[WATCH] Metsola kicks out heckling far-right MEP who wants to exorcise EP of ‘demons’
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola kicks out far-right Romanian MEP after interrupting debate for the third time
![Roberta Metsola sternly rebuked the MEP Diana Șoșoacă (left) the eccentric leader of the Romanian far-right S.O.S. Romania party](http://content.maltatoday.com.mt/ui/images/photos/diana_sosoaca.jpg)
![](https://vumbnail.com/986318464.jpg)
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola had to ask ushers to forcibly eject a far-right MEP from the House after she heckled speakers for the third time at a debate on appointing European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Metsola sternly rebuked the MEP Diana Șoșoacă, the eccentric leader of the Romanian far-right S.O.S. Romania party, who was recently elected to her first term as an MEP.
“This is the third time you have interrupted the debate – I ask the ushers to remove her from the plenary,” Metsola said, visibly irked at the side-show put up by Șoșoacă.
The MEP held up an Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, and cried out, ‘In God We Trust’. After ushers approached her to make her leave the room, the MEP put on a dog muzzle around her face, saying “it is allowed to do everything I want, I have the right to speak, I was voted by Romanians, you kill people in ‘plandemic’,” holding up a black garbage bag.
A former member of the upper house of parliament in her own country, Șoșoacă gained notoriety in Romania for her anti-immigration and anti-vaccine stances, as well as her disruptive behaviour in the Bucharest legislature.
On Wednesday, Șoșoacă proposed to summon a priest to sanctify the European Parliament and cleanse it of “devils”. “Just like in the Romanian parliament, here the devils meet,” Șoșoacă told reporters this week.
Șoșoacă, who wore a traditional Romanian folk costume on her first day in the Parliament, added she had brought myrrh, a fragrant resin, and “the icon of St. Paraskeva,” a 10th-century female Balkans saint, into the building, and “immediately everyone’s attitude changed.”
She also recounted an exchange with European Parliament chief Roberta Metsola, in which she claimed Metsola had blanched upon seeing her. “I went to Mrs. Metsola. When she saw me, she turned white,” Șoșoacă said. “I asked her for a meeting, she was getting whiter and whiter. She said, ‘Please write me the time you want, and I am open to talking with you.’”
Earlier this week, in a Facebook live video recorded during the vote to elect a president for the Parliament, Șoșoacă filmed herself crossing out the names of Metsola and opponent Irene Montero, and writing the words NEVER FOR UKRAINE, NEVER FOR LGBT, NEVER FOR THE EU DICTATORSHIP on her ballot.
![Ewropej Funded by the European Union](https://content.maltatoday.com.mt/ui_frontend/thumbnail/684/0/ewropej-funded-eu.png)
This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The action was co-financed by the European Union in the frame of the European Parliament's grant programme in the field of communication. The European Parliament was not involved in its preparation and is, in no case, responsible for or bound by the information or opinions expressed in the context of this action. In accordance with applicable law, the authors, interviewed people, publishers or programme broadcasters are solely responsible. The European Parliament can also not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that may result from the implementation of the action.