Speeches

Statistics show that over 20% of Bulgarians live in poverty. It also shows that the average salary in Bulgaria is the lowest in the whole European Union. You understand that in this situation, working people cannot think about healthy working conditions. Many compatriots, living both in Bulgaria and abroad, are simply trying to find a job. And very often one job is not enough at all. In order to provide a decent life for yourself and your families, you have to work in two or three places and it is practically impossible to think whether the working conditions are safe or not. Especially abroad, Bulgarian workers are forced to accept working conditions far below any legal standards, but they are still better than the poverty and unemployment from which they have escaped. And this applies to workers in many other countries. That is why the main task for European leaders is to fight poverty and inequalities. Instead of rattling weapons that we don't actually have, instead of giving away our resources to countries that don't deserve it, it's high time we took care of the people of the European Union first and foremost.

Mr. President, a little history lesson. For centuries, civilized European countries colonized Africa, mercilessly exploited the local population, and sold millions of people into slavery. The official end of colonialism did not bring the much-promised freedom and prosperity at all. In theory, African countries are free, but in reality they are robbed by the same people who were once conquerors and then became partners. That is why it is perfectly understandable the suspicion with which the peoples of Africa treat all the tales of European states about how much they were concerned about the local population. Unlike European colonists, countries such as Russia and China had no colonies in Africa and were therefore not remembered for committing atrocities. And that is why it is normal for African countries to look more favourably on cooperation with these countries rather than with European governments. Moreover, China and Russia are ready to help develop local institutions without demanding ideological and any other fidelity in return, as transatlantic powers often do.

Madam President, it is fashionable today to lament the ‘rules-based international order’. Until recently, he ruled the world, but he was no longer there, mourners lament. In fact, such an order never existed. After the end of the Cold War, there was no ‘rule-based order’, and the world was doing what the only remaining hegemon, the United States, wanted. Using beautiful phrases such as "removal of authoritarian regimes" and "establishment of democracy", the US removed embarrassing governments and put in power ones to defend their interests. Only very naive people can think that this is a ‘rule-based order’. The difference between what the U.S. did in Iraq 20 years ago and what it does in Iran now is that Washington then hypocritically claimed that it wanted to establish democracy in Iraq. Today, this hypocrisy is gone. Trump says he wants to replace Iran's rulers with those who will listen to him. Democracy is the last thing he cares about. And previous presidents were not concerned about the lack of democracy. All they wanted was to increase American dominance. At least now they say that openly.

Madam President, the United States has committed unprovoked aggression against Venezuela and abducted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The leaders of the European Union, who in other similar cases are filled with anger and call for hell and nuclear sanctions to fall immediately on the aggressors, this time limited themselves to toothless declarations and trembling like rabbits, waited for what the big American brother would decide. That's what happened. No one dares condemn the unprovoked American aggression and call for unremitting efforts to defend international law. It seems that European officials only defend international law when it suits them. It's like evaluating the results of elections in any country. If the collective West does not like the winner, they say the election was illegitimate. And when a politician close to the Euro-elite wins, cheers follow, no matter how much evidence of violations there is. Both the leadership of the European Commission and the majority in this Parliament are behaving inadequately. The majority here awarded the Sakharov Prize to Venezuelan Maria Machado, the one who presented Trump with the Nobel Prize, hoping to appease him and make her Venezuela's boss. Tomorrow, the Machado in question will also give him the Sakharov Prize if he thinks that one more suck-up will benefit her. All this proves once again that the heads of the main European institutions are devoid of importance and that they are fascinated by insolvent persons such as the Machado in question. Like the bosses, like their favorites.

on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, a failed attempt at a "colour revolution" has been made in Iran. And this technology is well known. Some public discontent, such as that in Iran because of the deteriorating economic situation, is being used to remove an inconvenient regime for the West. Over the past quarter century, this has been done in Serbia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan. To achieve the goal of regime change, dozens and hundreds of Western-funded NGOs and media have been activated. The aim is to convince the world public opinion that the targeted rulers are very bad people and in the name of democracy and justice should be immediately replaced. If necessary, with an armed coup, as happened in Ukraine in 2014. And the EU leadership once again showed a double standard, commenting on the situation in Iran. The same European leaders who are today lamenting the shutdown of the internet in the Islamic Republic, and you too, Mrs Kallas, have stopped broadcasting Russian news media on the territory of the European Union. It's principled, isn't it...

