Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, and Petr PAVEL, President of Czechia, hold a press conference, following his visit to the EU institutions in April 2023 - one of his first foreign trips after his election. President Pavel focuses on the need to strengthen the European Union in a time of crises and to call for a strong position against Russia and for peace in Ukraine. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Strasbourg

press point

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Czechia (T)

PAVEL, Petr

Press point by Roberta METSOLA, EP President and by Petr PAVEL, President of Czechia

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/72375042/1696255576254_I246914Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Good morning, it is truly an honour to welcome Petr Pavel, the President of Czech Republic, here in Strasbourg, who addresses the plenary very shortly. Dear President, this is already our, let's say, I don't know many times we met already, but I know this will not be the last. But I can say that it is always a great pleassure to discuss with you.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, As always we focus our talks around Ukraine and the need for the European Union to remain steadfast and principled in our support for Ukraine. Ukraine's security is also Europe's security, and we cannot see it clearly enough. Ukrainians today are fighting for our values, too. Let me also express my gratitude to your country for being one of the most active in accepting Ukrainian refugees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, I know that Czechs strongly support the EU's effort to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by war. I'm also very impressed, I say this on behalf of the whole European Parliament, of your country's efforts when it comes to getting rid of Russian fossil fuels. Your country might reach full energy independence by 2024.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, An extraordinary example to all member states. We also spoke about European values and the needs to stand up to populism and fight back against disinformation and with European elections coming up next June, this is becoming increasingly urgent and important. In 2024, your country will commemorate 20 years of EU membership in May, just weeks before the European Parliament elections.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, This will provide a natural point in time to reflect on the benefits of European integration and to take stock of two decades of European cooperation. It will be a time to speak up for Europe and thereby hopefully also have an increased electoral turnout that would return a Parliament that is ready to take on the challenges for the next five years. Dear President, the floor is yours.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, Thank you very much, Madam President. It's always a pleasure to come to visit friends and allies. And even though the premises of European Parliament resemble sometimes the battlefield, that in the end we are all aware of our common and unifying purpose, our common goals and strategic objectives.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, And that is a united Europe that is safe and prosperous. And this is our main task. I'm not going to go through all the main challenges which were just listed by Madam President. I'm going to talk about them at the plenary session, and I have to assume that I say that I am grateful to have the opportunity to address the plenary of the main legislative body of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, Those people who are setting up the parameters for our future. We will obviously talk about our most pressing security issue, and that is the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the need to go on in supporting Ukraine in our own interest, because Ukraine's security is our own security. We will also talk about European elections and the risk which will be presented by the temptation to go into populism or false narratives.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, We have to do our best to prevent these false narratives sell to get the ground, and we have to focus on truly important issues that can move us further on and not focusing on the differences that will inevitably appear, but will be reasonably easy to overcome if we have in mind our long term focus.

Q&A, Question about the importance of the dialogue between EU heads of states and the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, So I start with the second part of your of your question. First of all, we have seen an incredible increase in attention and reception to speeches that are given in the House of Democracy for the European people here in Strasbourg and even in Brussels before the plenary of the European Parliament. Why?

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Because we shape the European debate. We address challenges and we use this possibility to talk to everybody and to listen to understand where things could have been done better. To be honest, as to where we have failed in the past, but also extremely proud of our successes. So I must say, as president of this Parliament, I am proud of the way this institution has handled the the use of the platter in order to give this opportunity.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, For me this was one of the first things that we discussed as soon as President Pavel was elected, his possibility to address the plenary. I will not talk about the time before I was President, but I can tell you that as soon as the President Pavel became president, he got the invitation immediately. And I'm extremely happy that, let's say better late than never and we will not wait another ten years.

Q&A, Question about President's Pavel democratic resilience focus.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, I will not be specific about the conference at this point, but I can be more specific on the issue. First, what we have to do is stress to our citizens are democratic values. I keep repeating how important they are for our daily lives, not just in abstract terms, but using very practical examples.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, What democracy and what the membership in the EU has brought to our citizens so that even our people are now living in conditions that are, let's say, not the best now living in the regions that are affected by a transition from heavy industry or mining into a more advanced economy who are not sometimes happy with the development or confused so that they understand the benefits.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, And also using negative example examples where we would be without democracy, where we would be without being members of the EU. And second part of it is an active struggle against disinformation, because if we are not active in that area, our people will be confused.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petr PAVEL, President of the Czech Republic, Many people will be abused by irresponsible politicians who are taking easy political points by pointing to a group of people or nations or the institutions as the source of all of the problems. So these are two elements that I'm going to focus on.