Scandal in the heart of Europe!
The Bulgarian MP Angel Dschambaski (42) caused a scandal in the European Parliament in Strasbourg: he gave the Hitler salute in the plenary hall!
Other MPs are appalled. The Chairman of the EPP Group, Manfred Weber (49, CSU): “We condemn that in the strongest possible terms. It is the opposite of what the European Parliament stands for – and we call for immediate sanctions.”
The Italian social democrat Pina Picierno (40) chaired the parliamentary session and later presented Twitter clear: “I immediately condemned the incident and called for sanctions against this despicable and unacceptable gesture. The European Parliament is a living monument of democracy against the barbarism of Nazi fascism.”
Before his obvious Hitler salute, EU critic Dschambaski sharply attacked Italian MP Sandro Goiz (53) in the debate about possible penalties against Poland and Hungary, saying: “We will never agree to your agenda, the agenda of the NGOs who are trying to Europe destroy and turn it into something else.”
Then he left the hall, turned on the stairs and stretched his right arm up. Presumed message: You are Nazis!
But the national conservative Dschambaski insists that his gesture was not a Hitler salute. “I apologize if my innocent wave (intended as an apology) offended anyone,” he wrote Twitter.
That’s what the discussion is about
Hungary and Poland are at risk of losing billions from the EU budget. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Wednesday dismissed the complaints by Warsaw and Budapest against the so-called EU rule of law mechanism.
Consequence: This has been confirmed by the highest court that the EU Commission can cut the money for member states if they violate the principles of the rule of law.
From the EU’s point of view, Poland did this with the controversial restructuring of its own judiciary. In Hungary, the government of Viktor Orbán (58) is accused of massive corruption.
Hungary criticized the judgment as a “politically motivated saying”. Justice Minister Judit Varga (41) said: “The decision is living proof of how Brussels abuses its power.”
However, the actual consequences of the court decision are only likely to come later. In a first reaction, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen (63) said that her authority first wanted to analyze the judgment thoroughly.