Speeches

Mr President, honourable Members, Albania must start membership negotiations as soon as possible. The European Commission has repeatedly confirmed that Albania has met the requirements for starting these negotiations. I congratulate Tirana on its participation and its full support for all European Union policies related to the war in Ukraine. However, reforms must be deep, irreversible and cover fundamental areas, starting with the rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions. Fighting corruption and ensuring the independence of the media without worrying about self-censorship are important elements for the democratic transformation of Albanian society. I welcome the legislative changes undertaken by Tirana, which strengthen the efficiency of the judicial system, and I believe that it is very important that they are implemented. EaP3 funds need to be used to support the reform process, economic development and increase competitiveness. I would like to underline Albania's crucial contribution to the protection of the Union's external borders and the prevention of cross-border crime, as well as the abuse of free movement within the European Union. Albania needs to step up its efforts to reduce the risk of poverty and social exclusion by improving access to social, educational and health services for all parts of society. Finally, Serbia-Montenegro started their negotiations separately. There is no logic to explain why countries should be grouped together. In addition, one of the main principles is that the achievements of each country should be assessed separately. Once again, I call for the immediate start of negotiations with Albania.

Dear Mr. Dzhambazki, this is exactly the case. I share what you say. We are not talking about an academic dispute between two countries. We are talking about basic human rights, discrimination, hate speech, it is dangerous to say your self-determination. Just as we respect the self-determination of every living person who defines himself as an ethnic Macedonian, so must the self-determination of everyone who wants to define himself as a Bulgarian be respected. There should be no negative consequences in his service, no career development, his children should not be threatened in school or receive insults from the surrounding negative environment, soaked, unfortunately, with hatred and with the inertia of the Yugoslav past.

Mr President, honourable Members, following Putin's aggression in Ukraine, the integration into the European Union of all the countries of the Western Balkans must now, more than ever, be supported. Macedonia is on a difficult path from a dependent entity in the former Yugoslavia to an independent European state. Bulgaria has supported Macedonia for the past 30 years in all respects on its way to Europe. Our European family must be united, strong and empowered to act in the face of the threats and challenges around us. It would be in the Kremlin's interest for our European Union to have misunderstanding, hatred and discrimination. Therefore, all these issues that lead to such negative processes should be cleared before the beginning of negotiations, or at least there should be a guarantee that they will be resolved during the negotiation process. Integration is a two-way street that requires efforts on both sides. However, the candidate country should be able to overcome the momentum and dependencies on the former Yugoslav ideology that led to the division and sowed hatred between two countries with a common history, such as Bulgaria and Macedonia. The treaty with Bulgaria must be respected, especially in its part on historical reconciliation based on common history. The work of the academic committee is based on original documents, as well as the non-discrimination of openly stating their Bulgarian identity and origin citizens. Measures must also be taken to address hate speech, such as changing school curricula and monuments. Guarantees for progress can be the negotiating framework, where to take into account what has been done on these topics, without worrying whether another government will come to Macedonia, the opposition now, which is or is not such. I call on the political class of Macedonia to show courage, courage and leadership to start the negotiations. (The speaker agreed to respond to the "blue card" statement)

Mr President, the Russian regime has intensified in an unprecedented manner the brutal repression of peacefully demonstrating Russian citizens, independent journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and civil society activists in an attempt to silence any criticism of and opposition to its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified military aggression in Ukraine. The Kremlin's propaganda is trying to identify its regime with the people of Russia. However, I am convinced that we must support the democratically thinking, civilized and cultural citizens of this country that has given birth to great composers, writers, artists, scientists who have contributed to enriching the world's cultural treasury. Certainly, these people are deeply ashamed of the Kremlin's rule, which has caused incurable damage to Russia's image around the world for a long time. Alexei Navalny showed reckless courage and heroism to return to Russia to be immediately arrested. He must be released unconditionally. I call on the Council and the Member States to step up their support for activists, independent journalists and human rights defenders by granting them visas and finding shelter in the European Union. Endangered organisations and scientists must be able to continue their work in the European Union.

