What Lukas spoke about.

17

Dec

2024

Questions EN

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Russia’s disinformation and historical falsification to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

Dear colleague, I think you raised one important point, and this is the cynicism that derives from the fact that especially those who are defending the Kremlin are also defending this regime. So I think this is very important for the people outside this House. Maybe you could elaborate a little more about this. I would be interested to hear your take on that.

17

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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Russia’s disinformation and historical falsification to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine (debate)

I also have a question for Mr Bystron: Can you change me $200? I still have to refuel. But only on the sidelines. Dear people of Europe, honourable Members! Russia is not just waging war in Ukraine with human waves and missiles. It's a war on truth, a war on disinformation. Putin claims that Ukraine is not a people, not a country, not a nation. But the facts speak a different language; Facts Putin wants to suppress. For example, Ukraine, which emerged from Kievan Rus, is older than modern Russia, or the fact that Russia has already spent $200 billion in Ukraine and lost 300,000 soldiers without breaking Ukraine's will. These are facts that Putin does not want to hear, that Putin wants to suppress and that can be a weapon for us to oppose this aggressor. Accordingly, I ask all of you, dear Members, to raise your voice, let us fight together against disinformation. Slawa Ukrajini.

17

Dec

2024

Speeches EN

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Use of rape as weapon of war, in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan (debate)

Madam President, dear colleagues, dear people of Europe, whenever I think about the stories that I read about the weaponization of rape in Sudan and Congo quite some months ago, I don't know what I can say anymore and it sends a shiver down my spine. But I would like to touch on one thing that our dear colleague, Mr Oetjen, said. He said we need to enable the international court – I think he meant the International Criminal Court – to actually do something against this, and I want to agree with all my heart. I think it is time. It is because of crimes like this, as well as because of other crimes, that we actually enable international criminal law institutions to enact international law. You can call it 'blue helmets', you can call it a 'world police' – I don't care. But in a situation where people weaponize rape as a weapon of war, there need to be other people with guns who can stop those people.

17

Dec

2024

Speeches EN

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Mr President, dear colleagues, I am sorry that I have to bother you with a personal matter. It is, of course, something that happened in this debate that we just had. I had asked Mr Milan Mazurek, a colleague of ours, for a blue card, and I asked him about his views on how social media platforms should be restricted. His answer to that was that I am, in fact, not able to divide between dream and reality, and that I am brainwashed. Thereby, he was denying me my stable and lucid state of mind. And why is this wrong? Not only because I, as a person, was insulted, because I've been insulted a lot in my life. And it is not only wrong because Rule 10(4) of the Rules of Procedure clearly prohibits insulting behaviour. It is wrong because freedom of speech, my freedom of speech, and also your freedom of speech, is about the freedom of all opinions, and it is about the freedom of having different opinions. And thereby freedom of speech also includes the freedom not to be insulted when you question your opponent. I just hope that everyone here takes this as an example of how we should not speak to each other in this house – that we should not insult each other just because we do not like what happens. Just for the record, I think most of you all know that I can, in fact, divide between dream and reality. Because even though I live my dream here in this House, if it would be a dream, people who are deemed as political extremists would not be here. Therefore, I hope I don't get insulted in the future. I hope no one here gets insulted in the future. And with all due respect, I would like to ask the Vice-President and all Vice-Presidents and the President of this House to immediately stop any insulting behaviour in any debate in the future.

17

Dec

2024

Questions EN

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

Colleague, do you think that you yourself are promoting democracy given the political background that you come from? And would you be accepting restrictions on TikTok when, just to give you an example, someone would go on TikTok and ask everyone to kill all the blue-eyed, blonde-haired Slovak boys?

