criminal offence in Germany because disinformation and fake news endanger our democracy – that is how the German government sees it. 400 years ago Galileo Galilei claimed that the Earth revolves around the Sun. For this spread of fake news, he was sentenced to house arrest because the pope believed that the sun revolves around the earth. Today we know: The truth cannot be stopped, even if Friedrich Merz calls the truth a lie. In the end, the liars are always convicted, because lies have short legs.

Madam President, Five years ago, Ms von der Leyen presented the Green Deal here; Europe should be the first continent to become climate neutral. Greta Thunberg would now say: We're on the right track. CO has been falling for years2–emissions in Germany. This is mainly due to the decline in industrial production. Steel, chemical and automotive industries are no longer competitive due to high levies and far too expensive energy. The result is massive drops in profits and job losses. 30% less profit at Mercedes and Volkswagen, 35,000 jobs at Volkswagen cut, up to 300,000 jobs in the entire automotive industry. Particularly insane is: The EU's arbitrarily set climate targets are forcing European car manufacturers to2–Buy certificates from the Chinese competition to avoid penalties from Brussels. This is how we finance the rise of China and the sell-off of our industry. The Commission is responsible for this European industrial policy harakiri. Ms von der Leyen and her CDU are a threat to the competitiveness and prosperity of Germany and Europe. No course corrections help here, only dialing out helps here.

Madam President, Over 1000 dead, entire families exterminated, Alawites, Christians and Druze on the run. Since the fall of Assad, Syria has been ruled by Islamists – the new ruler was formerly head of Al-Qaeda in Syria. His goal has always been the establishment of an Islamist caliphate, and this is now being implemented, with active support from Brussels. The European Commission has transferred 235 million euros to the new regime in Damascus. In addition, there are 100 million euros from Germany, personally handed over by Annalena Baerbock. And so it goes on. Next Monday, Ms von der Leyen will be hosting a donors' conference in Brussels, with representatives from Damascus also invited. I've seen some crazy things here in the house, but that really blows up all dimensions. Despite the massacres of Alevis and Christians, Ms von der Leyen invites to the large fundraising gala for jihad in Syria. Never again should you speak of a Western community of values! Americans will not attend the Brussels fundraising gala – rightly so. Islamists remain Islamists, even if they cut their beards and tie a tie.

Madam President, Germany is a poor country, according to the European Central Bank. In terms of median wealth, German households rank 15th, far behind French, Italians or Spaniards. Nevertheless, we Germans pay the highest contribution to the EU – almost €30 billion annually. This corresponds to the income tax of over 3 million Germans; More than 3 million Germans go to work to finance the store here. These people rightly expect us to use their taxes sparingly, because the money does not fall from the sky, but must be earned with hard work. You now want to send €2 billion to Moldova as an advance for EU membership. We reject this waste because most of this money will disappear into the pockets of corrupt politicians and oligarchs. The Corruption Index of Transparency International Moldova is in the back seats. Because we have to defend the interests of the taxpayers in Germany and France and other Member States, we reject the 2 billion euros for Moldova, because for the willingness to donate in this house, we Germans have to pay horrendous taxes. Even pensions are taxed in Germany. More than 7 million pensioners in Germany have less than 1,000 euros a month after many decades of hard work. In total, the Germans pay almost 1,000 billion euros in taxes a year, and yet there is a lack of all corners and ends. Bridges and roads are dilapidated, schools and universities are dilapidated, hospitals must close. The desolate state of Germany can only be concealed with gigantic debts. That is why we must end the waste and we will turn off this EU's money tap. Margaret Thatcher once said: The problem with the socialists is that at some point they run out of foreign people's money. That's the way it is here. If Germany stops paying, the party is over. Europe can only have a future if European politicians put the interests of their voters first, and that is exactly what we will do. At the latest after the next federal election: Stop the generosity on Germany's neck, stop the nonsensical gifts of money to all the world.

Thank you, Mr Wölken, for allowing me to ask you this question. Your colleague Bullmann from the SPD has just described the American president as a Neanderthal. I am surprised at this talk, with whom you actually still want to work worldwide, because Putin is in your eyes a criminal, Xi Jinping is a criminal, Milei is a criminal, Trump is also a criminal. In Europe, it continues: Orbán is bad, Meloni is bad, Le Pen is bad. I'm wondering: Who do you actually want to work with? You're isolated, aren't you? No one in the world is following your policy.

