Joint press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and by Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Strasbourg

press point

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Luxembourg (T)

BETTEL, Xavier (LU)

president's agenda

This is Europe Debate (T)

Joint press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and by Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Good morning. First of the all, I am very pleased first, to welcome my good friend Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to the European Parliament. Dear Xavier, a little over a year ago, I was in Luxembourg, if not the first countries I visited as president of the European Parliament. And I did so because located at the very heart of Europe and with such a multicultural and multilingual landscape, your country perfectly represents the diversity and openness that we as Europeans are so proud of.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, It is another reason why we are so proud of the European Parliament's presence in Luxembourg and so many of our staff based there. Today, we discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the support of the European Union. Luxembourg was together with the European Parliament, one of the first Member States supporting the granting of candidate status to Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And I know that integration plays a crucial role for Luxembourg, which you have once again showcased in these difficult times. Luxembourg has welcomed more than 5000 Ukrainians who are now living under provisional protection in your country. And when we talk about support, about unity and values, you are showing that there are no big or small countries.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Solidarity does not depend on size or population. It just depends on the will of those who are ready to stand up for the foundations that underpin our EU project. We also spoke about the need to engage young people to help them recapture the sense of hope and belief in Europe. We underlined the need to build trust of our union of this Parliament to keep listening, to keep explaining.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And crucially, to keep delivering for Europe and for our democracies. And for this, we need people to engage, to speak up, to debate, to vote. So, dear Prime Minister Bettel, thank you very much or, as you would say in Luxembourg, Villmools Merci for your vision and for your commitment for the EU and with Ukraine. The floor is yours.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, Grazzi, you like would see in Malta. So I really want to thank you, Dear Roberta, President of the European Parliament, for this invitation. And if I'm right, it's the third time now in five years that I'm invited to have a speech here in this distinguished assembly. And last time I was here to make a speech was for the anniversary of the Parliamentary Assembly.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, And for me, this assembly is a strong stance on the protection of the rule of law, the protection of minorities, on the fundamental rights, and always to remind leaders very often about this backbone of the European Union. And I know and I want to excuse officially to my team, they prepare the whole speech about the anniversary, and you just showed me, to explain you showed a video with Simone Veil, for this anniversary.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, And for me to see Simone Veil in this assembly is what is Europe. A woman, she was deported. She was in a concentration camp because she was Jewish. She was tattooed with a number. She did, during a political career, enormous steps for women rights. And she was sitting, she was the first elected President, it was a woman. So this is for me, Europe. And because of that, I was not able to read a text about technical and assembly and people.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, But I just wanted to speak about this backbone and this right. So for me, a Parliament is always, in all the countries and it has to be. Even if for some politicians, they don't like it, it's the epicentre of democracy. It is where elected people are there and we have to respect, we have to exchange and we need to speak and we saw that through the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, We forget sometimes, for me the European Union, the problem that we have, it's that we need this picure of rappel of what brings us Europe. When I see the pandemic, we thought that it was normal that we got the vaccines, but believe me, it would have been the normal market and not the European Commission. Some countries would have been able to buy easily vaccines, when others wouldn't have been able to buy them.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, Aristoteleio Panepistimio ThessalonikisI don't want to say that even a provocative way that maybe some countries, where vaccines would have been produced would have put a ban to export vaccines and through the European Commission, through Europe, we were able to deliver the same day the vaccines in 27 countries. I did an Erasmus programme, this is also Europe I did in , that's all my Greek.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, The fact is that I realised what is not Europe. When you have neighbours well you had to clean your car. Where you had to pay a fee to get in other countries to clean the car, when borders were closed, where military were standing. This is what I lived during my students time and coming from Luxembourg, where usually we call it Zoufftgen or Sterpenich, which is the period where they took a train tickets to the borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, Young people don't even know that there was there were borders. Young generations, they just know the Euros. Remind your phone, when you were travelling. Usually when you just opened your phone, you got the message, your data is full. And this is Europe brought so many things and usually we forgot. And that was the strength of the European Union is our unity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, We showed it with the vaccines. We showed it was Ukraine. We show it that together we are stronger, when we are able to take common decisions and stand together. Some people would love us to be less united, because a not united Europe would be weak Europe. And united Europe is a strong Europe. And so, we see it that humanitarian, military and economy equates has demonstrated in the Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, The fact that we have a dual political we are such an important actor. When we speak about common goals. And now for the moment, this is human, but crisis push away crisis. We don't speak that much anymore about the climate crisis, in some countries, for the moment. It has been put in your agenda behind, which is still a main priority. If we want to stay, to give a legacy to the next generation.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, Which will be that we want at least that they have the same quality of life that we enjoy. And we cannot say, après nous le déluge. So it is so important to show the importance of common goals. We have celebrated the 30th anniversary also of the common market. We just complain without forgetting all the jobs created, all the economy growth created through the internal markets.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, I believe that we together have to continue to fight for these values, for green transition, for a fair transition to be this part and respect that also on the international way. And allow me to or I would say also insight and not to have to reflect the reflex to close ourselves, to close our borders, to close to try to be close is not an answer. Europe was always the most successful when Europe was open.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, Schengen is a success. The internal market is a success. And we should not forget that being open was the success of this European Union. And for me, I am lucky, I grew up without a war and without a wall. But in this European Union today we have countries, who live behind an Iron Curtain. And I would be ashamed, if the answer of migration means to build new walls. For me, the European Union wants to take away walls and not to buy new walls.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, And when we build walls and we think this is the solution, because this means that everybody will have to take boats, because this will be the only possibility to try to get to Europe, which is the most dangerous way. Instead of trying to find common solutions, and that we have a system that's working. Instead of just trying to not have the rules, but to protect Europe, because usually to protect from a danger.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, And for me, we have to see how we can find solutions, not see everything as a danger. And to have walls or fences sponsored by the European Union would be a shame. As I told you before, for me, the European Union wants to take away walls to have peace and not to build walls and trying to be divided. Sorry and thank you so much for inviting me.

SOUNDBITE (English), Xavier BETTEL, Luxembourgish Prime Minister, You know, there is always a risk when you invite me that I come. Again you have the proof today. So next time. I hope so, because we have elections in October so I hope that I can come again. But it's a pleasure for me to to be here because I belong to this. What we know as diversity what we mean by being like we are and I feel well, because I know that is something we continue to defend. Grazzi.

Q&amp;A Question regarding the sanctions against the Luxembourgish MEP, Monika Semedo, five months after the committee in charge of complaints filed its report.

Q&amp;A Question regarding the Prime Minister regretting the decision of the sanctions against Monika Semedo. Second question regarding the Prime Minister to maybe apply for the job of the President of the European Council.

Q&amp;A Question regarding Luxembourg having a good example of a diverse community integrated and what ideas the Prime Minister shares with his colleagues about the integration of diverse communities. Second Question regarding Roberta Metsola being very active, since the beginning of her term and her discussions with the President of Brazil.