17

Dec

2024

Questions EN

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Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)

I think this line of questioning shows really well why the non-attached should not be put into one box together. Not all of us are neo-Nazis or populists. But you said something about the poisoning of our children. And this children rhetoric is used a lot by special people, so not for me so much, but maybe for them, you can elaborate a little bit more about the poisoning of children's minds with unregulated social media.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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One-minute speeches on matters of political importance

Mr President! Dear fellow human beings! As a representative of the Progressive Party, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the situation of the new parties in Europe. What unites us all is the barriers to voting – now they are very different across Europe. In the Czech Republic, you will collect 1,000 signatures and from then on you will be allowed to vote in all elections for all days. In Germany, you have to collect thousands to tens of thousands of signatures for every election, all on paper. Democracy thrives on change. Democracy thrives on the absence of dynasties of power. You will agree with me, whether you are a representative of a big party or a small party. And we can only really call ourselves a European Parliament if everyone has a fair chance of standing in these elections. We need a fair, digital and uniform voting system across Europe. Thank you very much. Mr President, if you will allow the idea of the Rules of Procedure for a moment: I think these speeches should be made from the bottom up, because this is about things that are important to us as Members – and this really cannot be marketed. The room is so empty, you can't upload it anywhere.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches EN

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Conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the United Nations Convention on transparency in treaty-based investor-State arbitration (short presentation)

Mr President, dear people of Europe, as a shadow rapporteur on this file, I would like to thank Anna Cavazzini and to state my support, as well as to describe to you the importance of this file. The EU has always been committed to transparency and facilitating public engagement with our institution and its procedures. It is important to hold all our Treaties to this standard, even those from a decade ago. It is even more important that we consider how investor-state dispute settlements play out in Brexit. I give you the statistical most frequent example. Globally, states pay billions of euros to fossil fuel investors after climate policies negatively impact their businesses. These settlements need to always be made public. Why? Because the European Union is, at its core, a project about the rule of law, and therefore this kind of transparency is paramount to us.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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A European Innovation Act: lowering the cost of innovating in Europe (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, As a representative of the Progressive Party, the European Innovation Act I have a special concern. Recently, I was able to look at an important historical example of innovation in the South Harz, in Germany: The first Wattscher steam engine – put into operation on 23 August 1785. Watt's steam engine, that man was English, wasn't he? That's right, and the Germans only came up with his innovation, which was so important at the time, especially for mining, because they implemented a rather resourceful plan of industrial espionage. This advantage was lost to the English. Similarly, ensuring European innovation today is not only about promoting it, but also protecting it from economic and industrial espionage. Honourable Commissioner, honourable Members! I would therefore ask you to always keep these things in mind in your work, among many other important steps such as the participation of the population.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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Right to clean drinking water in the EU (debate)

Madam President, Ladies and gentlemen, and everyone in between and outside! I too wanted to mention the number of people in Europe who do not have access to clean drinking water – fortunately, Mrs Ter Laak has already done so. I would like to take this opportunity to disagree with Mrs Bentele with the utmost respect. She said we have a good situation when it comes to the distribution of clean drinking water in Europe. I think that if more than 14 million people in Europe do not yet have access to clean drinking water, that is not a good situation today. Apart from that, however, I am happy, because I come from a small party, and we from small parties, we usually do not have it easy, because we cannot move so much if the others do not fortunately coincidentally have the same demands as we do. It is now explicitly stated in our election programme that we are committed to banning eternity chemicals, and I would like to reiterate this at this point. That is why it makes me particularly happy that this has been reproduced here by all political camps as well. So let's ban these eternity chemicals. Let's keep our drinking water really clean.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches DE

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Regional Emergency Support: RESTORE (debate)

Madam President, Dear Commissioner Fitto, I do not think I have to tell you that it was your staff in particular that caused quite a stir in this House in the composition of the new Commission. And I must also tell you: If I could have voted personally on the individual Commissioners, I would have voted against you – simply because you belong to a political current that is called post-fascist, at least in German political science. And it will be that, in your person and with your political background, you will not be able to convince many of my colleagues in this House of your person and of the fact that this was a good decision. But this is an issue – affecting regions, natural disasters – on which everyone agrees, where I think you and I also agree that there is a need to help people. And that is why I would like to call on you to do your best on this issue to overcome political divides.

16

Dec

2024

Speeches EN

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Activities of the European Ombudsman – annual report 2023 (debate)

Madam President, dear people of Europe and dear secretaries of the Vice-President. The European Ombudsman is an institution of transparency, and while the annual report of 2023 shows how important this institution is given the fact that 372 proceedings have been concluded, it also shows us the price of transparency. It is not for free – it takes the involved institutions some bravery, because what stands in the way of transparency is mostly the thought that things always have been like that. If, for example, a Member of this Parliament uses the freedom of his mandate to record from inside this plenary and thereby give the people a unique insight to the proceedings of this House, this, of course, is also a disturbance to the way that things have been. But if you ask me, transparency is always worth that disturbance. Dear colleagues, let us do everything in our power to strengthen the European Ombudsman even further.

