What Nicolae spoke about.

Mr President, I know that external affairs is not the Commissioner’s topic but then the Western Balkans is not a matter of strictly external affairs. I think it concerns us almost internally. We have stated numerous times that the future of the Western Balkan countries lies in the European Union, but stating it, including at the EU-Western Balkans Summit is not enough. Words are not enough. We need to take action. We need to put action into those words. And I believe that a prosperous and peaceful Western Balkans requires all six countries join hands, that they use the EUR 30 billion in the economic and investment plan and they build back better and speed up crucial reforms and strengthen the rule of law and fight corruption and organised crime. On the other hand, we, as the European Union, have homework to do as well and we need to work for reconciliation and regional cooperation. As we know, a deal between Kosovo and Serbia to end border tensions seemed almost impossible a while ago, but then we took important steps and the European Union contributed a lot to those important steps. Yes, the situation might still be unstable. Yes, tensions might not have stopped to rise and the progress might be slow. But even with these baby steps, we have proved that, if there is political will and if there is leadership, solutions will follow. So let’s keep up using all our tools to unblock bilateral disputes, to reach a comprehensive deal between Belgrade and Pristina, to speed up the accession of Albania and North Macedonia. The sooner we start the better for the security of Europe in general. I remind everyone that failure to do so will only open the room wider for Russia and China to destabilise the region. There is no such thing as a vacuum possible in politics. We know that. And that vacuum that is perceived right now is filling up fast and it is not with us. Colleagues, if our neighbourhood is not stable, we, in the European Union, are not stable. We act in our interests if we act in the interests of the Balkan people.

Mr President, Mr Sinkevičius, today I am a simple postman, because I bring the voice of young people in Romania. Two weeks ago, this Parliament was holding an event called ‘The European Youth Event’ with the motto ‘The future belongs to them’. But does it really belong to them? What do these young people really want? They want a healthy planet, they want forests, they want a clean, fair, environmentally friendly economy. They really don't want to be the generation that has tickets first and foremost to the drama entitled ‘Global Warming’. Who do we really decide for this purpose? For them, for those who will stay and feel climate change on their skin. We may not be here in 2050, but they will continue. It's just like Elena Ferrante said in her novel: It is a struggle between those who stay and those who leave. Our children no longer have to die of pollution in Europe, they must not be caught in natural disasters, in floods, in forest fires, in toxic discharges. When the water kills the fish. That’s how you know how ill it is. This is a raper, not a philosopher. But what it expresses very well is the anxiety of an entire generation. So listen to them!

Madam President, Commissioner, "never have so many owed so much, so few", said Winston Churchill in the midst of the war. We must live with this spirit again today, because Europe is, in fact, at war, and Europeans must see in what we are doing here, a shield. While many are preparing to emerge from the pandemic, my country, Romania, unfortunately, is entering a wave four, which is not a wave, is a tsunami. 574 people died today. It's a national tragedy, and our doctors can't do it anymore, the ICUs are busy. Therefore, the number one priority of this Parliament can only be health. This Parliament has already put a brick in that healthcare system through which, one day, a Romanian patient will be able to be treated in hospital, as in Austria, for example. Moreover, my group, Renew Europe, has put one billion euros aside for vaccination, for COVAX, because it is useless for us to get better, if not for the whole world to get better. This budget must also be the cleanest in history. That is why I proposed and supported that Laura Codruta Kövesi should have the money for the staff she needs, to control that this money should not be stolen, should not be taken by corrupt people. Why? Because this money is partly borrowed, and we have to guard it, keep an eye on it, like a bottle. Europe is nothing if it's not the young people in it. Young people deserve as many opportunities as possible. That is why we are increasing the budget today by 40,000 Erasmus scholarships, precisely for those young people who, instead of travelling, had to sit in front of the screen, instead of in front of the Louvre. To talk about 2022 today is, I imagine, as others talked about 1942 in the First War, so it certainly wasn't easy. But our ultimate role here in this European house is this: we can, when Europeans can no longer.

Mr President, isn’t it regrettable that I am the first man today to speak in favour of this resolution on this floor? I was only a child when Ceaușescu was ruling Romania and I remember how thousands of people would rat on their neighbours and family for choosing to terminate a pregnancy. The new state law might turn Texas too into a snitch state because it might seem unbelievable, but any citizen, even those not involved, men, it doesn’t matter, might stand to win USD 10 000 for noticing anybody who doesn’t respect this law or abets or aids abortion. Unfortunately, the recent ban is not about protecting the unborn. It is about male dominance. It is an attack on female agency. It is about exposing women to a deadly risk. Even federal judges called it today an offensive deprivation, and it is an offensive deprivation. Do we know what a pregnancy is? It is one of the most determinative aspects of a woman’s life. Do we know that it disrupts not just the body but the education, the employment, the right to achieve a full potential? Because if we do, we must take action now and we must stand firm with the women of Texas because they might be the women of Europe as well. If we do and if we vote for this resolution – and I encourage all men to vote for this resolution in this hall – I remind you of the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg , who once said ‘Abortion is an essential part of sexual equality, thus ending all ethical debate.’ A vote for this resolution is the right thing.

