Speeches

Madam President, Commissioner, the NATO summit at the end of the month will reveal two things: the ability of the Alliance to withstand a new reality and the ability of its members to meet agreed goals. As a European, I believe we will correspond to both. As a Portuguese, coming from the Member State furthest from the war, I reaffirm here the commitment of a government that will meet the 2% of defence investment by the end of the year and that will not abdicate to comply with what was agreed at this summit. Madam President, it is becoming increasingly clear today that defence investment is the most urgent form of European solidarity. Those who have a welfare state as a priority know that there will be no public services without defense. Those who have growth as a priority realize that there will be no economy without defense. Those who have borders as a priority should understand: There will be no internal security without defense. Today, there are European doctors who study medicine not with gowns, but with bulletproof vests. There are hospital units built not on our streets, but under our floors. The choice is therefore simple: Either we invest together, or we fail one by one. Let's do it together.

Madam President, dear loved onesIsrael blocked the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza for two months. The people are starving." This is not an activist statement, it is a declaration signed by 17 Member States of this Union, including mine. We oppose Israel's military expansion. The suffering in Gaza is intolerable." This is not an activist statement, it is a statement signed by Canada, the UK and France. From the International Criminal Court to the International Court of Justice, legal – I stress legal – appeals to the international community are impossible to ignore and 53,000 lives lost force us to take it on. Israel has the right to defend itself, but it has no right to respond to terror with horror. As a Democrat, as a European and as a Christian, I quote the newly elected Leo XIV: The price of this war is paid every day for children, for the sick, for the elderly. May our silence, which did not and cannot exist in the face of the victims of Hamas, not help to pay that price. Let us not forget that the answer we give today is what we can give our children when they ask us: Dad, what did you do when that happened?

The blue card is usually used in a confrontational way. Allow me to interact with Mr Francisco Assis and his speech to say the following: I find it remarkable that a centre-left socialist MP dedicates his intervention on the anniversary of peace and the end of World War II to honouring a man who founded a party from the centre opposite his centre, General De Gaulle. This is the lesson that Francis Assisi, who was already in public life the year I was born, has left to this Parliament today. Therefore, I bow in gratitude for his example and for knowing and letting know that there is a great difference between those who celebrate the end of the war on May 8 and those who celebrate on May 9. Those who celebrate on May 8 are in the center. Those who celebrate on the 9th are at the extremes. Thank you for being at the center with us.

Madam President, in the history books, the post-war world means not just the world after the war, but a world without it. Today, 80 years after the surrender of the Nazi regime, we live in a world that faces a darkness most of us can't recall. 50 million lives in six years made us say 'never again'. The Second World War confronted mankind with humanity, patriotism with fascism, truth with anger. The Great War was brought to an end with peace, with a hard lesson. Those who chose to resist forgave those who refuse to forget. And that, dear colleagues, is the founding principle of our Union. That those who weld against invasion are here bounded together with those who commit, never to commit it again. That those who said we shall never surrender are here side by side with those who say, we shall always remember. The Ukrainian people know as we know, that the courage to carry on is the same courage not to let history be rewritten. And we are to keep that in our minds that their fight was once our fight. That their freedom is also our freedom. That their victory will be our peace. They may not be our fathers or our sons, but they are our brothers, our brothers in arms and in rights, our brothers in their hope and in their defiance. In this world, in this war, we may be lonely but never alone. 80 years ago we too faced that loneliness and defeated a great evil on this VE Day. Today it's the survival of freedom, of democracy now and then at stake in our continent. So today, from this time and place, let it be known that victory for Europe Day stands not only for the victory that once was, but also for the victory that must be. Let it be known that the torch of history lights this common cause, that the words VE Day will also, and soon enough mean, Slava Ukraini.

