Petr BYSTRON

Policy topics Petr BYSTRON is active on

What Petr BYSTRON has said (28)

• 2026-06-17 “President, colleagues, given this debate, let me say something that Donald Trump said. He said that the greatest threats for our democracy don't come from Russia or China. The largest threats, in fact, come from within. That's exactly right, mister Sipa. And at this moment, the greatest threat is data security and freedom of expression of European citizens. And the biggest threat is the digital services act from the commission. Here, we're using the excuse of child safety, and we're trying to establish total control on all information systems. A similar system was already introduced in Australia, under the same ex and the data shows that it doesn't work. Over 60% of minors continue to have access to social media. So we clearly are dealing with something else here. Here, we're trying to create, identity proof obligation to continue checks, and it's a way of using China as excuse to curtail freedom of expression in the EU.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• 2026-06-17 “President. Colleagues. Given this debate. Let me say something that Donald Trump said. He said that the greatest threats for our democracy don't come from Russia or China. The largest threats, in fact, come from within. That's exactly right, Mr. Speaker. And at this moment, the greatest threat is data security and freedom of expression of European citizens. And the biggest threat is the Digital Services Act from the Commission. Here we're using the excuse of child safety, and we're trying to establish total control on all information systems. A similar system was already introduced in Australia under the same excuse excuses, and the data shows that it doesn't work. Over 60% of miners continue to have access to social media. So we clearly are dealing with something else here. Here we're trying to create an identity proof obligation to continue checks. And it's a way of using China as an excuse to curtail freedom of expression in the EU.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• 2025-07-31 “E-003164/2025 Answer given by Mr Šefčovič on behalf of the European Commission The political agreement between the President of the Commission and the President of the United States (US) of 27 July 2025 foresees the promotion and facilitation of investments on both sides of the Atlantic. The USD 600 billion (roughly EUR 550 billion) represent an interest of EU companies to invest in various sectors in the US through 2028. Thus, these investments will not be financed with public EU funds, but by private companies. Therefore, these investments are not directly financed under the EU budget, and the percentage of the investment to support climate change initiatives will depend on company decisions. EU energy purchases from the US does not include funding from the Commission. Purchase orders or investments decisions are commercial decisions, which lay with private companies. The parameters agreed to on 27 July 2025 are not in conflict with the EU's energy transition and decarbonisation plans. The EU’s economy will continue to need gas, oil and nuclear fuels while on the path to climate neutrality by 2050. While the agreement involves an increase in energy imports from the US over the next 3 years, it is to be implemented in the context of REPowerEU to help the EU to phase out remaining Russian energy imports.”
  Climate efforts · EU-US trade relations
• 2025-07-10 “E-002832/2025 Answer given by Ms Lahbib on behalf of the European Commission The 2023 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people survey 1 of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reports that 55% of LGBTIQ respondents experienced hate-motivated harassment in the EU, an 18-point increase since 2019. Against this background, and in line with the LGBTIQ equality strategy 20202025 2 , the Commission continues to raise awareness on the need for LGBTIQ equality and non-discrimination and participates in public events that constitute milestones for the LGBTIQ community, including Pride marches across the EU. On 25 June 2025 3 , the President of the Commission expressed the Commission’s support and solidarity with the Budapest Pride and the LGBTIQ community in Hungary. The Commissioner for Equality travelled to Budapest at the invitation of the Mayor of Budapest to show the unwavering support to the Pride march, she met with civil society organisations to discuss the situation and importance of equality policies. She joined LGBTIQ human rights defenders at events of the Budapest Pride to demonstrate the Commission’s commitment to equality and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. She also took part in a press conference ahead of the Pride march, alongside the Mayor of Budapest and a Vice-President of the European Parliament. The Commission did not provide funding for the organisation of the Budapest Pride 2025. As set out in the Commission 2024-2029 political guidelines 4 , the Commission is fully committed to continuing to build a EU of equality, including through a new LGBTIQ equality strategy 2026-2030, which will be adopted later this year. 1 https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2024/lgbtiq-equality-crossroads-progress-and-challenges. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0698. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/fr/statement_25_1629. 4 https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/e6cd4328-673c-4e7a-8683f63ffb2cf648_en?filename=Political%20Guidelines%202024-2029_EN.pdf.”