28

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Need to adopt an ambitious international legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment

Mr President, dear colleagues, if you have seen me in the last half an hour, you might have realised that I was not sitting here in my place where I, unfortunately – but I respect the rules of procedure, of course – need to take this speech from. I was sitting down there with my colleagues from the Greens, and this is not only because me and my colleagues from the Greens had a nice little chat, this is intentional. I would like to express that I am happy that in this debate we have seen a lot of people catching up talking points that the Greens have already made 20 years ago. But we should maybe now, in this time of environmental crisis, of climate change, listen to them a little bit more, even if we are not part of their team. Because if we don't do it now, we have to listen to them even more in 20 years. So let's work together, let's save our climate, let's save our planet, and I wish you all a pleasant weekend.

28

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Resumption of the sitting

Madam President, dear colleagues, don't worry, it's going to be my last one for now. I am referring to Rule 167(1), where it says, 'Parliament may place debates on specific matters'. A debate is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, a formal discussion on a matter in a public meeting or a parliament. And here we got a long list of speakers coming in, talk for one minute and then leave. And this room here is mostly from 10 % filled to empty because there are breakfast meetings, funnily enough called 'breakfast debates'. Then there is group or individual meetings afterwards, so-called lunch debates. Then there is food and drinks with the intergroups, followed by dinner debates. You see a pattern here. And then finishing up in the night while the plenary is still ongoing, there are cocktail receptions with NGOs and lobbyists. Colleagues, this Hemicycle is a majestic sanctuary of democracy. It is the heart of this continent, and with all my soul, I want to see it alive, full of passion…

28

Nov

2024

Speeches IT

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Foreign interference and espionage by third country actors in European universities (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I still remember the first time I spoke in a university classroom: My voice trembled but it was full of passion. That freedom to express myself has shaped who I am today. Every young person deserves the same opportunities free from any foreign interference. Today, our universities are facing an ever-increasing challenge: Countries like China and Russia are attempting to infiltrate and influence our academic institutions, putting at risk the independence and freedom that are at the heart of European education. This is a direct attack on our intellectual sovereignty and the values we consider fundamental. Universities must remain places of free exploration not tools of geopolitical games.

28

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Strengthening children’s rights in the EU - 35th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (debate)

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to join Mrs Van Leeuwen in calling on us to overcome our political trench fights. At the beginning of this year, there was a very serious attempt in Germany to write children's rights into the Basic Law, into our constitution. They even agreed on the content, and it was only because of the political trench fights of the parties involved that this had to be abandoned in the end. This is ridiculous and should never happen. Now I'm going to switch to English for the colleague that unfortunately left, who had the audacity to actually call the education system of the Soviet Union a better place than Europe, and then add up by quoting the Bible. To you, sir, as Christ, I say you are wrong, and God has tears on his face because of the zealotry that you put out in this Parliament.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Promoting a favourable framework for venture capital financing and safe foreign direct investments in the EU (debate)

Madam President, dear Commissioner, being a new Member to the Parliament, I was not able to see your work in action, but I was told a lot of good things and having a great sense of love for your culture, I must say, you have the most Irish name that I've ever heard in my life. Our newly elected President of the Commission said we need an economy that works for the people and I fully agree. Our strong economy and our unique single market is our biggest advantage in that more and more hostile world of ours. I really hope that we will especially work together on the capital markets union, not only as a tool to foster both venture capital and foreign investment in the EU, but also strengthen a united Europe as a whole. Because our economy was the one thing that brought us together in the beginning and I think it can also bring us together in the future.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Recent legislation targeting LGBTQI persons and the need for protecting the rule of law and a discrimination-free Union (debate)

Madam President, dear people of Europe, I would like to use this opportunity to challenge one fundamentally wrong talking point of the intolerant, the religious zealots and those who use the discrimination of people to gain power. They say tolerance for people of the LGBTIQ+ community is an ideology. How can you claim the nature of people is an ideology? How can you claim that tolerance for that is an ideology? This idea is so inhumane and backward it leaves me speechless every time I hear it. Mr Tynkkynen, for example: is the name used to describe this group of people really relevant? And in what political movement – and it is, of course, a political movement because it had to become a political movement to fight their suppression – are there only good ideas? I myself, I am not a member of this community, but I am proud to be an ally.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Rise of energy prices and fighting energy poverty (debate)

