Mr Uhrík, the European elections will soon be held and the mandate of all elected MEPs, including you, will end. We used to summarise at the end what has been done, what has been planned and what has not been done. How do you evaluate your time in the European Parliament?
When I came here five years ago, most Slovaks knew nothing about the functioning of the European Parliament. People were not even interested in European politics and somehow ignored it. They did not know what was going on. The MEPs who were here had been here for 15 years, passing all sorts of nonsense, often against Slovakia, and nobody knew about it. So, in the 5 years that I have had the honour of being here and representing the Slovak Republic, apart from the thousands of votes where I have defended Slovak interests, the hundreds of amendments in favour of Slovakia, and the dozens of speeches in favour of some beneficial things, but also against some negative things, I think that one thing has been achieved, which for me as an opposition MEP is essential. This is that during this period, people finally started to take an interest in the work of the EU, or to take more interest and to learn information that they did not have anywhere to learn before. That was step number one. And now step number two is to get an even stronger, even bigger mandate in the next European elections, perhaps even more patriotic MEPs, so that we can translate the contacts, the experience that my team and I have gained during these five years here into active politics, perhaps into some kind of joint government within a faction with other patriotic parties, and actually change European politics so that it does not harm Europe, but on the contrary helps it.
Are there any points that you have not been able to fulfil? And if so, what was the key reason?
Look, the current European Parliament, and I am talking about pure parliamentary maths, is overwhelmingly dominated by progressives, Greens and socialists alike. Possibly also the so-called Christian Democrats, but they are Christian Democrats in name only. They preach different values and represent and vote for different values in the European Parliament. So the patriots and the conservatives were in a distinct minority during this period. That is where I belonged. So, logically, the things that were approved by the governing majority, or mainly by the progressives, passed, and the things that we proposed, within our patriotic conservative minority, simply did not pass. And that is what our Europe looks like. We have a debt policy, an immigration policy, a war and sanctions policy. And our view on this is exactly the opposite. Our challenge is exactly the opposite. We want a Europe that is built on economic cooperation between the individual states and that eliminates the negatives that the progressive line has pushed through over the last five years.
How do you assess the mandate of the European Parliament as a whole? Which decisions do you consider to be absolutely correct, which would you sign up to again, or would you support again, and which, on the contrary, do you consider to be unsuccessful or harmful to the EU?
This five-year term of the current European Parliament has clearly been the most progressive, the most important, but also the most militant electoral period within the European Union. I must honestly say that I have never heard so many calls for war and hatred as in the last five years. This is from people who outwardly preach peace, love, tolerance and equal rights for all. They are the ones who are calling the loudest for all these changes and pro-war policies. It is no coincidence that Europe is currently in crisis and that it is actually moving from one crisis to another. It did not just fall from the sky. It is a consequence of its policies. Their incompetent policies. It is the result of the people who currently control both the EU and the governments in the individual Member States making bad decisions, and these bad decisions inevitably lead to the negative phenomena that we are currently facing. So our intention for the future is to form a self-governing faction in which we will be part of. Either we will stop this nonsense or, better still, we will push through the pro-business things that we are pushing through at the moment.
Which MEPs, apart from the Slovak ones, do you consider to be effective and productive in their work and with whom have you established such close cooperation that, for example, you participate together in some resolutions or documents?
Apart from the Slovak ones? Outside Slovakia, I have very good relations with the German AfD and also with the Czech SPD of Tomio Okamura. We are building very good relations with the Polish Confederation for Freedom and Independence, which will undoubtedly be represented in the European Parliament in the future. Also with the Romanians, with the Bulgarians. We are now going to Sofia to meet our Bulgarian friends. We have excellent relations with the Croats, at least with two Members who are also pro-Patriot and pro-national. Proof that we have really broad international contacts and a very good reception over the five years is also, for example, that we have been to joint press conferences or statements in the German Bundestag with the AfD in Berlin, in Warsaw in Poland, in Prague.
We've been to Bucharest, Belgrade, we're going to the aforementioned Sofia in a week or two, then again. The meeting of guests from foreign countries was again in Slovakia, in Bratislava, where we also held a big patriotic conference last year. So yes, there is cooperation. Yes, we have made no secret of the fact that in the future we want to create a strong patriotic bloc also within the European Union. And to change those things that are not working here, because if we do not change them, Europe will meet a very unfortunate fate and, I assume, perhaps even the break-up of the European Union, if the negatives are not stopped very quickly.
Many citizens and voters are asking whether fifteen Slovak MEPs can get anything done in the European Parliament.