  LGBTIQ+
• 2025-06-30 “E-2622/2025 Answer given by Mr Serafin on behalf of the European Commission The Commission has not allocated any funding to the art project mentioned in the question raised by the Honourable Member and exhibited in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Commission funds the arts to promote EU values, including respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, to support cultural and creative sectors, foster societal cohesion, encourage innovation, and strengthen artistic freedom and working conditions for artists. Key principles include preserving artistic autonomy, fostering inclusive and diverse cultural participation, promoting cross-border collaboration through platforms and networks, and recognising the significant economic and social contributions of the arts.”
  Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term) · EU-Ukraine relations
• 2025-06-30 “E-002621/2025 Answer given by Ms Roswall on behalf of the European Commission As indicated in the reply by the Commission to written question E-002336/2025, detailed information on all operating grants supporting non-governmental organisations (NGOs), financed under the EU programme for the environment and climate action (LIFE) 1 , is published online in the LIFE dashboard 2 , which is public. Each entry includes the beneficiaries’ details, the amounts of the EU contributions, and a description of the objectives of the grant. The LIFE dashboard is updated each year after the operating grants of any specific LIFE Call have been awarded. Information is also available on the Commission's Financial Transparency System 3 . There are no ‘secret agreements’ governing the LIFE programme funding for NGOs. 1 https://cinea.ec.europa.eu/programmes/life_en. 2 https://dashboard.tech.ec.europa.eu/qs_digit_dashboard_mt/public/sense/app/8298c020-48a6-4b84-91f4f6f2665c0f99/sheet/d2820200-d4d9-4a26-b23b-58e323c803c2/state/analysis. Under the ‘Call acronym’ tab, select ‘LIFE-[year]-NGO-OG-SGA and scroll down to the list of operating grants for each year, awarded in the 2021-2028 financial framework. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/budget/financial-transparency-system/index.html.”
  Regulation of NGOs in Europe · EU policy on sustainability criteria in public funding
• 2025-06-12 “E-002383/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission Since 2020, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has been awarded EUR 604 269 of EU co-financing through their participation in one ongoing project 1 . In other projects, the OCCRP has been an associated partner that does not receive any EU cofinancing 23 . The EU co-financing follows transparent rules. Through open calls for proposals, the Commission selects multiple projects every year, in this case to help strengthen journalistic sectors. All selected projects adhere to professional journalistic standards, including but not limited to methods to ensure accuracy, objectivity, independence and professional reporting, impartiality and plural viewpoints. It is under these principles that OCCRP participates in NEXT-IJ, which empowers European journalists, newsrooms and media outlets with investigative journalism training and tools. Legally binding contractual agreements signed between the Commission and grant beneficiaries can only be terminated in accordance with the conditions set out in the grant agreement, in line with the rules of the Financial Regulation. Thus, the termination of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cannot lead to the termination of the EU grant. 1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projectsdetails/43251814/101180015/CREA2027. 2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projectsdetails/43252368/101188272/ISF. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projectsdetails/43152860/101226241/DIGITAL.”
  Regulation of NGOs in Europe · Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• 2025-05-07 “E-001847/2025 Answer given by Mr Síkela on behalf of the European Commission The Commission has no way to identify ‘United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs)’ in its information systems. However, the Commission can provide information on EU funding for the NGOs listed in the question transmitted by the Honourable Member. From 2021 to 2024, a total amount of EUR 505.4 million has been contracted by the Commission for EU External Action with Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and Mercy Corps. The European External Action Service does not directly provide funding for NGOs and political foundations. According to the Financial Regulation, grants to NGOs may only be awarded in order to finance either ‘an action intended to help achieve a Union policy objective’, or ‘the functioning of a body which has an objective forming part of, and supporting, a Union policy’. In this context, the awarded grants are selected through open and competitive selection processes against transparent criteria aimed at measuring the quality and degree of alignment and relevance of the proposals with the EU’s objectives and priorities, and must respect the EU values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. The Commission may exclude, through the Early Detection and Exclusion System, persons or entities involved in criminal activities, including terrorism, in activities incompatible with EU values or in unethical practices. Entities subject to EU restrictive measures cannot benefit from EU funds. The Commission can also set specific conditions applicable to award procedures when the actions affect the security or public order, in particular concerning strategic assets and interests of the EU or its Member States. During implementation, and in the event of fraud, irregularities, substantial errors or breach of contractual obligations, including the violation of EU values, grants may be suspended, terminated or reduced and funds may be recovered.”