Madam President, Mr Borrell, Commissioner, it is difficult to find words to express the horror of the Russian barbarism committed before the eyes of the world in Ukraine. When we are faced with a moral human choice between good and evil, we cannot be neutral. Neutrality means that we are together with the aggressor. Despite the huge investments in the Kremlin's propaganda war, however, there can be no doubt who is the aggressor and who is the victim. War always leads to great suffering, war must stop today, but it must stop not with victory for the aggressor. There's no time to delay. That is why I am addressing you, and the Council, and the Commission, but also the Member States. Double and triple your efforts, Ukraine cannot wait. If one or two countries do not want to participate in enhanced measures or sanctions, or do not want to participate in the supply of defence equipment, then without them should be continued. Ukraine is now on the border between civilisation and barbarism. A potential loss for Ukraine is a loss for our freedom and security. I support my colleague Verhofstadt, who just said maximum tightening of sanctions and ensuring their effective implementation by Member States but also candidate countries. They should also, together with us, participate in all sanctions. We must close all possibilities for financing the Russian war machine. The maximum amount and scope of support must be given to Ukraine – defence equipment, humanitarian aid, macro-financial assistance, as well as support for refugees, children fleeing war. Here I would like to address both the Commission and the Council to find opportunities for Russian state assets that are on the territory of the European Union, as well as the assets of oligarchs, to be used to support Ukraine. Finally, something very sad for me. Shameful and disgraceful is the behaviour of the Bulgarian government, which, for fear of the coalition collapsing, is being lowered, I will put it this way ‘under Todor Zhivkovski’. They do not want to support with defensive equipment those fighting for our freedom in Ukraine. And one last point, I'd like to pay my big respect to President Metsola. She was there in Kyiv. But I would also like to ask if the Bureau of the Parliament could please return the Ukrainian flag here to the plenary until the war has gone with the victory of freedom and Ukraine. Slava Ukraini!

Madam President, the reality of today shows us that history, identity, culture and religions matter. Manipulation, falsification and destruction of historical heritage leads to hate, discrimination and violence. The war of Putin against Ukraine proves this one more time. He's also using these ugly instruments of history manipulation for justification of these terrible actions. Reconciliation can be achieved only by reaching mutual trust. The topic of the destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh against Armenians is just one example of how important is trust. The destruction of any cultural heritage sites, artefacts and objects contributes to the escalation of hostilities, lack of mutual understanding and prejudice between and within societies. On the contrary, the respect of minorities, which is one of our core values, includes the protection of their cultural identity and heritage. The urgency resolution which we are voting today welcomes the UNESCO proposal to send an independent experts’ mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh and assess the situation on the ground. We request further that international experts be given unhindered access by Azerbaijan to all cultural sites for a proper inventory to be carried out. It is critical to remember that the protection, rebuilding and restoration of historical heritage and religious heritage should be seen in the broader framework of the conflict resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and needs to be requested, supported and welcome. This process includes also the condemnation of any destructions of cultural, religious and historical sites, regardless of whether this happened in the past or in the present day, or by whom. The new generations need to have a peaceful and secure future without the hate from the past.

Madam President, the European Union has always laid stress on the European perspective of all the Western Balkan countries, including Bosnia—Herzegovina. The stability of all of these countries is of vital importance for the citizens in this region, but also for the European Union. In order to secure peace and stability the three communities have to be represented in a fair way. This is why changes in the electoral law are in high demand to provide the Croats in Bosnia—Herzegovina with the opportunity to be on an equal footing in terms of representations with the other two communities. However, all three communities have to come together and be ready to compromise in order for a sustainable solution to be found, not only for the reform of the electoral law, but also for all other important topics related to the security and social perspective of the citizens of this country. The PPE Group has always been on the most supportive front for the Western Balkan states in their part of the European integration. Our commitment and engagement with our partners in the region have remained unchanged. We should give again a strong, united signal in support of Bosnia—Herzegovina and its European future, and by European future must be understood full membership in the European Union. Very destructive are the signals coming from the President of Republika Srpska, Mr Dodik, who announced in October plans to withdraw from many common institutions of Bosnia—Herzegovina. This gave a very wrong signal and could lead again to conflict and ethnic violence. And at the end, please allow me to inform you about a terrible accident which happened last night on the territory in Bulgaria, leading to the death of 45 citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, which is the worst accident in the history of my country and my condolences go to the families of all the victims in this terrible accident. Prime Minister Zaev and the Foreign Minister in Sofia will investigate together with the Bulgarian authorities this terrible situation.