Mr President, the lack of funding for US foreign aid has caused 1 300 000 displaced persons in Ukraine to lose shelter, 2 700 000 war-wounded persons to lose medical assistance. There are 4 million Ukrainians in 90 days. In Africa, half of Sudan's population depended on USAID-sourced food programs. Today, 25 million people are hungry. This Parliament may criticise, ignore or applaud the cuts in US foreign aid, but let us not be mistaken, ladies and gentlemen. These cuts will affect the priorities of all of us, from security to agriculture, from borders to health. The non-funding of Radio Free Europe does not cost lives, but impacts us as Europeans. It is part of our history and the lives of some of us sitting here, who behind the Iron Curtain saw their grandparents tune into that frequency in search of a hope that came in the form of sound. The pen is stronger than the sword, it is often said, but sound is not a less powerful weapon. It is no coincidence that those who want us more vulnerable in our future also want us less aware of our past. A Europe with memory is a Europe that does not forget what it has already overtaken. Mr President, I do not doubt for a second that my generation will also be able to do so, recalling the words of those who once said: 'We shall pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe for the success and survival of liberty, and for Radio Liberty, too'.

Madam President, Mr President, three years ago, no one anticipated that Europe would unite around Ukraine, denying the invasion of the Russian Federation. Three years later, American instability causes many to say that Europe does not exist, that it does not count, that it cannot. Ladies and gentlemen, over the last hundred days, the three institutions gathered here have shown that Europe is here. To the threat of tariffs we respond in the day, defending our economy. To the threat of sanctions relief we responded this week with the 16th package of sanctions. We respond to the suspension of support for Ukraine at the moment, not giving up Ukrainian freedom, its constitution, its sovereignty. The Union has proved that it is possible to react without provoking, to act without giving up. We do it not to invade anyone, but to prevent further invasions. We do this not out of economic opportunity, but out of necessity, because there is no poverty more devastating than the poverty of war. Friends, I am Portuguese. I was born in a most distant Member State from this war. So I say to my Polish friends: I know your security is our security. I say to my Romanian friends: I know your democracy is our democracy. I say to my Baltic friends: your defence cannot just be our defence. To our Ukrainian friends, I say: your freedom is our freedom. Today it is increasingly clear that a common response is the only fair response, that to invest in defence is the most urgent response in solidarity. Let's not waste time. Let's do it.

Madam President, Commissioner, the title of this debate asks 'cooperation or tariffs?' when the largest economy on the planet waves tariffs, not in an environment of cooperation, but of intimidation. For a union of states and for any company, more harmful than a tariff is the threat of tariffs. This is an unpredictability that is not only economic, ranging from diplomacy to the labor market, from purchasing power to the power of force. Look at tariffs as quid pro quoBy announcing them one day and suspending them the next, it damages the relationship between rulers, but also the capital of those who invest and the salary of those who work. For a social market economy such as ours, a tariff is a tax; For those on the other side of the Atlantic, a tariff is now a sanction for their allies. For four years, we may not know what we're counting on, but after four years, our partners will know who they can count on. With a Europe that negotiates but is not blackmailed, with a Europe that is an interlocutor but does not give up the market, an international order with rules and responsibility.

Mr President, Commissioner, I have seen it. I saw them on the plane to Caracas before last year's presidential election. I saw the Venezuelan families who had to flee the country come back to vote. I saw how they held their hands on that plane and cried out of fear. Not fear of repression, not fear of intimidation, but fear that your vote wouldn't count. I saw them, I saw them as I saw Maria Corina Machado, week after week with different walls behind her, in each video call, changing locations to avoid being captured. I saw them as I saw the Carter Center, an independent election observer, certifying the president-elect's victory. I saw them as I saw the then High Representative take over in October: Yes, Maduro has lost; The opposition candidate won. I saw them as I saw this Parliament rise to applaud Edmundo González and the democratic forces of Venezuela on the day they received the Sakharov Prize. I have seen them, as I have seen the G7 countries and the European Commission recognize that the Democrats have won, but that democracy has not yet won in Venezuela. I saw it, as this Parliament saw it. This Thursday, let's not forget what we saw.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, in the face of an American administration which understands only the logic of force, the European Union does not have to be mischaracterised, but it has a clear path: Strengthen yourself. The stronger our economy, with the Capital Markets Union and Banking Union completed, the stronger we will be at the table of this transatlantic relationship. The stronger our defence union, with the strategic compass being implemented and our security ensured, the more strength we will have within the Atlantic Alliance. The stronger our democracies are, with zero tolerance for external, digital or military interference, the more force we will have when we negotiate and seek peace. The United States of America will always be at the table of these negotiations. The question is where, what force will this Union have sitting at that same table? The transatlantic relationship may be more transactional in the economy, in energy, even in the military, but neither international law nor respect for election results are tradable for this Union. It is in this balance, between conviction and pragmatism, that we must preserve this alliance, not forgetting who is in front of us, but, above all, not forgetting ourselves.

