Speeches

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen! A friend from Germany, already absent, called for solidarity and spoke here about Poland. We do not need to call for solidarity with Ukraine, because our country has given the most help, receiving the largest number of refugees, sending transports of food and medicine and being a military hub all the time. Rather, I wanted you to convince your colleague, your compatriot, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, who called for Poland and Hungary to starve. A colleague from Spain said that she did not care about the elections in Poland. Well, I would like it to cause the government in Spain to finally be formed, because there are big problems with it, and that the government in Spain will finally implement what it promised, i.e. sending weapons to Ukraine. Because they're still just words. It's best for everyone to start with themselves. It's not just Poland's problem, which we know very well. This is the problem of half of the countries that joined the European Union at this age. And it is very good that we are saying here that this is a matter of guilt primarily of Russia. (The speaker agrees to answer the question indicated by a blue card)

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen! I do not think that this agreement is a betrayal of European values, as Mrs In't Veld, who is leaving the room, says, I think that this agreement is necessary. It is even necessary. I can only express my surprise that it happens so late. My country has long said that everything must be done to support people, countries in Africa and Asia, from where immigrants or refugees come to Europe. And I think that if this principle were consistently applied, today these immigration problems would be much smaller. It is also much cheaper from the point of view of the European taxpayer when we give funds to countries in Africa or Asia than when we allocate much more funds to individual immigrants here.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. I think we need to speak frankly and openly. In this Parliament – I remember – a few years back, when we rightly started the debate and then the resolution in the context of the Uyghurs, the Muslim minority, my Conservative political group proposed that Christians who were persecuted should also be addressed in the same country. The majority of European parliamentarians rejected this amendment. I must say that it was quite amazing to me that this freedom and support of tolerance is equal for some, and more equal for others. Even today, a number of political groups have voted against women, organisations in which women operate and which are trying to fight theocracy in Iran. We should hit our chests on this.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. It can be said that this is a metaphor for the functioning of our Union, because in this debate the youngest Commissioner in the European Commission meets a very experienced, long-time President of the European Investment Bank. Exactly, experience and youth give a good effect. Ladies and gentlemen, I can say, of course, that I do not really like certain accents in the functioning of the bank. I have the impression that there are quite a lot of elements of climate ideology for a banking institution – and Mr President’s speech this year, and in his speech from a year ago. I think we should avoid that in a tough economy. Leave it to the politicians. They do it well, unfortunately in this House as well. However, I particularly appreciate what the European Investment Bank has done for small and medium-sized companies. It was important. I also appreciate what he did in the context of supporting various countries in the post-Soviet area.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the moment when I'm happy and I'm very worried. I am worried because, of course, I see some of our powerlessness in the face of this drama, this tragedy that is taking place in Sudan. And I say this as a man who is going to his 22nd African country next week with a European Parliament mission. I think I know this continent a little and I feel that the European Union really has the instruments in its hands to influence the situation in this country. But it also seems that we are not doing everything to enforce from that side, from the state authorities, also from Sudan, to do what is theirs. For example, such unconditional provision of all economic aid is a mistake. And this must be said very clearly. But I also welcome this discussion, because it – which is rarely the case in the European Parliament – shows that there are cases where we are together. Also on Sudan. And also for the children of Sudan.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. An important debate on an important issue. Unfortunately, this is an example of hypocrisy. I am very pleased, as coordinator of my ECR political group in this committee, that we are taking on very important challenges. You can do well in the European Parliament. You can, Mr Glucksmann, in the French Parliament – rightly, rightly. Why can't it be in Poland? We have set up such a commission, it is under a very strong attack, and yet it is about the same thing, it is about external, foreign influence, and it has been for many years. In this report, as my colleague Beata Szydło has just said, things are completely unnecessary. However, we voted in favour of this report because we felt that, overall, things were important there. Yes, Russia, although not only Russia, to be clear, wants to disturb us. Russia is infiltrating us – we need to speak out. This report is proof of that. Just don't shut your mouth to those who want to do the same in their own countries.