Metsola to launch sanctions against Bulgarian MEP who gave fascist salute

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will launch a sanctions procedure against Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki, for making what appeared to be a fascist salute in the European Parliament chamber on Wednesday evening.

Dzhambazki, a member of the conservative Bulgarian National Movement (IMRO) party, was filmed leaving the Strasbourg hemicycle giving a ‘Nazi salute’ while going up the steps.

The chair of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, tweeted that the use of a “Hitler salute” was the “opposite of what the European Parliament stands for.”

“A fascist salute in the European Parliament is unacceptable to me,” EP president Roberta Metsola said. “Here and everywhere. We stand for the opposite. We are the house of democracy. That gesture is part of the darkest part of history. Unacceptable.”

Despite his clear gestures, Dzhambazki denied the accusation, and claimed it was a “small misunderstanding” in an email to MEPs.

Dzhambazki then accused them of “libel and defamation”, saying his hand sign was only a goodbye. “I was in the hemicycle finishing my speech at which admittedly I said something with which many of you disagree thus provoking you. As I was leaving the hemicycle I wanted to apologise for the later by humbly waving to the chair.”

The incident happened after an intervention by Dzhambazki during a debate on the rule of law in the European Parliament, following Wednesday’s decision by the European Court of Justice that ruled it was legal to deny EU funds to member states breaching rule of law.

In his intervention, Dzhambazki said the EU’s conditionality measure had “nothing to do with law and the rule of law” but rather with “hate for nation states”, accused the EU of trying to “shame” Hungary and Poland. He then declared: “Long live Orbán, Fidesz, Kaczyński, Bulgaria, and our nation state. Long live Europe, the Europe of nations.”

Dzhambazki risks being sanctioned under Rule 10 of the Parliament’s rules of procedure, which states MEPs’ conduct should be “based on the values and principles laid down in the Treaties, and particularly in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Members shall respect Parliament’s dignity and shall not harm its reputation.”

Italian MEP Sandro Gozi, whom Dzhambazki targeted in the chamber, said: “The mask slips. Every time we discuss democracy and the rule of law, the nationalists and the extreme right remind us of their motto: intolerance and provocation … I am their favourite target and I am proud of it,” he said.

In 2019, two MEPs asked the European Parliament to sanction the right-wing Bulgarian MEP on the grounds he made xenophobic remarks about their role in a deal on truckers rights. Dzhambazki issued a sort of apology. “I’m a Bulgarian, my roots are in North Macedonia, even Turkey, and I would not be offended if you called me a Bulgarian from North Macedonia,” he said during a plenary debate. “But if my colleagues felt offended, then I apologise.”