The decision of the Israeli Parliament is sovereign and we must live and deal with it, as it says. Ask me how we have to deal with her. First, perceiving it. It is true that UNRWA found seven members of its staff who were related to Hamas and it is true that it had to ban them from that organisation. But I must tell you, honourable Member, with respect, that this Parliament, through the Committee on Foreign Affairs, has written a letter to the Committee on Budgets of the European Union, where it has increased the budget allocation for UNRWA, because the European Union is on the right side. The European Union has increased funding to help those most in need of humanitarian aid in Gaza from a humanitarian point of view. So, honourable Member, my faith remains in this Union, and what I can tell you is that my faith will remain within this Union.

Mr President, if the voices are to be heard, the guns must be silent. This is what happened yesterday in the Gaza Strip. Today, there is still silence and we must use it so that the hostages can be released, and the Palestinian humanitarian disaster can be alleviated as soon as possible. But this is also a silence that forces us to reflect. Fifteen months after the horrendous October attack, the Israeli response was enough to reassure Israel that it will never again experience a situation of the same vulnerability. But we also know, being right-wing or left-wing, that this response has been costly and will have consequences. The popularity of the two-state solution in Israel is at historical lows, and all the diplomacy in the world will be little without that starting point. The tragic and all too often indifferent loss of daily life has opened wounds that have radicalized an entire generation in the Middle East. This is a challenge for peace in the region, but also for security in the rest of the world, including for Europe. This European Union was founded on the value of human life, on the promise never to forget that every life has a unique value, wherever it is, wherever it is born. As a Europeanist, I do not forget our promise of memory of the value of multilateralism and international law, which cannot have a weight for our enemies and a weight for those we have as allies. As long as hatred is not buried, the unforgivable forgiven, and the value of human life recovered, weapons will again raise their voices. Let our voices speak louder!

Mr President, Commissioner, the relationship between the European Union and Azerbaijan dates back to 1996. It is almost 30 years of a cooperative relationship where we agreed 30 years ago that this partnership would be based on two things: democracy and the defence of human rights. Thirty years later, the reality is different. The path taken by the Azerbaijani regime forces us to reject this path, precisely because of the lack of respect for human rights. This House and this resolution demand the release of all political prisoners, human rights defenders and activists, journalists who are being held in inhumane conditions. In Azerbaijan today, the price to pay for freedom is the highest of all, sometimes: life. This is the outcome that many of those fighting for freedom in this country can expect. Despite warnings from the international community, despite warnings from this Parliament, from this Union, the Azerbaijani authorities insist on following the same wrong path. Human rights violations are a kind of new normal that must remain an abnormality for this Parliament, for those who defend rights in the international community. Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu is a well-known opposition figure and one of the finalists for this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He is only one of 300 names – 300 names – who have been tortured and one of 300 human beings persecuted for their convictions. The Parliament that stood up to greet his daughter, who was up there, is the same Parliament that cannot forget the life of his father and the lives of those who fight with him for freedom in Azerbaijan.

Mr President, the European Commission has today opened proceedings against TikTok on suspicion of breaching the Digital Services Act. The detention order, issued in December, and the investigation initiated today were set in time and mode. In the way, for the flagrant violation of the Regulation by TikTok and for the unwillingness to provide the necessary clarifications to this Parliament and the European Commission. But, above all, for the principles that distinguish us as a community that defends democracy and regulates the market. If there is one thing that has become clear from TikTok's answers, or not answers, it is that it is not side by side with any of these principles. This has been proven by the hearing of its representatives in this Parliament. TikTok behaves like the driver of a car that swears that it has brakes, but cannot identify the pedal. He wants to be on the road, but he doesn't see the other cars going by. He doesn't comply with the code, but he wants to keep having a letter. When we asked TikTok if they have specific rules for elections, they said yes, but they don't show them. When we asked whether they assess compliance with these rules, particularly in the elections in Romania, they said yes, but again they did not show it. To quote a Roman senator: "How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?" For a short time, this Union replied today. We may not be as quick to hurt democracy as our enemies, but if there is one thing this Commission has already shown, it is that we will not be slow in the next five years to come out in defence of democracy against anyone.