He can, he can't. We could ask that question with a counter-question. Just because we have 15 MEPs, should we now ignore the elections and say that we are not going to change anything anyway and therefore there is no point in going, no point in voting? I think not, absolutely not. Our aim, and I think it is also in the interest of the Slovak Republic, is that of the 15 MEPs that Slovakia will have in the new European Parliament, as many as possible will be patriotic MEPs who can join the large patriotic conservative faction that is very likely to emerge in the European Parliament.
And it will not just be our 5 to 10 MEPs from Slovakia who will defend those rational and patriotic views, it will be perhaps two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred - we will see how people in other countries decide - MEPs throughout the European Parliament who, if they unite, will have great power.
And if we don't have a majority in the European Parliament to be able to push through our vision and programme theses, then hopefully we will at least manage to get a blocking minority, which means that we will have - I'm talking about patriots from all over Europe - we might have a third of the seats in the European Parliament and we will be able to block things that only pass with such a normal majority in the European Parliament vote and we will simply stop a lot of the nonsense that Brussels is currently pushing through. The Energy Commissioner has said that she is not interested in bringing forward a treaty on gas transit from Ukraine between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union. Does the European Union offer any other solution? It does. Buying American gas at triple the price. America's friends have said that they will be happy to sell this gas to Europe if they can make a good profit on it. In any case, we can see where this European pro-war and pro-sanctions policy is leading. It is leading to a crisis, it is leading to the impoverishment of ordinary Europeans, it is leading to a fall in economic growth. That is why we, as the Republic movement, but also the German AfD and other parties like it, have a programme that, if we are successful in the elections, we will push for the lifting of energy sanctions against the eastern countries, and we are talking openly about the Russian Federation, because these sanctions have achieved nothing and lead nowhere anyway, they are only damaging Europe.
How do you assess the work of delegations with countries outside the EU, such as the United States, China, India?
I have been a member of relatively prestigious delegations these last five years. These were the European Parliament delegation for relations with the United States of America and also the delegation for relations with the Russian Federation.
However, I must express some disappointment with the activities of these delegations, because the leadership of the delegations was nominated, of course, by the progressive leadership of the European Parliament, and they were pure progressives. That is what the work of these delegations looked like. The delegation for relations with the United States of America was basically the same as what we read in the Slovak progressive media, so in the end there was no point in going there, because only people like that were invited.
I had hoped that the delegation for relations with the Russian Federation would try to make some real contact, but I quickly realised that the progressives were not interested in any dialogue with the Russian Federation and Russian politicians, because not once in five years have they invited any official representative of the Russian Federation or any Russian diplomat or ambassador, but only representatives of the Russian opposition. I have always gone there, listened to their opinion - I respect their opinion, the Russian opposition's opinion, but logically we cannot rank ourselves on the basis of just one opinion of an opposition party, because if you are going to take an informed decision, you need to hear the other side, of course, not that we hear one side and we all go and vote on that basis. So I was disappointed by that, and I would like to see these delegations in the future being more objective and moving more towards that dialogue, which is essentially what they were set up to do, and less about creating conflict and adding fuel to the fire, as they say. And I would certainly be interested in serving in these delegations in the future, whether in relations with the Russian Federation, China or Eurasia, because that is clearly where the geopolitical centre of gravity of the world is shifting.
You have basically already answered which delegation you would choose if you were re-elected. The European Parliament's mandate has been marked by two important events, such as the COVID pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. Do you think that the European Parliament or the European Union as a whole has dealt with these problems adequately and appropriately?
I don't think so, because the pandemic is one very unfortunate event that I hope is behind us forever, but has not yet been investigated. They have not even shown us as MEPs the contracts, for example, between the European Commission and Pfizer, which are contracts worth more than EUR 30 billion, but we are only estimating that amount, we do not even know it as MEPs, as President Ursula von der Leyen concluded via text message with the CEO of Pfizer. So this is currently being prosecuted, it is being investigated, it is even being dealt with by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, but I do not expect anything to happen with it, they will probably not take the President of the European Commission out in handcuffs, that would be a worldwide disaster, but hopefully after the end of the term of office, some justice will be done and we will find out the truth. Well, as far as the war in Ukraine is concerned, just one sentence. It is an enormous tragedy that could have been avoided if, for example, these European delegations had also functioned and carried out the dialogue that they should have instead of looking for conflict and closing the door.
What impact has the conflict in Ukraine had on individual EU Member States?
We see the impact in people's everyday lives. For one thing, European countries are indirectly dragged into the war. We are living through this war virtually every day, thanks to the news from the media. And secondly, we are directly involved in the huge economic crisis that we are seeing across Europe. The trend in Europe at the moment is that individual national governments, or national armies, have run out of military supplies. So they are no longer sending arms directly to Ukraine, but are doing it in a roundabout way. This means that they are starting to finance the actual delivery of weapons. And I have to express a little disappointment in this respect, also with regard to the attitude of the Slovak Government, that although the Slovak Prime Minister Fico sometimes has good statements on Facebook and social media that one could agree with, unfortunately, when I look at the vote, I mean specifically in the European Council, not once did he actually vote against the European line, against what the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has put on the table.
