Romanian MEP ejected for disrupting Ursula von der Leyen speech in parliament
During the inaugural session of the new European Parliament, an incident occurred involving Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă interrupting Ursula von der Leyen's speech with shouts. The controversial MEP from Romania was escorted out of the plenary hall.
Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă is from Romania and belongs to the far-right S.O.S. Romania party, which is eurosceptic and accused of being pro-Russian.
Iovanovici-Șoșoacă gained significant attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for supporting anti-vaccine groups and opposing the introduction of restrictions related to the pandemic.
In her statements, she also advocates for Romania's exit from the European Union and, after the start of the Russian invasion, she criticised Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in her Thursday speech, Ursula von der Leyen declared that if re-elected as President of the European Commission, she would continue to support Ukraine and strive for the EU's full independence from Russian energy resources. She also spoke about expanding the Community to include more countries.
Shouts in the European Parliament. "You are killing people"
However, Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă did not take the opportunity to express her opposition to such policies during the debate scheduled after von der Leyen's speech. Instead, she began shouting from her seat in the plenary hall even before the official start of the debate.
She shouted, among other things, "In God we trust," bringing religious icons into the moment, "I have the right to speak, I was elected by the citizens of Romania", and "you are killing people".
Eventually, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola reacted, asking the Romanian MEP to leave the hall. Iovanovici-Șoșoacă did not want to comply but eventually relented and left, accompanied by other members of the European Parliament.
To draw more attention to herself and highlight her stance on the COVID-19 restrictions, Iovanovici-Șoșoacă wore an object resembling a dog muzzle on her face, likely a symbolic reference to the masks worn during the coronavirus pandemic.