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. In fact, the fingers of both hands are not enough to count the debates on Myanmar, or Burma, in this Parliament in recent years. Because it's a never ending story, it's a never ending story, because we talk about the same thing all the time. And we act a little bit, in fact, like a choir in a Chinese opera, which sings for three acts: Let's go, let's go, let's not move. I mean, of course, we say, we call things by their names, we protest. And very well, rightly so. However, as my esteemed predecessor just said, we should finally do something seriously. I think the time is really high. All the more so because so far the European Union has presented some helplessness in this matter. That is to say, it did not actually use more serious means of economic pressure. And that's the only thing our partners in Myanmar can really understand. And that's my advice.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. The two speakers before me come from Lithuania, a country which, like Poland, is neighbouring Belarus. I think we know what the situation is. It's bad. I agree with my colleagues that there was no consensus among the European Union on strong sanctions against Minsk. This encourages the Lukashenka regime. This rarely happens in politics. It's such a black and white film, either in this one or in this one. We must be aware that our unified voice on this matter increases the chances for freedom and democracy in Belarus. Not immediately, but it increases. Today we can talk about Mr. Babaryka, a brave man, we can talk about Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish journalist, a citizen of Belarus who has been sitting for a long time. It is worth talking about these people. You have to talk about these people. This is our moral duty.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. I am very pleased that Algeria is working closely with the European Union, Europe and its Member States on energy issues. And this has improved a lot, you know, after Russia's aggression against Ukraine. This is a country linked to Europe, for example, by the fact that it has been a French colony for a very long time, that tens of millions of euros of European taxpayers have been going, they are going and will certainly go to Algeria under various programmes in the context of the Southern Partnership. Algeria is considered to be part of the French influence, i.e. the influence of the European Union. But this does not mean that we lace our mouths and doom ourselves to silence when it comes to what is happening there. I understand – I have been in politics for a long time – but media freedom and media balance are fundamental. Therefore, I am glad that we are speaking with one voice above the divisions on this issue.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. I will start by thanking the Commissioner, who is a professional and is doing a really good job when it comes to this EU perspective, not only for Kosovo, but above all for the other countries of the Western Balkans, because probably other countries will enter the Union much faster next year. I do not want to talk here about the mistakes of the Union, about the fact that we have lost a few years when it comes to the accession of countries such as Macedonia, Serbia or Montenegro, especially. Let's talk about Kosovo. I wanted to say clearly: there is a question of resolving certain problems that are in this country, such as corruption, a question of resolving bilateral problems between Kosovo and Serbia. These are the things that are serious challenges for our partner. And let's not pretend that these challenges do not exist. Conditions must be set and certain changes must be demanded, including when it comes to the country's anti-corruption legislation.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Representatives of the European Commission! To sum up this debate, I would like to say that, first of all, quite simply, there are a number of issues that should not be included at all in the discharge report and the report, of course with regard to the European Commission. It is about the conditionality mechanism, because it is very political in nature I think that in reports on purely financial issues, it is not a good idea to insert such political flowers, because it reduces the substantive quality. Secondly, following the rapporteur and the opinion of the Court of Auditors, it must be said that there is a clear lack of transparency regarding the checks carried out by the European Commission in several areas. First of all, it is COVID-related expenditure – I no longer want to talk about the vicissitudes of President Von der Leyen, as we know. Secondly, it is the financing of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Finally, thirdly, the use of external consultants. That's a lot of money. There is also the issue of delays in the implementation of commitments and the launch of new programmes, as well as the chaotic implementation of the RRF. This involves a heavy administrative burden on the Member States – which, of course, cannot be liked – as well as an illegible and inconsistent methodology for verifying the fulfilment of milestones. There are reservations about the correct implementation of the only payment audited by the Court. Attention, perhaps of particular interest to our taxpayers and voters, is also lacking in a thorough analysis of the impact of climate spending in the European Union. However, I have the impression that the Commission is not, with all due respect to you who are here, effectively protecting the financial interests of the European Union.