Madam President, Commissioner, please do something! It's getting worse, a doctor from my home in Sibiu told me today. The Romanian government, which fell through a no-confidence motion, has asked for emergency help from the European Union, because today we have 15,000 new cases and 254 deaths, an absolute record. Unfortunately, the authorities only ask for help when it's too late, because they don't want to appear weak and incompetent in front of people. We had already asked for this help here in the European Parliament a week ago. I hope with all my heart that European solidarity will work again. I hope that all of you, all of you Europeans, will help Romania, just as doctors in Romania helped Italy in the first wave of the crisis in 2020. We can only rejoice for the HERA agency and support it wholeheartedly, but for Romania it is late now. We need the European institutions to be present at home, in the hospitals at home, in Constanta, in Sibiu, because Romania is losing air at this moment and we need great, great help.

Mr President, colleagues, I condemn the US-bashing coming from some parts of this House on this floor. The United States has no better friend in the world than the European Union. We have built a relationship based on history, on values and on interests, but now it’s time for the big game. We can no longer think regionally. NATO is the foundation for our collective defence, but America also needs a strong Europe that has strong military interoperability and mobility. A tank cannot take a month to travel from Constanța to Riga, and then we call that mobility. That is a lame duck for me, and that is not what America needs or what Europe needs. I support what Radosław Sikorski said, namely that we make a useful ally when we are a strong ally. Only together can we respond to Russia’s threats in our region, in Ukraine, in Georgia and in Moldova. In the event of a massive global outage like the one we saw yesterday affecting social media, how do we fight fake news if not together? We might not be America’s nearest partner, but we are for sure their closest.

Mr President, Commissioner, the summer of 2021 taught us all an important lesson: no country in Europe is immune to natural disasters; Whether it is a fire, a flood, we cannot let such events become a normality for us. Passivity will cost us lives. It costs us time, recovery, reconstruction and, most importantly, it costs us the future of our children and I give you an example: My daughter is a year and a half old. For her, 2050 is not an abstraction, nor is 2100 an abstraction, it is as real as this year and this future. This year also in Romania, where I come from, we had, for the first time, several climate events, Romania was hit by a cyclone to the east and west. Desertification continues to expand in the south of the country, and sandstorms are coming closer and closer to Bucharest. There are acres that have been burned by wildfires. In the case of a tragedy similar to the one in Greece, Romania would have had nothing to rely on, because it has no tanker planes and no amphibious planes. We must therefore all be better prepared for such situations, including because solidarity is necessary. So let's choose the camp better: We choose for nature or against nature, we are for our children or against them. Thank you very much.

Mr President, healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have, said Churchill. But how about the European Union? Do we have a European health for all our citizens? Seventy-four per cent of Europeans want the EU to have more competences to deal with crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis needs to be turned into an opportunity to build a strong European Union for Health. You heard Ms Véronique Trillet-Lenoir saying it. In the wake of the pandemic, we saw more clearly the limits of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The agency was created to mirror the US CDC but lacks its powers and funding. The European CDC has an inconsistent access to data and is critically unmanned. It is named like the US CDC, tries to act like it, but lacks almost everything to do so. We have to make sure that the ECDC is not an empty shell, but a strategic instrument the EU has in dealing with future health crises. Could it happen again, that a pandemic or another health threat brings us to our knees? I think the answer is 100% yes. Would we be forgiven a second time for not being prepared? I think the answer is: impossible. I think here in the EP we have made great progress with the competences allotted to this agency. First, one critical issue is the quality and quantity of the information that the agency can access, so we want to grant specific powers to ensure that the quality of data the ECDC receives is good. Second, it is important that the ECDC has the ability to arrange inspections in the Member States. Inspections are not about poking our noses in. Inspection means first-hand help and means testing in peace what will be essential in war. Thirdly, the new variants prove to be challenging in the race to beat COVID-19 so it’s key for the Centre to provide technical and scientific assistance and to help in the detection and sequencing capacities. My country surely needs it. Time cannot be lost when faced with a public health threat or pandemic. You only get to be the firefighter once.

Mr President, a few months ago Carrie Lam said that foreign powers should not intervene in Hong Kong’s affairs because they are China’s affairs and this jeopardises national security. But what does national security really mean? Let me tell you, for the people of Hong Kong, it is the forced shutdown of the only pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily. It is journalists that are being detained and arrested just for doing their job. It is children being taught under suppressive methods that do not encourage critical thinking. And it’s the 100th anniversary: the CCP is ruthlessly expanding its power, trampling on Hong Kong’s sovereignty. It is no longer enough for us just to be concerned. It is high time we changed into actions and applied the EU Magnitsky Act. Let’s send China a clear message. We stand for the people of Hong Kong and we won’t move aside. That’s not foreign interference, I’m sorry: that’s just doing our job. That’s protecting freedom.

Mr President, Commissioner Kyriakides, Mr Reynders, I want you to imagine that you are an elderly man in a village in Romania or here in France. Just today the press is talking about a man at the ICU, unvaccinated, who said crying: “I didn’t know about the vaccine, nobody told me.” Likewise, the green certificate is a good thing and we hardly got it. Not all countries implemented it on time, not all citizens received it. Many also say here: ‘I didn’t know’. Europe has adopted an act, but that does not mean it can go on holiday. We have to stay here for the people, because we risk going back to where we started, now that the Delta strain is already here. With 50% of Europeans vaccinated, we are at risk, with 25% of Romanians vaccinated, we are one foot in the abyss. Vaccination is our only keystone. Either we do winter sleigh and summer sleigh, or we will be forever unprepared. I want to be with people all the way. The pandemic is not over in Europe, nor is our help allowed to end.