Martin Schulz Quotes

#1. One can't allow blind loyalty to a friendship to lead one away from acting in the public interest. If Martin [Schulz] were to propose something that was totally absurd, our friendship would not prevent me from doing the opposite.

Jean-Claude Juncker

#2. If cooperation among governments were the superior concept for progress in Europe, I'd be onboard immediately. But the problem is that cooperation isn't working.

Martin Schulz

#3. I have friends in politics who really put the friendship to the test through their behavior.

Martin Schulz

#4. At the time, Jean-Claude [Juncker] was already an important man in Brussels. I was a young representative in the European Parliament. We talked for a long time and from that point on, our connection became increasingly deep. But our working-class origins are at least as important to our bond.

Martin Schulz

#5. Turkey is doing an enormous amount in the refugee question, but it can't continue to pay for everything by itself. That is why we have to talk to Turkey about money.

Martin Schulz

#6. My father was a steel worker and Martin's [Schulz] grandfather was a miner in Saarland. In these occupations, there is a particular awareness of solidarity. That creates links that aren't present in other relationships.

Jean-Claude Juncker

#7. The EU is an unique project that replaced war with peace, hate with solidarity. Overwhelming emotion for awarding of Nobel prize to EU

Martin Schulz

#8. The stubborn stance of some European governments on the refugee question is a reprisal less aimed at Angela Merkel or (Vice Chancellor) Sigmar Gabriel than at certain people on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin.

Martin Schulz

#9. Would I sacrifice a friendship to take a step forward in my political career? Thus far in my political career, I have been spared from having to make such a decision, thank God. And I can't imagine what it must be like.

Martin Schulz

#10. Refugees cost us money too when they come to us. If we improve their living conditions in Turkey, we create an incentive for them to stay there and not to place their fates in the hands of smugglers.

Martin Schulz

#11. Europe was founded as a community bound together by solidarity.

Martin Schulz

#12. I firmly believe that the inequity [in society] is enormous. The people have the feeling that you are allowed to do anything if you are rich. But if you're poor, you have to pay. We [Europeans] have to counter this.

Martin Schulz

#13. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is an adherent of realpolitik. He knows that international relations are not built on the strength of unilateral demands, but on solutions that are in everybody's best interest.

Martin Schulz

#14. You have to let the people vote when it comes to a new constitution.

Martin Schulz

#15. But if you constantly insist only on your own interpretation, it isn't long before it seems patronizing.

Martin Schulz

#16. I believe the people should have the opportunity to have a greater influence on politics with their ideas. We need a new impulse for renewal.

Martin Schulz

#17. I believe it is wrong to give Moscow a rebate on Ukraine sanctions because of Syria.

Martin Schulz

#18. My mother's brother was killed while clearing mines in 1945. Those are things that mark your childhood and they help explain why we are so devoted to European unity.

Martin Schulz

#19. Referendums have always posed a threat when it comes to EU policy, because EU policy is complicated. They're an opportunity for those from all political camps who like to oversimplify things.

Martin Schulz

#20. Primary responsibility for Brexit lies with British conservatives, who took an entire continent hostage.

Martin Schulz

#21. It was a Russian airplane that was bombed over the Sinai Peninsula. When the Russians conduct air strikes on IS, they are doing so because they too are threatened by terror.

Martin Schulz

#22. We agree: Brussels can't regulate everything. I'm driven by something else: There are forces in Europe that want to generally give national policy priority over a common European approach. We have to prevent this.

Martin Schulz

#23. Before we talk about further accessions, we have to consolidate the European Union internally. People are increasingly losing faith in the EU's effectiveness.

Martin Schulz

#24. We need economic growth in Europe and we need to find a solution for the excessive interest rates that are making it difficult for many countries to get their own debt under control.

Martin Schulz

#25. If you say in advance there is going to be a main candidate and then that doesn't count later, then that's going to be a highly problematic occurrence in a democracy.

Martin Schulz

#26. For German Social Democracy, Europe is vital to the national interest.

Martin Schulz

#27. Politics is a dynamic process. When I was a young man in the 1970s, Yasser Arafat had just perpetrated various terrorist attacks. Just a few years later, after I had entered European Parliament, the same Yasser Arafat was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Martin Schulz

#28. Turkey has in interest in finding agreement on more permissive visa requirements, it wants to be recognized as a safe country of origin and it wants to finally return to constructive EU accession negotiations. We Europeans decide all of those things together.

Martin Schulz

#29. Referendums are a democratic instrument, but so are decisions reached in a parliamentary democracy. I advise extreme caution when it comes to referendums. In Germany too.

Martin Schulz

#30. I'm proud of the fact that Marine Le Pen in France insults me and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands calls me his opponent. The way I see it is, if these people weren't attacking me, I would be doing something wrong.

Martin Schulz

#31. European policy is always an interplay of rationality and emotion.

Martin Schulz

#32. Without new money, salaries wo n't be paid, the health system will stop functioning, the power network and public transport will break down, and they wo n't be able to import vital goods because nobody can pay.

Martin Schulz

#33. Particularly in periods of crisis, governments have the obligation to lead by good example! Instead, many in Europe are confronting this global challenge with a penny-pinching mentality that drives me crazy.

Martin Schulz

#34. I believe that the majority of people in Europe want to demonstrate solidarity with the refugees.

Martin Schulz

#35. There's no point whining about missed opportunities.

Martin Schulz

#36. I find it surprising, however, that many German politicians generally oppose referendums, but then when it's an EU matter, they immediately scream for a plebiscite.

Martin Schulz

#37. We won't get any growth in Greece by just imposing cuts. What I would prefer is a special economic zone for Greece.

Martin Schulz

#38. For many people, politics in Brussels and Strasbourg might as well be happening on another planet.

Martin Schulz

#39. [Helmut] Kohl said Europe must return to being a community committed to stability and the rule of law.

Martin Schulz

#40. Italy is one of the eight major industrial nations. What will happen if a G-8 country within the European Union goes bankrupt? Does anyone think Germany wouldn't be affected? Italy is one of our key markets.

Martin Schulz

#41. The problem with us EU politicians is that we approach everything with cool rationality, and then wonder why we don't win people over emotionally.

Martin Schulz

#42. The ESM, the European Stability Mechanism, is not funded by Germany alone. Twenty-seven percent of the bailout package comes from Germany. Italy and France together cover a total of 38 percent. That's reality. It makes no sense to say that everyone wants to get at Germany's money.

Martin Schulz

#43. It's not attractive at the moment to vouch for the European idea. I still do it, because I believe nothing would be better for our continent.

Martin Schulz

#44. In political life, it is extremely difficult to remain loyal to a friendship when constellations of power or interests are in the way.

Martin Schulz

#45. I am a man of parliament, a man of the people. I am not a representative of the executives.

Martin Schulz

#46. I'm fully aware that my vision of a European bicameral parliament can't be implemented tomorrow. I'm also not an integration fanatic.

Martin Schulz