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. A year and a half ago, the Council of the European Union approved a regulation establishing nine joint undertakings under Horizon Europe. This makes sense because the Union, together with the Member States, with the private sector, is to carry out research and innovation in the framework of these European partnerships. The horizontal scope is important: the end of 2031, eight years from now, and a budget of €10 billion by 2027. Of course, the EU budget plus a similar amount from the Member States. These are the following nine projects: Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3), namely air traffic, Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, IHI, the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking, the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (Clean H2), the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking (KDT), the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, the European Rail Joint Undertaking (EURail), and finally the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) and the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy (F4E). These reports reiterate the opinion of the Court of Auditors as regards both the positive conclusions and certain weaknesses found during the internal control. I will discuss the various issues that are included in my reports. So the question of ITER and the development of fusion energy. We remember the strike in November 2021. The reasons were the deterioration of working conditions, shortcomings at senior management level, disruptions in decision-making, the lack of social dialogue, transparency issues and the large-scale use of external workers. In response to this situation, the Joint Undertaking has taken a number of actions to improve the working environment and the well-being of its staff. It is worrying that Russia, which is a member of ITER, is obliged to deliver several components for ITER projects to the ITER assembly site in France, Cadarache, which risks further delays and cost increases for ITER projects. When it comes to innovation in health, there are problems with ex-post auditing. In one case, we found a systemic error related to personnel costs due to the use of incorrect hourly rates. Finally, the High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking. Two points: the private members' contribution of 420 million euro will not be achieved by the end of the grant project. Secondly, the Joint Undertaking also does not have reliable procedures for certifying and validating in-kind contributions. It is the only joint undertaking that does not have a strategic implementation plan for the contributions of other members.

Mr President, thank you very much. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask the President for the same temporal tolerance as Herzberger-Fofana's colleague. It is good that today we are talking about a key issue, which is culture. When the charismatic President of the European Commission Jacques Delors was asked what he would change after these two terms of office when he was President, he said: “We didn’t talk enough about culture.” And I think it is good that today we are talking about culture, about the restitution of cultural goods. I say this as a former Deputy Minister of Culture and Art in my country, Poland, the youngest Deputy Minister in his time. I say this as a former vice-chairman of the Committee on Culture in my country's parliament. This is an important signal from the European Union that it wants to fight against the smuggling and robbery of cultural goods. But as a live, you can't start the alphabet with the letter K or N. Let's start with A. Let's do our thing first. It is good that the European Commission is doing this, but let us first try, for the sake of historical justice, to make good the losses that have arisen in previous centuries. In the 17th century – there are no Swedish colleagues here – thousands of cultural goods were exported by the Swedes during the occupation of my country. We are still waiting for their return, including the manuscript of the work of Nicolaus Copernicus "On the rotation of celestial bodies", where he was the first to show what moves: The Sun or the Earth, or the oldest work in Polish entitled ‘Statut Łaski’ – we are also waiting for the Swedes to give it away. The same goes for German losses. Let's talk about that, too.

Mr President, thank you very much. Representatives of the European Commission! Ladies and Gentlemen, Unfortunately, after this chaos-ridden withdrawal of Americans in September 2021, I warned that those who told us that these new authorities were different from the Taliban, that they were no longer so radical, that they were open to dialogue, that they were educated in Western universities, and that this was already the better face of the Taliban than those who ruled Kabul 20 years ago, were wrong. I warned that it was really a tactic that the Taliban were the same. And that's confirmed. What happened three weeks ago was confirmed by the arrest in question. It seems to me that it is necessary to enforce all sanctions against Afghanistan very hard, because only this can lead the government in Kabul to try to at least maintain certain minimum standards. But here I am a pessimist.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, It's the Cambodia debate again. A draconian verdict and the question is, what can we do? How do we protest? Before me were wise and noble deputies. I agree with what they said. I was wondering what to say, and maybe it was time, Mr President, to protest in a different way. I still have 30 seconds to speak and I would like to remain silent for 30 seconds, in solidarity with those who are persecuted in Cambodia.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think you have to be careful with accusations of populism, because it is an inherent feature, unfortunately, of modern politics. It occurs on different continents, also in our country, and in principle regardless of who is in charge and who is in opposition. On the other hand, speaking about Tunisia once again, once again in a very short time, not to mention this record of absenteeism – well, if every ninth voter goes to the elections, it shows some complete drama, a complete lack of confidence of voters, taxpayers in the institutions of elections, and therefore in the belief that something will change – it must be said that, of course, we can and must criticise. It is good that we do this together and in solidarity. But let's go back a little bit. But the mistake, the mistake, our mistake, the mistake of the European Union, the mistake of the West that we supported the Arab Spring, and not only in Tunisia. We still pay the bills to this day. And that's our problem.

