The parliamentary groups of the Socialists and the European Liberals (S&D and Renew) have requested on Wednesday the dismissal of the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, the Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi, after the microphones of the European Parliament captured him on Tuesday when, believing he was not being heard, he called «idiots» the MEPs participating in the session.
«How many idiots are there left?» he said in Hungarian to his chief of staff, thinking his words were not being heard after intervening in the plenary in response to questions raised by MEPs.
The commissioner has apologized on Wednesday with a statement in which he regrets what he describes as a «misunderstanding», as he claims that a private conversation with a person from his team has been taken out of context.
Socialist MEP Sándor Rónai has described the words of the commissioner as «brutal and unprecedented insult» because it is «unacceptable» that a senior leader of another European institution «violates the integrity of the Parliament», so it has called on the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take «strong measures».
In the same vein, the liberal MEP Irene Joveva has branded as «cynical» the Commissioner’s explanations after accusing the hemicycle of having misinterpreted his words instead of apologizing. «Honestly, there are very few people who believe him,» she said, before reproaching him for referring in this way to the elected representatives of the European Parliament, whose job is to hold the Commission accountable.
«We are not surprised that the person appointed by Viktor Orbán – the Hungarian Prime Minister – is against democratic processes, but this House does not work like that,» he said, on what he believes is a new example that Varhelyi «is not qualified to perform this job.»
Thus, he has also urged Von der Leyen to carry out a «long overdue» investigation into the «numerous allegations» of misconduct by the commissioner, in particular about his relations in the Balkan region. «Commissioners must act in the interests of Europe and, if their misconduct is proven, they must resign,» he concluded.
For his part, the spokesman for the European Commission, Eric Mamer, acknowledged Wednesday at a press conference that Brussels «has no plans to carry out an investigation» in this regard and referred to the statement of apology issued by the commissioner.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
