What Verena spoke about.

20 May

2026

DE Speech

Recruitment of children by organised crime (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, While we are discussing here, criminal networks are already writing the next messages to minors – not by chance, but in a targeted, professional and organised way. They attract young people with fast money, status and affiliation – and turn them into drug cures, sentries or even contract killers. Recruitment through organized crime often begins today not on t…

27 Apr

2026

DE Speech

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU (debate)

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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, A person can freeze from fear. A person can say no inwardly and outwardly get no sound. A person can be helpless if alcohol, drops of alcohol or drugs make any resistance impossible. This must not be overlooked by our criminal law. Lack of resistance is not consent. And that is what this report is about. For those affected by sexual violence, it must make no …

11 Mar

2026

DE Speech

Child sexual abuse online: protect children, not perpetrators (topical debate)

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21 Oct

2025

DE Speech

Changing security landscape and the role of police at the heart of the EU’s internal security strategy (debate)

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen. When we talk about the security situation in Europe, we must not forget one thing: our police. It is our first line of defence – day and night – when it comes to protecting our citizens from attacks, organised crime and cyber-attacks. But in many of these debates, including here in the House, it is often forgotten. But these dangers don't disappear just because …

10 Feb

2025

DE Speech

Escalation of gang violence in Sweden and strengthening the fight against organised crime (debate)

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Madam President, Dear colleagues! The massive gang violence we have witnessed in Sweden for several years is alarming. Gun violence is also on the rise in other EU countries, as recently shown by the shootings in Brussels. We can only solve these challenges in a European way, because organised crime does not stop at borders. The perpetrators benefit from free movement because our law enforcement a…

10 Feb

2025

DE Question

Escalation of gang violence in Sweden and strengthening the fight against organised crime (debate)

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I think the support of the security authorities is right and very important. However, I find it critical that Europol should work exclusively operationally, or mainly operationally, because I think that we urgently need to further strengthen the national security authorities. We just have to go into the ground, we have to get wider, solve a lot more cases and not always focus on the big cases that…

22 Jan

2025

DE Answer

Links between organised crime and smuggling of migrants in light of the recent UN reports (debate)

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I don't think we should be too quick to judge things that haven't been determined yet. As it stands today, it was more of a shooting than a terrorist attack. There are as many German mentally ill perpetrators who kill people as there are people from other countries of origin. So I wouldn't want to mix that up at this point.…

22 Jan

2025

DE Speech

Links between organised crime and smuggling of migrants in light of the recent UN reports (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! Linking organised crime to the smuggling of migrants is an acute threat to security and order in Europe. Smuggling networks act ruthlessly, endangering lives and undermining our rule of law. Reports show: The numbers are rising, and the perpetrators are making targeted use of legal gaps and state-of-the-art technologies. That is why we must act now. We need to bring …

27 Nov

2024

DE Speech

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

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Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! The recruitment of children and young people shows us the weaknesses of our prevention policy and our international cooperation. I therefore demand that we not only speak, but also act. We need decisive action from the EU and the Member States. Firstly, we need a Europe-wide prevention strategy that focuses specifically on social hotspots. We need …

9 Oct

2024

DE Speech

Prevention of drug-related crimes, their effect on European citizens and the need for an effective European response (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner! The fight against drug-related crime urgently requires a common European response. Drug crime knows no borders and affects us all. It threatens the health of our citizens, undermines the security of our cities and strengthens criminal networks. Strengthening Europol is important to combat these networks. We also depend on the local police. As an eye and ear on site, …

18 Sep

2024

DE Speech

Organised crime, a major threat to the internal security of the European Union and European citizens (topical debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! Organised crime is one of the biggest threats to our society today. Criminal networks exploit every weakness in our systems. The violence they use is becoming more and more brutal and frequent, often without regard for innocent victims. Fighting these networks is complex. They are constantly adapting to new circumstances and using specialized se…

16 Sep

2024

DE Answer

Need to prevent security threats like the Solingen attack through addressing illegal migration and effective return (debate)

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Yes, you are giving me the opportunity to finish my speech. Because I wanted to say that temporary border controls at internal borders, as they are currently being pushed forward in Germany, cannot be a long-term solution; This must remain an exception. But we also need to understand that something has to happen in Germany after Solingen.…

16 Sep

2024

DE Speech

Need to prevent security threats like the Solingen attack through addressing illegal migration and effective return (debate)

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Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen! How we deal with the challenge of migration in Europe is crucial for the future of the European Union, and it is also crucial for citizens' confidence in politics. We need to make sure that society as a whole can meet the challenge of integration, and of course that will not happen overnight. It is precisely for this reason that the Asylum and M…