Mr President, thank you very much. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Dear Colleagues, I think that this debate is very much needed if our words, important words beyond political divisions, turn into actions. There are a number of ideas here. I hear that it may be worth recalling Western ambassadors from Iran. Others speak of the need to send an international mission to check on what is happening in Iran – perhaps the authorities in Tehran will not agree to this. But one thing is certain: It is not only necessary to speak out about this, but it is necessary to translate what we heard here today during the celebration of International Women's Day from an Iranian representative into certain concrete actions of the West. I think that only the language of sanctions can be understood by Iran. And finally, I hope that in the near future it will be the woman who will lead the Iranian government, the Iranian authorities. Whether it be Mrs Marjam Rajavi or someone else, it would be the best slap in the face for those who are persecuting women in Iran today.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. President, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, It was an important speech. I very much regret that so few, about 60 Members, so less than 10% of Parliament listened to this, because it is worth listening to the voice of Lithuania, the Baltic countries, from our region. I'm sorry, but that's the reality. I am glad that we are meeting again, because Mr. President came to Poland for our national holiday. It was a symbolic visit, an important political message. What are you going to say today, Mr. President? And I foresaw everything you said. I anticipated it because I knew you were going to talk about Ukraine. Thank you for that. That you will talk about history and you will want to show Lithuania as a country that is part of this European mainstream. I remember, moreover, how the Seimas, the Parliament of Lithuania, was the only one and the first to vote by acclamation in favour of the European Constitution, which was later rejected in referendums by the Netherlands and France. However, I think that sometimes it is worth discussing and arguing when it comes to Europe, because such a dispute results in decisions that may be good for the European Union in the long run. Finally, I believe that you will support the Polish minority in Lithuania, because pluralism, because the protection of minorities is something that is absolutely fundamental in the European Union.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, Transparency is one of the main topics of the European Ombudsman's investigations. As Vice-Chair of the Committee on Petitions and coordinator of our ECR Group in the Committee on Budgetary Control, I would like to thank you very much for your work in this area. Transparency is the foundation of the trust of the citizens of the Member States in the institutions of the Union, and therefore we do not understand how the European Commission, its President, refuses access to the text messages exchanged by Mrs von der Leyen with the head of one of the main pharmaceutical companies, which, moreover, are generously endowed by the European Union with grants to find a vaccine. We share the Ombudsman's critical view on this matter. Such actions do not serve to build an atmosphere of trust in the European Commission, in the institutions of the European Union. We must say this very loudly and finally demand that the President of the European Commission stop these strange translations, which are completely irrational.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Navalny is not the only one, but Navalny is few. All the more reason to appreciate his suffering, which was mentioned here today. I remember when we first hosted his daughter in our Parliament and a few months later his wife. They were with us physically, although in spirit and heart they were with their father and husband. Today we are talking about the war in Eastern Europe. We think about what will happen after the war. Will there be a time for Navalny and those who believe in democracy in Russia? Will it be another time, the time of someone worse than Putin. In solidarity with Navalny, we express our solidarity with those Russians who want freedom. There may not be many of them, but they must feel our solidarity above the divisions.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. I remember when I was a kid, collecting postage stamps. Some of the most beautiful stamps were Swaziland stamps. Stamps of a very exotic country and then I was associated with great exoticism, with travels. I remembered this country, which today bears a different name Eswatini. I did not think that after a few dozen years I would associate it not with philately, with stamps, but with human rights violations. This enclave on the territory of South Africa (one of four in the world, one of two on the African continent, the other is Lesotho) is an example of the fact that after years of violence, when he was in those areas of apartheid, unfortunately, there is again a violation of human rights. Now someone else is the author. It is good that today we are protesting over divisions.

