On Thursday 17 February, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, initiated a procedure that could lead to sanctions against Angel Dzhambazki (ECR, Bulgaria), accused of having made a Nazi salute in the hemicycle of the Parliament the day before.
Mr Dzhambazki will be heard on the circumstances of his action before a decision is taken on whether to adopt appropriate sanctions. A decision could be announced at the next plenary session in March.
“A fascist salute is unacceptable in the European Parliament” and should be relegated to the darkest pages of our history, the European Parliament president said via Twitter.
In a message sent to his counterparts, Mr Dzhambazki said he was “shocked” to be accused of performing a Nazi salute. “After I said something that may have seemed provocative to you during the plenary debate, I wanted to apologise as I was leaving with a humble greeting to the Presidency”, the head of the Bulgarian delegation in the ECR group said, apologising for his “innocent gesture”.
The co-presidents of the ECR group, Ryszard Legutko of Poland and Raffaele Fitto of Italy, stressed the sovereignist group’s strong commitment to “fundamental EU values” such as human dignity, democracy and the Rule of law. “We strongly condemn totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, the glorification of Nazism and Communism, and the display of any such symbols and gestures”, they added in a statement.
The ECR group is conducting an internal investigation and, on the basis of the Parliament’s decision, will decide on appropriate measures. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)