Minister, Commissioner, I and my colleagues from Bulgaria, as well as the Bulgarian state, have always supported the integration of the Western Balkans. This is in our interest, in the European interest. However, European integration is a two-way process, as we must be ready, and the countries of the Western Balkans must make every effort to overcome all that has divided them and divided us in the past. Minister, in the remaining few months of your Presidency, let us make every effort to do what some of our fellow Members have said. The visas for Kosovo, this must be really stopped, this discrimination against the citizens of Kosovo. The start of negotiations. Yes, when we really cannot do the maximum we want, at least with Albania to start negotiations. I cannot understand why, if 27 Member States say yes to the opening of negotiations, why not start at least with Albania, give a little positive signal to something good to happen in the Balkans? And to make our best efforts to overcome the last obstacles in terms of good neighbourliness, finding a mutually acceptable road map to enter the negotiating framework as a guarantee that the Good Neighborhood Treaty with Bulgaria will be implemented, and all things related to the basic human rights of Bulgarians who are discriminated extremely severely, unfortunately I say this, in the Republic of North Macedonia. The legacy of communism, oddly enough for some of my colleagues, but I repeat a second time, the legacy of communism and Tito's dictatorship (although Tito broke up with Stalin, this does not mean that he is a good democrat) has no place in the European Union. This is an issue, not a bilateral dispute, but a fundamental issue of human rights, which must be addressed through European integration. I want all citizens of the Western Balkans to become European citizens as quickly as possible. This is in our main interest, but in this way we have to overcome the past and communism. Communism is not a good thing.

Mr President, as the Commissioner knows very well, this House has many times requested that we should start with the preparation of the EU—Taiwan bilateral investment agreement. We want to see concrete steps from the Commission, but also from the Council, especially the scoping exercise and the impact assessment, in preparation for the formal launch of the negotiations. Taiwan is a close partner of the EU. We share core values such as democracy, freedom and the rule of law. Developing closer investment links would not only create economic benefits for both sides, but also allow us to strengthen strategic cooperation in critical sectors like semiconductors. For more than a year, we have been discussing how to reshape and reconfigure our supply chain for the post—COVID era. When we do this, I think it’s very important to consider factors such as democracy, trust and the consequences if we pursue closer cooperation and alliance with like—minded countries like Taiwan. It’s very strange that the Member States expressed solidarity with Lithuania, but some of them are very hesitant to give the mandate to you, Madam Commissioner, to the Commission, to start even the scoping exercise and impact assessment. What we are afraid of? I understand that some countries are afraid of reactions from mainland China, but this is something that is against our autonomy, and we always think that we should be autonomous as a European Union.

Madam President, everyone has the right to his own opinion, but no one has the right to his own facts, to his own facts. Freedom of expression does not mean allowing the coordinated actions of thousands of anonymous profiles or troll factories coordinated by third countries to influence our democratic processes or polarise our societies. Whether we like it or not, big social media has become the dominant arena for public debate. It is appalling to see how supposedly educated people, politicians, cite what they have read on the Internet and cite conspiracy theories and fake news and try to change public opinion. Online platforms must be required to be transparent about algorithmic content moderation. Why is one publication being removed and another not? But also transparency on fact-checking resources and countering disinformation. Small language markets, such as Bulgarian, should not be ignored due to a lack of commercial profitability for companies and become easy prey to third countries such as China, Russia and the like. This also happens with secret funding of organizations and political parties in my country, against Bulgaria Russia finances enough of them. What you need, Commissioner, you said: education, critical thinking, education, media literacy. This has to happen since school.

Madam President, first of all, it is very sad to see that the Lebanese people in this beautiful country are in this terrible situation. Lebanon is of strategic importance for the European Union. The current crisis could turn into a full—scale catastrophe with an impact on the whole region, and we don’t need another failed state in the Mediterranean, like we have around Libya, Syria and Afghanistan, with another refugee crisis. To avoid this, Mr Borrell, you mentioned what we need to do, but we need to do it now. I also request that the European External Action Service come forward with a list of individuals and entities which should be on this sanction list of people who are responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law, and are involved in corruption, etc. This is what the Lebanese people also expect from us. The second thing is what you mentioned. It is very clear that timely and transparent elections need to be held next year. This is an opportunity for the Lebanese people to hold political accountability for their future and for the political representatives which they would like to choose. We need to insist that an international fact—finding commission investigates the Beirut port explosion, and we need to show full solidarity with the Lebanese people, providing additional financial assistance in agreement with the International Monetary Fund. I also think we should send a special administrative advisory mission to support the Lebanese state building there with administrative advice. Thank you very much. Mr Borrell, please, let’s act now.