Today in Strasbourg, during the ongoing plenary session of the European Parliament, a debate took place on the priorities for the EU summit, which will be held on March 21–22 in Brussels. As previously announced, EU leaders will discuss, among other topics, Ukraine, security and defense, and the Middle East. Speaking on behalf of the ECR Group, PiS MEP Beata Szydło addressed the debate.
Beata Szydło emphasized that there is no issue more important to Europeans today than security and praised the intention to address the topic of defense development during the upcoming summit. “But if we want Europe to be secure in many respects, we must first and foremost examine whether the decisions taken so far by the Commission and the European Parliament actually serve that purpose. Are we capable of being economically competitive? Are we capable of defending our agriculture? Are we finally capable of supporting Ukraine by supplying it with the necessary weapons and ammunition? How are we supposed to do that if we don’t have a defense industry? How are we supposed to improve the defense industry if we’re dismantling industry and the economy?” asked the PiS MEP, emphasizing that steel mills and steel are necessary for its development. The former head of the Polish government stated that it is also difficult to think about food security for Europe’s residents, given that regulations have been introduced which, in practice, are dismantling European agriculture. “We need to learn from our mistakes and correct them,” she emphasized, pointing out that the Green Deal is the primary factor causing the European economy and agriculture to lose their competitiveness and face problems. “We must improve what can be improved. No one is saying that we don’t want to protect the climate, but we must do so rationally and, above all, ensure the security of Europe and Europeans,” she urged.