  EU foreign policy approach · EU-US relations · Support for international humanitarian organisations
• 2025-05-07 “E-001848/2025 Answer given by Mr Serafin on behalf of the European Commission For the exact amount of funding allocated to the 90 sampled non-governmental organisations (NGOs) referred to in the European Court of Auditors (ECA)’s special report, the Commission refers to ‘Annex III – Basic Information on Entities’ of the ECA’s special report 1 . The Commission recalls that, when it comes to receiving EU funding, NGOs, like any other type of applicant, must meet the necessary eligibility requirements. NGO status does not entail any preferential treatment, nor is it an eligibility criterion, except in a few very specific cases. The Commission is not in a position to comment on information or criteria used by the ECA to select the sampled NGOs examined in its special report. The Commission is not aware of these 90 NGOs having any links to political parties, lobbying groups or foreign governments. The Commission observes full impartiality, as it does not require beneficiaries to undertake advocacy activities for specific political and policy purposes. Moreover, the guidance 2 issued by the Commission’s central services prescribes that advocacy activities for specific political and policy purposes should not be mandated as a requirement or condition for EU financing. Beneficiaries decide on their work programme in full independence. To ensure that a wide range of opinions is supported through operating grants, the selection and award of such grants is based on open calls for proposals publicly available on the Funding and Tenders portal 3 . Funding is awarded through a transparent and competitive process. 1 https://www.eca.europa.eu/ECAPublications/SR-2025-11/SR-2025-11_EN.pdf. 2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/guidance-fundingdev-impl-monit-enforce-of-eu-law_en.pdf. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/home.”
  Regulation of NGOs in Europe · Accounting and auditing of EU budget · Transparency requirements of EU institutions
• 2025-04-09 “E-001475/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission Journalismfund Europe has been awarded EUR 5.6 million through its participation in four selected projects under the Creative Europe programme between 2021 and 2025 1 . Through open calls for proposals in Creative Europe, the Commission selects multiple organisations every year that organise calls for proposals and redistribute funds to a wide range of smaller media projects (including local and regional media, community media, investigative journalism and other media) so as to enhance media pluralism. The Commission does not fund the operations of Journalismfund. Financial support under Creative Europe is awarded for the implementation of specific projects. EU-funded projects do not restrict beneficiaries from receiving funding from other sources. Through the selection procedures and grant agreements, the Commission ensures that all EU co-financed news media projects respect EU Treaty values, including principles of democracy, transparency and political neutrality, and respect of professional journalistic standards, including but not limited to methods to ensure accuracy, objectivity independence and professional reporting, impartiality and plural viewpoints. Selected projects contain safeguards for editorial independence from any donor, as set out in the grant agreement. 1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/how-to-participate/org-details/890210808.”
