Brussels, 22/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Tuesday evening, the main political groups of the EP unanimously condemned the racist attacks by Italian Lega Nord MEP Mario Borghezio against new Italian Minister for Integration, Cécile Kyenge Kashetu, the first black politician to join an Italian government. The S&D, EPP, Greens/EFA, ALDE and GUE/NGL Groups received a petition signed by 130,000 people, according to a press release issued by the S&D. This petition was launched by former journalist Stefano Corradino, calling for the extreme-right MEP to step down or, at the very least, for sanctions against him. It was not his first offence, as attested by his regular anti-immigrant diatribes, when Borghezio spoke out against a “bonga bonga” government in late April in reference to the new integration minister who, he said, would “import the tribal traditions” of her native Congo. Although the political groups of the EP cannot force anybody to resign, as Hannes Swoboda, Guy Verhofstadt, Véronique Mathieu, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Gaby Zimmer explained, they have called upon the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group (EFD) to take measures against him. The five groups also plan to show their support for Cécile Kyenge Kashetu by inviting her to the European Parliament as soon as possible. (SP/transl.fl)