Mr President, for nearly four years, the leaders of the European Union have been doing everything they can to destroy Europe. They refused to buy cheap energy resources directly from Russia, and now they are buying the same Russian energy resources, only from other countries and much more expensive. Again, in the name of misunderstood unity, the EU is preparing to spend billions of euros on rearmament. And because this money does not fall from the sky, Europe-wide social and cultural programs, as well as agricultural subsidies, will be cut. No new hospitals and schools will be built in Europe, because all free funds will be given to transnational military companies. From a project built on social justice and peace, the EU has become an aggressive war-loving organisation. Reasonable speech and dialogue have been replaced by hysterical screams and Brussels-sponsored daily minutes of hatred, according to Orwell. Constantly cursing China or Russia or any other country that has politically incorrect leadership is not an expression of normality. It is an expression of impotence.

Madam President, the parties currently governing Bulgaria – GERB and MRF – are trampling on all kinds of written and unwritten rules. The fact is that there is no democracy and no law in our country. However, those who complain the most about this situation until recently ruled together with the parties that are now so loudly criticizing. “We are continuing the change” – “Democratic Bulgaria” had hugged GERB and MRF in the soft bed of power. Together they passed laws and together they raped the Constitution. And it was as a result of their joint actions that the authorities and mechanisms were created, thanks to which the people of "Continuing Change" are now arrested. So, be angry at yourself, ‘We are continuing the change’. You yourself have prepared the snare with which you hoped to strangle your political opponents. Except that your adversaries turned out to be more cunning than you and hit you with the weapons you created. It was you who did everything in your power to destroy the rule of law in Bulgaria. That's why today's cry about no legality is so funny. Your political destiny is the best embodiment of the classical Bulgarian expression: ‘Hitli magpie with both legs’.

Madam President, the criteria by which Brussels assesses the results of one election or another are based not on facts but on the ideological preferences of the European leaders. If in any country – Belarus, Georgia, the Netherlands – elections are won by parties that are critical of Brussels, they start to groan that democracy is in danger. And in order to "save democracy", elections can also be overturned, as happened in Romania at the end of last year. If, however, the friends of Brussels win, then they categorically state that democracy has won, despite all doubts about the fair conduct of the elections in question. It is high time that European leaders stopped telling people in individual countries who to vote for. It is also high time for them to start respecting the choice of the peoples, despite the fact that they may not like this choice. The more the Commission is angry with voters for voting for Alternative for Germany, National Rally or Renaissance, the more the voters are convinced that they have made the right choice. Reality has proven that if Ursula von der Leyen criticises us, then we are on the right track.

Mr President, the most important issue on this issue is that traditional radio and television channels have long been dominated by globalist neoliberal elites. Now they want to destroy freedom on social networks. Brussels is preparing to pour huge sums into building so-called ‘democratic shields’ that would defend free speech, but whose real purpose is to ban divergent opinions. For years, so-called "fact-checkers" have been operating in Europe and the US, who are not fact-checkers, but real thought police, who must remove any position other than the official one. If you talk and write on social media about obvious things, such as that there are two, not 78 genders, or that it was the UK that obstructed the peace agreement in Ukraine in April 2022, you will be declared subversive and banned. Globalist elites are doing everything they can to impose politically correct new speech throughout the information space. If this were to happen, Europe would lose its fundamental value, freedom.