  Transparency requirements of EU institutions · EU engagement with civil society
• 2025-04-09 “E-001442/2025 Answer given by Mr Síkela on behalf of the European Commission The Commission recognises the need for a vibrant, strong and well financed civil society, because of its essential contribution to democracies based on the rule of law and fundamental rights. The Commission welcomes for civil society organisations to diversify their funding sources, provided the funders operate lawfully, transparently, and in line with EU values and legal obligations. EU funding is provided after public and transparent calls for proposals. Proposals are evaluated against pre-announced selection and award criteria by independent experts and only the highest ranked proposals are selected for funding. The funding is provided in full transparency and in line with the Financial Regulation 1 . During implementation, EU funded projects are closely monitored to ensure that they are implemented according to the grant agreement. In the event of incorrect implementation or in cases of fraud, irregularities, substantial errors or serious breach of contractual obligations, including the violation of EU values, the grant may be suspended, terminated or reduced and funds may be recovered. The Commission’s support is based exclusively on the merit of proposed activities, alignment with EU policy objectives, and compliance with democratic principles. Any concerns about misconduct or conflicts of interest are addressed through established oversight mechanisms, including audits, European Anti-Fraud Office investigations, and exclusion procedures. Based on the rules of the Early Detection and Exclusion System 2 , entities engaging in grave professional misconduct can be excluded from receiving EU funding. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/2509/oj/eng. 2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:0603_3#:~:text=It%20amends%20the%20EU%E2%80%99s%20basic%20finan cial%20rules%20and,economic%20operators%20%28i.e.%20businesses%2C%20companies%20and%20noncommercial%20organisations%29.”
  Transparency requirements for interest groups · Regulation of NGOs in Europe · EU engagement with civil society
• 2025-03-19 “P-001169/2025 Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission The Commission does not maintain an overview of media that were supported by United States organisations. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project is part of the Next-level Data and Tools for Investigative Journalism project, supported by the Creative Europe programme 1 . In 2023, the Commission presented the Defence of Democracy package 2 which includes a legislative proposal that aims to enhance transparency and democratic accountability around interest representation activities on behalf of third countries. The co-legislators are currently discussing this proposal. The new Regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising 3 , which will become fully applicable in October 2025, will limit political advertising coming from sponsors from outside the EU in the three months leading up to an election or referendum in the EU. The EU has also taken specific measures to safeguard media independence and prevent undue influence from third countries. The provisions of the European Media Freedom Act 4 , generally applicable from 8 August 2025, establish transparency requirements for media ownership and state advertising revenues, including those received from third-country public authorities or entities. The EU‘s strategic objectives are exercised independently of those of the United States Agency for International Development or United States backed organisations. In order to address the most pressing threats to democracy in the EU, the Commission will also propose the European Democracy Shield in 2025 that will aim to improve our overall situational awareness, our capacity to respond to crisis situations, foster societal resilience against disinformation and information manipulation, and support election integrity in the Member States. 1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/projectsdetails/43251814/101180015/CREA2027 2 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_6453 3 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/900/oj/eng 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32024R1083”
  Foreign interference in Europe · EU-US relations
• “Thank you very much. I would just like to tell the colleague that there is a scientific study which shows that within several centuries where there were queens in power there were more wars than when there were kings. Okay, this is a scientific study done by Western University and yeah, that's all. Thank you very much. Just to the remark that you when you say more woman more peace, that's simply not true. **Hana Jalloul Muro (Spain, S&D) @Chair: Oh, thank you very much and now I will give the floor to our experts and for a minute sorry then don't attach Mr Brown floor is yours please for two minutes thank you.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll ask my question in German. My colleague from Croatia made the point that consumers biggest concerns in the EU are the high costs for food, heating and housing. But I think what you were doing here was more shadowboxing. You're criticizing the companies for what they're doing. But the companies are free to Produce smaller packages, lower quality or individual prices. Everyone has the opportunity to buy or not or decide a different provider. This is not the job of the EU to intervene in the markets. But let's look at the causes for the increased prices. First of all, inflation that came with the introduction of the euro, high housing and heating costs. The heating costs can be traced back to the pointless embargo against Russia. And we have. A tax on companies in this room. Rather than thinking about all of this. So I think we really need to rather than tackle the attack, the companies tackle the causes.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• “Colleagues. The commission wants a charter services providers to. To, uh, search, uh, videos, photos and so on of the users on their devices. And I think that I am going to fall off my chair because this is, uh, insane. If you want to defend the sovereignty of Europe, then you should defend our borders or our infrastructure, for example, because it is being threatened from the air, but not this kind of rule. This is really the end of confidentiality in digital communications in Europe. We can see that, for example, the FAZ paper has said that this would be worse than the Chinese control system, and that the fundamental rights of the citizens are being violated. And this will be the end of the private sphere in Europe. The EU Commission president that wants that would want to let all Europeans be supervised via chat is not correct. Thank you very much.”
