Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2015-02-11-Speech-3-026-000"
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"en.20150211.8.3-026-000"2
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"Mr President, this is a summit to discuss threats – threats from radicals, threats to our economies, threats on our borders – and all these threats require strong leadership. On the terror threat, most of Thursday’s Council will, rightly, be devoted to the issue of law enforcement and aspects of our response, internal security and the Passenger Name Record (PNR) scheme.
I would like to thank the Presidency for the kind comments on the Kirkhope report. However, I have to say that it is shameful that the other group leaders want to undermine the report, as Mr Kirkhope is seeking to get the right balance between our civil liberties and our security.
Let us also make sure that we do not ignore the other strand of this problem, namely – as, Mr Timmermans said – the drivers of radicalisation. Why are people from all types of background, some of them highly educated, killing other, innocent, people and falsely invoking the name of God? Why?
It is a question I have been asked a lot recently, but there is no one path to radicalisation. There are various drivers, such as a search for identity among some second-generation and third-generation Muslims, the radicalisation of violent criminals in prison, giving them another violent cause to fight for, or the fact of radicals from other countries being given a platform for their extreme views in some of our communities. There are many paths. There is no easy answer.
There is no silver bullet, metaphorically or literally, and most of the answers are actually to be found at local rather than EU level. However, at EU level we should not be afraid to discuss these issues in an open and frank manner, exchanging best practice and seeing what works best and what does not work in our countries.
If terrorism is a threat in our midst, there is also a serious threat on our doorstep. On Ukraine, the ECR Group shares the concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding right under our noses but, frankly, only Vladimir Putin can put an end to this crisis. He must literally get his tanks off Ukraine’s lawn. Today’s meeting in Minsk is perhaps the last chance for a deal. However, we must be clear. We must seek a peaceful and political solution, but if Putin’s aggression continues then we must deploy every economic weapon available to us. In 21st century Russia, money talks.
That is why it is unfortunate that in the EU we are not in a stronger position. There are no shortcuts to economic growth, no easy fixes for the eurozone and no alternatives to much-needed reform. Anyone who tells you there is a simple solution is simply not telling the truth. Frankly, the European Council needs to be honest about what economic and monetary union entails. If you want to keep the weaker economies in the eurozone, taxpayers in richer eurozone countries – Germany, the Netherlands, Finland – will have to pay for fiscal transfers to poorer eurozone countries, maybe forever.
But those countries benefiting from the transfers must also understand the old saying that ‘he who pays the piper gets to call the tune’. As politicians, we should be straight about this, and let people make up their own minds. The voters made up their minds in Greece and they chose Syriza. You will not be surprised to hear that I disagree with their platform, but the people of Greece voted for it and we have to recognise that. However, the time for grandstanding on both sides is over. If Greece wants to discuss its sovereign debt with creditors in a mild-mannered way, it should get a fair hearing, but if Greece wants to splash the cash, it must understand that voters in the richer eurozone countries may want to show it the exit door.
So this might be an informal Council but the subjects being discussed could not be more serious – tackling terrorism, tackling Putin and tackling the eurozone crisis. Let us all hope that the leaders at the European Council will make some headway and lead us to calmer waters."@en1
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