Schizophrenia sufferers get hallucinations, and chronic Russophobia sufferers hallucinate that any unknown object that gets in their way, be it a Labubu toy or a drone, is necessarily made in Russia. Sick of anti-Russian hysteria are convinced that Putin himself, standing on the terrace in the Kremlin, sends drones to Western Europe in order to destroy harmonious European existence. And as Brussels, Berlin, Paris, London sink into their own anti-Russian fantasies, Europe's real problems deepen. Normal Europeans are increasingly impoverished, illegal immigration is on the rise, and Islamic terrorism is killing more and more. As British Prime Minister Starmer prepares to fight Russia, an Islamist terrorist attack has taken place in the British city of Manchester, killing people. This, unfortunately, is the logical result of the actions of the increasingly detached European elite. Totally obsessed with imaginary threats, this elite does not realize that its delusional actions are the greatest threat to Europe.

For two years, the European institutions have done nothing to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It is this inaction that is one of the causes of the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinian women, children, elderly people. The direct responsible for this, as more and more people call it genocide, is the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. But the responsibility of the so-called civilized Europe is also significant. The good thing, however, is that while the elite in Brussels did not dare to call, normal European citizens raised their voices clearly in support of the sufferers in Gaza. These days, hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of Rome, London, Barcelona, Dublin, Amsterdam, Sofia and demanded that Netanyahu stop killing innocent Palestinians. Unfortunately, Europe's leaders are afraid to criticise the Israeli government because they are afraid of being accused of anti-Semitism. This fear is foolish because it is absurd to put a sign of equality between the Jews of the world and the Netanyahu government. It's perfectly natural to like the Jews and not like the Israeli cabinet at all. Hundreds of thousands of protesters in Europe understand this, and EU leaders clearly do not want to understand it.

Mr President, honourable Members, those who explain what a wonderful democracy Moldova is and how it confidently walks the bright Euro-Atlantic path never mention the name Evgenia Gutsul. Eugenia Gutsul until recently led the autonomous republic of Gagauzia, was highly critical of the Moldovan government, and is now in prison. She was sentenced to seven years on charges of receiving money from Russia. The message of this verdict is clear – any opposition in Moldova risks being convicted as a Russian spy. Last year there were presidential elections and a referendum, and they were expected to be easily won by the government and by President Maia Sandu. However, Sandu, who was so enthusiastically enjoyed by many people here, won with great sadness, although during the entire election campaign all state structures and media worked in favor of the government and silenced the voice of the opposition. Maya Sandu and her partisans in the government are not at all an example of democratic exercise of power, but because they move entirely on the conspectus descended from Brussels, the Eurobureaucrats praise them. ‘He may be a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch’, as the Americans say.

Madam President, there are a few basic topics about which the proponents of Ukraine's rapid accession to the European Union say nothing. First, endemic corruption, which Ukrainians themselves say is the biggest problem in the country after the war. Recently, President Zelenskyy tried to bring the two main anti-corruption bodies under his control, which would have completely invalidated them. Secondly, there is no mention of the persecutions suffered by the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Without any evidence, they were lobbied for Russian spies and persecuted, imprisoned and convicted. Thirdly, the European institutions are deafeningly silent about the forced gathering of young people on the streets and bus stops of Ukrainian cities to be sent to the front, often without any serious preparation. Fourthly, there is no discussion at all about the fact that many farmers in the Member States of the European Union will lose their subsidies, which will go to their Ukrainian counterparts when Ukraine enters the European Union. Silence does not solve these problems. On the contrary, it deepens them.

The Republic of North Macedonia categorically does not meet the conditions for starting negotiations for membership in the European Union. Minority rights are not respected in this country. Representatives of the Bulgarian minority are subject to judicial and extrajudicial prosecutions, and crimes against Bulgarians often go either unpunished or the punishments are symbolic. Adding to this the brazen theft of Bulgarian history and Bulgarian cultural heritage by the rulers in Skopje, it becomes clear why this country does not deserve membership in the EU. Why, then, do senior European officials insist so much on Skopje starting membership negotiations? The reason is the same, because of which Bulgaria was ordered to become a member of the euro area. The European leaders want to show that their organisations are still wanted, that despite all the crises shaking the EU, there are countries that want to be part of it. But turning a blind eye to obvious violations of European rules by candidate members is not a recipe for the well-being of a union, but a proof of its decline.