  Privacy & detection of online child abuse
• “I'll ask my question in German. Honourable member, may I address you in German? Now, you talked about Belgium not wanting to shoulder the responsibility alone for seizing Russian assets. You talked about a fair resolution. You expect that we would lose any case, any legal case with the Russian Federation. So you are looking for some sort of illegal action where other countries pay?”
  EU-Russia relations (from March 2022)
• “Thank you very much, Chair. We are perfectly aware that we are living in times when the monopolar world is going to the end. We are facing multipolarity, and India is a very important player. It was already mentioned by the colleagues here that India is taking sovereign decisions, that they were not participating in sanctions, for example, against Russia. They are actively engaging in the BRICS.”
  EU-India relations
• “In Slovak. But if you want to, says Mr. Bystron, I can continue in German. So, colleague, how do you explain this? We've been listening for for a very long time, from madam von der Leyen and her colleagues that Europe is fighting for Ukrainians. And now independent surveys in Ukraine show that over 70% of Ukrainians want this war conflict to end. And the same people who are telling us that that we are actually fighting for Ukrainians now because Ukrainians themselves want to end the conflict. Tell us that, no, the conflict needs to be financed and prolonged from the from the taxpayers money. How do you explain this?”
  Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term)
• “If you look at the German newspapers you can look at Stuttgart, for example. They are there seeing 47% reduction in corporate tax because there's been such a collapse in revenues in Mercedes because of your regulatory intervention. So I think before we are pointing the finger at Washington, we perhaps need to put our own house in order reflect on our own situation. And I wanted to emphasize that, in particular in the direction of colleagues who spoke in the previous round. And there wasn't really a response to the point that I raised. Consumers are not cheap. They don't need some kind of paternalistic approach. They don't need to be moneyed and have intervention in this relationship between the consumer and businesses. These are autonomous people who can make their own decisions. But what really undermines consumers is the commission's or politicians interventions in markets and in particular things like embargoes and tariffs, which then lead to higher prices across the board. For example, the price of heating oil, for example, as a result of the embargo on Russia, but a similar result would arise from the tariff war on the US. Other interventions.”
  EU-US trade relations
• “Thank you. You hope that the United States, as before, will support Ukraine and that we need to be. We need to show solidarity with Ukraine here in the European Union. Um, Russian assets should be used to support Ukraine. That's your view. Have you not seen the new strategy from the USA? The national security strategy that says that President Trump, from the outset, has wanted to end this conflict. What do you want to see?”
  Russia-Ukraine conflict (10th term)
• “Mr. president, colleagues. We are talking today in the year 2025, the 21st century in the European Union about Blackouts, which for over 24 hours deprived hospitals of electricity. Police had to be on standby because of the technical problems. My friends, this is a total failure of your energy transition policy. What you're asking for, Commissioner, sir. For secure, environmentally friendly technology. That's something we had in Europe that worked fine until choices were made to use it. Energy sources that were not suited to our network. We need reliable electricity from nuclear and coal fired power stations. That is what we need. And that's what we need to go back to.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Thank you very much. That suits me very well because I just wanted to pick up on the last thing that you were saying there and start with that. So you were saying, we can't influence what happens in the white House, but we can influence what happens here in Brussels. So here in the Parliament, we represent European citizens. And I'm the only member from Munich. And therefore, I wanted to read to you what the head of a Munich business said the chief executive of BMW, Mr. Zipser, said that the highest tariffs don't come from Washington. They come from Brussels. So that is what's causing problems for our businesses. Your tariffs our businesses produce globally. So if you impose tariffs on imports from China, that hits them just as much as tariffs from the US or anywhere else. So that's not the way forward. And when you continue to read, if you read this interview with Mr. Zipser, he's also critical of the EU and the Commission because of the regulatory intervention in the automotive markets and in particular the ban on combustion engines. So this is also an area where ideology flies in the face of common sense. And ultimately. It's not just going to affect people in Munich.”