Mr President, Madam Vice-President, this Parliament and this Union are often accused of being worth nothing but words. Since the minute Bashar al-Assad fell, we have proved the opposite, in our contacts with partners in the region, in the search for stability, with ideals of realistic multilateralism that does not give up defending rights. Europe is the world's largest humanitarian donor to the Syrian people, and today the Syrian people are entitled to more than hope. You're entitled to a future that doesn't mean you're still waiting. Being by your side is not just the right choice from a moral or geopolitical point of view. It is the right choice for our security as Europeans too. An escalation of instability in the region would sacrifice yet another generation that has not found peace in their homeland and would also jeopardise our security as Europeans. As the first Council chaired by the High Representative concluded yesterday: the crisis in the Middle East increases radicalisation and the global threat of terrorism. The violence that crosses the region has victims every day and this Parliament stands by them every day. But it would be naive to think that such violence does not have the potential to become a threat again on a global scale, including to European lives. And this Parliament must also pay attention to that. In international politics, the right answer is not found in the lyrics of a well-known song: To speak words of wisdom is not to let it be.

Madam President, on behalf of the EPP Group, I would like to move an oral amendment to paragraph 16, recitals T and Q. To paragraph 16 and recital T, requesting a change in each, of the word 'Hungary' into 'Hungarian Government'; and in recital Q changing 'Hungary's' to 'Hungarian Government's'.

Mr President, Commissioner, relations between the European Union and Cambodia date back to 1997 and are based on a cooperation agreement which provides for the promotion of democracy and human rights. Unfortunately, today there is a notorious setback, especially since 2017, which we must condemn and not ignore. The path taken by the Cambodian regime obliges us here to demand the release of all political prisoners and an immediate end to the oppression of civil liberties. I remember, in particular, the central Cambodian organisation, which was particularly persecuted after it denounced practices that blatantly flout the labour rights that this European Union defends here and in the rest of the world. There is a proverb in Cambodia that says: If you are patient in the moment of anger, you will save yourself 100 days of tears. The Cambodian authorities should follow the wisdom of their people and reverse this course and save so many unnecessary tears. The Union must be ever more vigilant in cases such as this and urge Cambodia to comply, without delay or reservation, with the letter and spirit of an agreement that brings us closer, rather than insisting on this path, which only distances us.

Mr President, dear friends, Commissioner Schinas, the first colleague I met in this Parliament is Cypriot. He's in this room. The first question that my colleague asked me was: Have you ever been to Cyprus? I told him no and he asked again: "Are you married yet?". I told him not yet and he promptly told me: "Then comes the honeymoon to Cyprus". For me, Cyprus is this unique complicity between patriotism and companionship, between openness to the other, without ever forgetting who we are. Europe has much to learn from Cypriot solidarity, because there is no wiser solidarity than that of those who suffer. And my friends, Cyprus has been suffering for far too long. Invaded for 50 years, permanently occupied for 41 years, Cypriots are the only state in the European Union deprived of its own territory and it is important to be clear: anyone who is unable to recognise it cannot be part of this Union. This Parliament regrets that in 2024 there are grandchildren who cannot know the house where their grandparents and children grew up who no longer believe in seeing peace in their parents’ lifetimes. It's up to us to do more for it. Fifty years ago, Portugal rediscovered democracy. Fifty years later, it is time for Cyprus to rediscover its homes. Against the instrumentalisation of refugees, against the illegal occupation of territory, against the violation of international law, Europe is on the side of Cyprus, because Europe is always on the side of Europeans.