Madam President, Commissioner, food, safety, energy: that is everything that keeps us from anarchy as human beings. Everything that leads people from distrusting a system if it is missing. And now, in this so very important debate, on average – I counted it – we had 20 MEPs sitting in this room. I know, unfortunately, this is not how it's working here in this Parliament. I know the number of MEPs present does not mean that we don't care, but you have to see it from the eyes of the people. If someone now opened the live stream of the European Parliament who is affected by these problems, what should he or she think? And who has a right to judge our work here, if not the people? So I ask all of you, please take this topic way more seriously than the amount of people in this room would suggest. It is the one thing holding our society together.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and hybrid threats in the Baltic Sea (debate)

Madam President, dear people of Europe! Personally, I've always had trouble believing in coincidences. The bigger the coincidence, the harder it is for me. For example, it was a great coincidence when, on the day of the appointment of our Head of Delegation for China, I joined him in the Members' Bar When we got out, there happened to be three Chinese lobbyists, one of whom, like the head of the delegation, also speaks Turkish. Likewise, it is completely impossible for me to believe that this Chinese ship with its Russian captain happened to be right near these data cables. This was a repeated attack on our critical infrastructure – nothing more, nothing less. And for my colleague Bausemer and his oh so clever questions: It's also hard for me to believe that it was a coincidence with Nord Stream that the Ukrainians were nearby. But it is just as Mrs Strack-Zimmermann said: Either it was the Russians who deliberately used these Ukrainians to ask clever questions here, or the Zelensky government has done us a huge favor.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Stepping up the fight against and the prevention of the recruitment of minors for criminal acts (debate)

Mr President, dear fellow human beings! I lived for eight years in Köln-Kalk, a district with above-average poverty and therefore above-average crime. For eight years, 14-year-olds offered me marijuana on my way home, and the rest of the time these kids were busy looking cool around the area. But in recent years I've noticed something: They don't look cool in the area anymore, they look at their phones. And why? This is what Europol told us earlier this year: because the Internet has become the main place for the recruitment and organisation of young people for crime. That is why we have to react strongly with our rule of law. We must immediately oblige platform operators to delete content that celebrates or solicits crimes and report the incidents directly to the authorities. And we need to make digital literacy a school subject across Europe in order to raise awareness among young people about this problem. They're young, sometimes stupid, but they need us.

27

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Presentation by the President-elect of the Commission of the College of Commissioners and its programme (debate)

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission in spe von der Leyen! Last time we spoke, I told you that I did not vote for you because of a grassroots democratic decision by my party and expressed the hope that you would teach us better. I would give you a 6 out of 10 for this commission. Not bad, but with air upwards, especially with regard to individual Commissioners. Nevertheless, I am now pleased to look the future Commissioners in the eye and wish them the very best for their work and will also vote for this Commission. But I would like to remind you of one last thing: They are elected indirectly but not directly democratically. The European people did not vote directly for you. As a colleague from France, who otherwise belongs to the more intellectual-creative political forces, has said: She also doesn't know them for the most part. It is now your job to show the people of Europe that you deserve your position through transparent work, strong engagement in classic and social media and prudent governance.

26

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Prison conditions in the EU (debate)

26

Nov

2024

Speeches EN

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Full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area: the urgent need to lift controls at internal land borders (debate)

Madam President, our lands where once the borders stood, now flows the breath of brotherhood. No sentry halls, no gate delays, the open roads greet sunlit days. Through valleys deep or hills that climb, a fearless union breaks through times. In market hum and hearts alight, the ties of Schengen bind the night. Bulgaria's plains, Romania's streams, now wave into our shared dreams. From east to west, from sea to sea, the pulse of Europe beats so free. What walls we raised, our hearts unbind. Through Schengen doors we seek, we find no greater gift, no finer art, than Europe's soul in every heart. So travel on, let journeys weave, the thoughts of borders we shall leave. For here in freedom's vast embrace, the union spirit finds its place.

26

Nov

2024

Speeches DE

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Outcome of COP 29 and challenges for international climate policy (debate)