Mr President, the so-called European Media Freedom Act seems to have been copied from a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin or George Orwell. This document is supposed to protect freedom, but its real purpose is to permanently eliminate the few remaining media freedom in Europe. It's a double-bottomed suitcase. On the surface are beautiful phrases, and beneath them is hidden the true essence, namely the imposition of a single point of view. This act created the so-called European Board for Media Services, whose main task is to fight disinformation. And according to the Brussels Newspeak, disinformation is anything that does not fit into the Procrustian bed of the official narrative. To put it bluntly, if a media outlet presents a different view than the official one on the European Commission's work, or the Green Deal, or the LGBT hysteria, the war in Gaza, or the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, it will be accused of spreading disinformation and banned. So the European Media Freedom Act is a path to a hell of censorship paved with good intentions.

Madam President, NATO should have been dissolved immediately after the end of the Cold War, as was the case with the Warsaw Pact. If this had happened, there would have been no war in Ukraine today and no risk of a third world war. However, instead of ending its existence, NATO has become a vampire who, in order to live, had to drink the blood of others, that is, expand into new countries. It was because of this obsessive striving to expand the North Atlantic pact that the war in Ukraine broke out. And the biggest winners of both the war and the continued existence of this vampire organisation are the big arms manufacturers. Today we are told that each Member State must devote 5% of its GDP to defence. They're probably going to raise the percentages to 10 tomorrow, right? Instead of education and health care, huge sums will go for weapons. In this way, we will become poorer and the danger of a global war will increase. The more NATO armes and expands, the more ominously the cloud of nuclear doom will loom over the world.

Madam President, the main culprits for the continuation of the war in Ukraine are in Brussels. The leaders of the European Union are constantly misleading the Ukrainian people that a victory against Russia is possible, that even if the United States withdraws its support for Kiev, the European Union will provide as much, if not more, money and weapons to Zelenskyy. The other big lie that EU leaders keep repeating is that there is some terrible Russian threat and that if Russia is not stopped now, it will conquer all of Europe in the coming years. Why do European leaders talk such insulting nonsense about common sense? Because they are convinced that if they scare the European countries hard enough, these countries will shrink cowardly and obediently follow the orders of Brussels. The Euroleaders believe that from now on they will be able to push through any idiotic policy on the grounds that it "saves Europe from the Russians". That is why the top Brussels bureaucrats, not the inhabitants of the Kremlin, are the main obstacle to achieving peace in Ukraine. If the European Union collapses, it will not be because of Moscow's actions, but because of Brussels' inadequate policy.

Madam President, the main culprits for the continuation of the war in Ukraine are in Brussels. The leaders of the European Union are constantly misleading the Ukrainian people that a victory against Russia is possible, that even if the United States withdraws its support for Kiev, the European Union will provide as much, if not more, money and weapons to Zelenskyy. The other big lie that EU leaders keep repeating is that there is some terrible Russian threat and that if Russia is not stopped now, it will conquer all of Europe in the coming years. Why do European leaders talk such insulting nonsense about common sense? Because they are convinced that if they scare the European countries hard enough, these countries will shrink cowardly and obediently follow the orders of Brussels. The Euroleaders believe that from now on they will be able to push through any idiotic policy on the grounds that it "saves Europe from the Russians". That is why the top Brussels bureaucrats, not the inhabitants of the Kremlin, are the main obstacle to achieving peace in Ukraine. If the European Union collapses, it will not be because of Moscow's actions, but because of Brussels' inadequate policy.