Madam President, $20 million for the filming of the Sesame Street in Iraq. $15 million for condoms in Afghanistan. $2 million for sex reassignments in Guatemala. The U.S. government has wasted over $40 billion every year on such bullshit under Joe Biden – that's over now! Donald Trump has stopped USAID. America first U.S. taxpayers' money for U.S. interests. In Washington, they're a step further than we are. We are still wasting a lot of money all over the world. Every year, the German government spends €32 billion on so-called development aid, €32 billion! This corresponds approximately to the tax revenue of 20,000 Germans. 20,000 Germans go to work to finance projects such as the following: EUR 53 million for climate-friendly cooking pots in Kenya, EUR 8 million for LED lights in Moroccan mosques, EUR 10 million for driving licence tests of transsexual rickshaw drivers in India and so on and so on. In America, Donald Trump has ended this bullshit, and in Germany, Alice Weidel will do it, you can rely on it!

Madam President, More than EUR 1 billion for Palestine since 7 October, EUR 2 billion for Turkey and Lebanon, and the Islamists in Damascus will soon receive money from Brussels. So, what did it do? The many billions you have sent to the Middle East have prevented no civil war in Syria, no Taliban in Afghanistan, and no war in Gaza. Their so-called strategy is the old one, and it failed even then. We have a different strategy: Instead of sending Europeans' money to the Middle East, we should take care of Europe first. Because if this continues, we will soon no longer need a strategy for the Middle East. The Middle East is with us. Last year alone, almost 400,000 migrants came to Germany, mainly from Syria. Why? The war in Syria is over! Nearly a million Syrians in Germany could now return to their homeland. Therefore: Stop wasting our tax money all over the world. Old-age poverty, housing shortages, broken bridges and roads – rebuilding Gaza or Syria is not our job. Our task is the reconstruction of Germany.

Thank you, Mrs Strack-Zimmermann, for allowing me to ask you this question. They have always spoken out in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine, Russia must be defeated militarily. More than 1 million Ukrainians and Russians are now dead or mutilated. That's why Donald Trump has announced that he wants to end the death, and has also spoken to the Russian president on the phone. They have always rejected talks with the Russian president. I would be interested in: Do you want to continue supplying offensive weapons such as the Taurus to Ukraine? Or, in view of the peace initiative from Washington, can we hope that you will again limit yourself to your speeches in the Rhineland Carnival?

Madam President, Shootings, rapes, bombing terror: If you want to see the result of left-wing politics, you have to look to Sweden – every day bombings by African gangs, every year 10 000 Swedish women raped, Malmö more dangerous than Baghdad. The violence in Sweden is the result of left-wing migration policies. This is what the voters there understood and our colleagues were elected into the government by the Sweden Democrats – despite years of insults from politics and the media. Propaganda no longer works. Swedish voters have recognised the seriousness of the situation. Out of harm one becomes wise. In the government, the Sweden Democrats are now implementing the program that only the AfD stands for in Germany: Border controls, benefits in kind, remigration. Coalition with the Christian Democrats. We need to learn from the Swedes. Also in Berlin, Hamburg or Duisburg there are districts dominated by criminal gangs: Two gang rapes a day, ten stabbings a day in Berlin alone. We need to change that. We need the courage of the Swedes in German polling stations. On 23 February: Stop the cowardice and the wall of fire. It's high time.

Mr President! Trump or Maduro? Freedom or censorship? That is the question, even in this House. Last July, Venezuela elected a new president. Nicolás Maduro has declared himself the winner. The election was controversial. We in Strasbourg have also criticised this. Just a month ago, we awarded the Sakharov Prize to opposition leader Edmundo González. Edmundo González has over a million followers on Twitter. X is the main source of news for the opposition in Caracas. The numerous references to election manipulation and state violence were published on X. Maduro, of course, recognised this and banned Twitter on the following grounds: Elon Musk has promoted hatred and hate speech on X, influenced elections and divided Venezuelan society. This is how a dictator speaks, who is afraid of criticism and loss of power. This is how politicians in this House speak, from the left to the Greens to the CDU. Critical voices should no longer be heard here either. 120 officials monitored Elon Musk’s conversation with Alice Weidel – as in a police state. We Europeans must decide: Do we want to continue living in a democracy with the right to freedom of expression? Or do we want to follow the example of Venezuela? This is what the federal election in Germany is all about in February. Those who love freedom must vote for the AfD.

Thank you, Mrs Hahn, for allowing me to ask you this question. Let me read you a sentence from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. That right includes freedom of expression and the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authorities and without regard to national borders’. This is the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. It is about our freedom of expression, which is an important prerequisite for our democracy. I am surprised that, as a member of a liberal – self-proclaimed liberal – party, you speak up here for censorship and restriction of freedom of expression and thus also violate the fundamental rights of this EU. How do you explain that you are in the Liberal Party? Wouldn't you be better off with the Left or the Greens?