Mr President, thank you very much. Ladies and Gentlemen, Tunisia is a country that must be given special attention in the European Parliament, in the Union, because for years the countries of the Maghreb, the countries of North Africa have been the target of significant subsidies. After all, it is a question of a certain partnership with these countries on the part of our European Union. And, of course, here we can criticise, as we have heard, the European Commission for what we have heard here. However, I think it is necessary to revise the whole policy of the Union towards this region and towards other countries of this close Africa, because I have the impression that we were the proponents of the Arab Spring, we were the ones who tried to support certain political forces there, and in fact it led to some chaos. If today we are talking critically about the fact that only one in nine Tunisians went to the elections, which is indeed an extraordinary situation when it comes to democracy, perhaps let us consider how much we can support this country unconditionally, that money that goes from us without conditions to be fulfilled by Tunisia is acceptable?

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, It is very good that Mrs Loiseau spoke about Crimea here, because indeed this destination was reminded and it was very bad that some MEPs, hence the defence, were there, and I think that this matter should not be forgotten even in the flood of information about Qatar. I think it is important to remember that we have regulations that already serve transparency. I have the impression that not everyone always knows about it. I agree with President Angel. You also have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath. Because, for example, Frienship groups They are different. We have, for example, a group of friends from Belarus, but not Lukashenko, but thirty MEPs who cooperate with civil society, with independent journalists there, with social organisations that are being persecuted. It is difficult for such a group to cease to exist, e.g. a group Friends of a free Iran, which fights for women's rights in Iran. So I think we need to approach this with some surgical precision. But I certainly agree that this is the biggest affair in the history of the European Parliament. Although not the largest in the whole European Union, because I will remind you twenty years ago the European Commission was dismissed in its entirety. It is good that there is a will to change and that will must be supported.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Mr. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all, I would like to correct some fake news that appeared in this room. With all due respect to all parliamentarians, however, we cannot say that we want to send soldiers there. That's not true. We are discussing the sending of weapons. And that gun needs to be sent. But it would be good if some of our colleagues did not mislead the public in our Europe that we want to send soldiers there. Secondly, one of my colleagues from Germany said that Russia is the beneficiary of this war, that Russia is growing economically. That's not true. There is a decrease in Russia's GDP, by 3.5% only, but this is a decrease. Estimates were higher that GDP would fall by 10-15%, but it cannot be said that Russia is the beneficiary of this war, because Russia loses in this war. I wanted to make it very clear that this is a very important summit. Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO must be supported.

Madam President, I'm sorry. Commissioner, I'm sorry. Ladies and Gentlemen, Poland remains at the forefront of the EU Member States in terms of the number of irregularities reported. As a country, we reported 1,020 cases in 2021, which we are discussing. This is the fourth place in the European Union. I cite this data to show the full effectiveness of the Polish system of implementation and control of EU funds, and the full cooperation of Polish financial institutions with law enforcement authorities, as well as proper compliance with the reporting obligation to the European Commission. Although we do not participate in the enhanced cooperation within the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, many countries that cooperate with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office have much worse results in detecting and prosecuting crimes against the European Union’s finances, and yet this situation is often presented differently in the media assessment. It shows our country, not countries that have much worse, concrete results when it comes to financial irregularities in relation to EU funds. I'm not going to point out these countries here. Each country is aware of these results on corruption of EU funds, which are published every year, for example by Eurostat or other EU agencies. Thank you very much to all those who prepared this report.