  Trade relations with China · Chinese clean tech competition: trade barriers and investment caps vs. open market
• “Thank you very much. I'm going to speak German. I'd like to thank the speakers for their very valuable contributions. Freedom of expression. And censorship have been lumped together in the European Union. And I'm really delighted that Thierry Breton has graced us with his presence and said that our democracy is something that he wishes to see protected. He's set out the time that he's been doing that. I remember a TV interview where he said that we did it in Romania. Romania, and we will carry on doing it. And that was relating to the attacks against Tick Tock. So the free expression of views in Romania ahead of the election. So thank you for enlightening us with that. I'm somewhat surprised that parallel structures have been built up here with NGOs that have or are supposed to take over the functions of the state. We've got in each of our member States rules. We've got the courts and the judges. It all works. They don't understand why some journalists that come from RTL, for example, that is famous for its broadcasts with Tutti Frutti, for example, why they should be better than the whole apparatus of the state when it comes to monitoring and providing scrutiny of freedom of expression. Perhaps you could shed light on that. Both here, Madam Chair, but also the actors themselves. I don't have any questions. Thank you.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Colleagues, I come from Munich and I drive a BMW. Not because the factory is in my constituency, but because they build the best cars. And I drive a diesel because it's good technology, not because Commissioner told me to. It's good for the environment, it's effective, and so on. And in the same way, millions of car owners in Europe have decided that they want a internal combustion engine. And what are you doing? You're saying they have to have electric engines? And what's the outcome? In Germany alone last year, 50,000 jobs were lost in the automobile industry and 100,000 lost since 2019. That's the outcome of your policy. We don't want that. The citizens don't want it. It's got to be come to an end. There's going to be two votes tomorrow. There's a vote of no confidence in Mrs. von der Leyen. That is what she's got out of her policies.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Dear colleagues. We're on the eve of a third oil crisis, and this is a dramatic situation. And what the commission is offering as a solution for Europe is wind farms in the North Sea. Dear friends, Please understand that it's been the Green Deal pursued by the Commission over the past few years and foisted on Europe, which has ruined our industry. The latest news from Germany alone is alarming. Porsche has 89% loss in its share. Its share has gone down by 89%. 50,000 people being laid off at Volkswagen. Now, you won't secure an independent energy through wind turbines. I mean, wind turbines depend on the weather. It's not secure. And Ursula von der Leyen has now come to the conclusion that phasing out nuclear energy was wrong, that her own party for decades was pursuing the wrong policy. But let's return to nuclear energy, then.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Colleagues, the Digital Services Censorship Act is not enough. It hasn't fought against cyber bullying. And so now we have more restrictions. And once again, Soros NGOs are getting more competence or should get more competence. Colleen Fernandes is case load. We had the usual suspected with heat aid involved in that. So what's this really about? It's about censoring the opposition. Let's just look at the fact. In Germany alone in 2025, there are 4000 reports of for internet comments were made. And just this year, in February alone, on one day, 140 houses were searched. I mean, imagine that that's the sort of intimidation that's going on because of what people say on their on online. Robert Harbeck former minister, was called an idiot by a pensioner, and they then ended up being sentenced by a court. But he's actually just stating a fact.”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Thank you very much for allowing me to put a question to you. I grew up in communism, just like yourself. So we both experienced this. Communists censored information coming from the Free West. But at the same time, the West did not actually censor any information from the East. They weren't afraid the West was a democracy. And they knew, you know, that they were actually talking about the truth. But now you're here in the EU, you're talking about Russia today, you know, the EU. How is it behaving? It's behaving a bit like the communists back in the day. Doesn't that give you pause for thought? You're getting money from sorry. From whom?”
  Disinformation & online freedoms
• “Thank you. Chair. Thank you very much. Doesn't it remind you of communism, the whole Green Deal and how they work with it?”
  Energy (green transition)