Madam President, High Representative, 83 years ago, in the middle of the Second World War, the American Prime Minister and President met in the Atlantic Ocean. Continental Europe was in Hitler's hands, but these two men pledged that day to do everything they could to get the occupied countries back their freedom. 83 years later, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, that is the spirit we will have to maintain. Peace, in our time, must be peace for our children, and Mr Putin's peace will be nothing more than the possibility of a new war. Europe does not cease to be Europe because it finds a less European America, but we must not confuse the need to maintain our principles with the illusion that everything can remain the same. What we're going to have to do because of Trump, we're going to have to do after Trump, if we don't complete the defense union and the strategic compass, we're going to find out too late that the first condition for the growth and investment that we all want is security. The economic priority of this continent must be a peace that is not Russian. Let's not wait for the American president to see it before we do.

Madam President, in the days of Franco and Salazar, parliaments did not talk about tragedies. In democracy we can and should talk about what is not going well, and if there is one thing we have all agreed on, it is that something has not gone well. The warnings arrived late, it is true, the national emergency and the activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism also arrived late. Recognizing the responsibilities of regional authorities is also recognizing that when they fail, the state must be present. In Valencia, for too many people, this was not the case. It is about them that I will speak. Lo ocurrido en España no fue solmente un natural disaster. Lo que ocurriendo en España es también un disaster democratic. A country of Europe in which the president of the Gobierno dice ‘yo ayudo a la comunidad autónoma siempre y cuando la oposición me apruebe los presupuestos’ es una tragedia, in particular for the Valencians, pero also for the Europeans. A Presidente del Gobierno who uses the perdition of lives to gain political capital is a tragedia for the Spanish, for the Europeans. Against the separation of powers. Contra la Constitución Española. Against human dignidad. Pedro Sánchez es hoy más que never un Orbán ibérico. Let's not ignore it.

Madam President, Commissioner, in August 2022, Michelle Bachelet presented a report at the United Nations. The report is clear: Xinjiang is a zone of practices that undermine Uighur rights, where "restrictions and the more general deprivation of fundamental rights can constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity". I would stress 'crimes against humanity'. The European Commission gave an important signal five years ago when it recognised China as a systemic rival. During this parliamentary term, we must do more. The idealism that made us treat an enemy as a partner – which is what we did with Vladimir Putin for a decade – cannot and should not be repeated. When we hear the UN talk about arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, we have to recognize one piece of evidence: China is not only a systemic rival; is a trade adversary, is a political adversary and is a moral adversary. Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas are two names that force us not to forget. I congratulate all the political groups that have contributed to this resolution so that this is not the case.

Very briefly, Mr João Oliveira, whom I thank for the question, I have to tell you that if you ask me which side I am on in relation to the housing crisis, I am on the only side where there are solutions: on the side of Europe. So yes, we are on the side of fiscal responsibility. Yes, we are on the side of the social market economy. Yes, we stand by our membership of the Union, because we believe that if we want Europe to help us solve our problems, we will not be a problem for Europe. And allow me a short provocation: How many houses have you handed over to the government that your party supported in Parliament? How many will mine deliver in five years? I'm sure you won't ask for one on that day. blue card.

Mr President, Vice-President Schinas, my generation is the first since the Second World War that does not feel that it will live better than its parents – it just hopes that it will not have to live worse. My parents knew that by joining the European Union, they could live better than my grandparents. My grandparents knew that, with the arrival of democracy, they would live better than their parents. We don't. Today, more than half of the citizens of the 37 richest OECD countries have housing as their first concern, above health and above education. In Portugal, 40% of monthly income goes to housing expenses, 10% above what is considered affordable. That is why we must look at housing as a fundamental right and as a political priority, not against private property, but by pushing it forward, not by depriving Member States of their competences, but by not depriving the Union of its responsibility to serve its citizens. To quote Ursula von der Leyen, ‘if you care about Europeans, you have to care about Europe’. In the last 20 years, my generation has gone through security, economic, health and monetary crises. Despite this, we remain believers in the European project. To meet the challenges of the next 20 years – demography, productivity, growth – we must do everything we can to keep Europeans to a minimum: a roof. To produce more, we must have a home to return to at the end of the day. In order to have more children, we have to have a home to raise them into adulthood. To innovate more, we need to have the most fundamental: A house to start with.

Thank you, Madam President. I would like to present another oral amendment, that reads 'Urges the European Union and its Member States to recognise Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the election and as the next constitutional and legitimate President of Venezuela as of 10 January 2025;'.