He voted for 50 billion for Ukraine, he voted for Ukraine's admission to the EU or for the start of accession negotiations, but he claimed in front of the people, for example, that Ukraine is a corrupt state, which is therefore true. Now the Slovak representative has voted, either this week or last week, for the establishment and extension of the European Peace Facility with an additional EUR 1.5 billion, which will go towards the purchase of weapons for Ukraine. So this is how it is done. Governments boast that they have stopped the supply of arms to Ukraine, but the reality that is happening not only in Slovakia, but also in the Czech Republic and other countries, is that instead of supplying arms to Ukraine, governments are financing these arms supplies. This means that they send money either to the European Union or to the arms companies that produce the weapons and send them to Ukraine. That is the way it is happening at the moment, and I do not think that is the right way to go in the future, because that is probably never going to be the way the war ends.
The issue of food imports from Ukraine is a major problem, which concerns not only the farmers themselves, but also all EU citizens. What is the current situation? Have the protests died down or are more protests in the pipeline?
Not at all, more protests are being prepared. Even today, in the Slovak Republic, there was a protest in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Bratislava. It was smaller, but it was still there. European green policy, so-called green policy, which is supposed to protect nature, is in fact destroying European agriculture, but above all, it is hurting not only Slovak farmers, but European farmers in general. Firstly, it is the nonsensical emission standards, the ban on diesel, for example, which they have adopted in Germany, that they will not subsidise green diesel for farmers, etc. They are trying to push through electric tractors and electric combine harvesters, which is technological nonsense. Also some of those compulsory bio-farms. In fields where the farmer or rancher cannot grow anything, it is compulsory for scrub to grow and for rodents to breed, this is called natural regeneration. Or all sorts of other nonsense about pesticide policy and things like that. All this is destroying Slovak farmers, but also European farmers in general, and they are naturally rebelling against it.
There is also the aforementioned import of cheap products from Ukraine, which neither Slovak nor European farmers can compete with, because in Ukraine they have much lower standards, more lenient emission regulations and pesticide regulations, so of course the costs are much lower. And those farmers were the first grain.
And I have told even the European Commissioners in the plenary of this European Parliament that if they do not start to make real policies for the people, for Europe, for the European economy, then farmers will be just the beginning of these protests. And in the end, the people will simply drive them out of their posts. There is basically no other scenario, unless we want to fall flat on our faces, as they say.
As has already been said, you are running for the Euro elections, you are the leader of the candidate list for the Republic movement. What are your goals and priorities going into the European elections and what would you like to see implemented in the European Parliament?
It's a lot. First of all, we want to stop the nonsense that is coming from Brussels, from this European Parliament, because there is a lot of nonsense. I am thinking, first of all, of pro-war politics. We want to promote and favour more peace negotiations and peace politics so that there is peace in Europe. Instead of a sanctions policy that is destroying European industry and the economy, we want to lift sanctions and start a balanced cooperation. Yes, also with the Eastern countries, also with the West.
Instead of a policy that destroys our civilisation, our culture, we want to pay more attention to the protection of families, to the protection of traditional values, and to the protection of Slovak identity, speaking within the whole of Europe. As far as immigration policy is concerned, close the borders and rather encourage European families to have more children if they want and can have more children, and then Europe does not have to depend on importing migrants.
If we want to protect Slovakia's sovereignty, of course we need to protect the Slovak Republic's veto in the European Council, because without the veto we will always be outvoted by big countries like Germany, Italy, France and we will just be mere statists, so we need to protect our sovereignty. We want to work with other patriotic parties, as I have already said, for example, the German AfD, but also the Polish Confederation, the Austrian EPO and so on, to change and transform Europe. From the current political union to a purely economic union. That means let there be economic cooperation, let there be freedom of travel for EU citizens, not for illegal immigrants, but for EU citizens. Let there be support for infrastructure, for the construction of motorways, for some research projects, but let Europe not collapse into the Brussels dictatorship, because otherwise, in a few years' time, there will be crisis after crisis, in fact, it is already happening, and Europe will not turn out well.
And we don't want Europe to turn out badly, we want it to turn out well. So that's why we are running, that's why we are trying to change Europe, trying to save what can still be saved and to fix what our predecessors messed up. And if we fail to do that, I think Europe faces a very negative scenario, and that is what we all want to avoid.
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