Angel Dzhambazki, far-right Bulgarian MEP, angered his colleagues by giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute in the plenary chamber after speaking during a debate on the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.

The European Parliament will check its cameras to confirm whether or not Dzhambazki gave a Nazi salute, which the MEP has denied. If it is proven that Dzhambazki did indeed give a Nazi salute, he will be severely sanctioned.

A video showing the salute was posted on Twitter by Rennaisance, a group of French MEPs, late on February 16. As of the afternoon of Feburary 17 it had racked up a million views on the microblogging site. 

“We will never allow you to tell us what to say and do. Long live Bulgaria, Hungary, [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán,  [Hungarian ruling party] Fidesz and the Europe of nation states,” Dzhambazki, of the far-right Bulgarian VMRO party, said during the plenary session prior to the salute as quoted by Euractiv.

He added that the decision adopted by the European Parliament following a ruling of the European Court of Justice that funds can be blocked to countries where the rule of law has been violated was an “abomination”. The mechanism was fiercely opposed by Hungary and Poland, which were backed by Bulgarian far-right MEPs.

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola commented that a fascist salute is unacceptable.

“A fascist salute in the European Parliament is unacceptable to me — always and everywhere. It offends me and everyone else in Europe. We stand for the opposite. We are the house of democracy. That gesture is from the darkest chapter of our history and must be left there,” she wrote on Twitter.

The gesture was also condemned by the leader of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber.

“During today’s debate on the rule of law, MEP Dzhambazki showed a “Hitler salute” in plenary. On behalf of the EPP group we condemn this in the harshest possible terms. It is the opposite of what the European Parliament stands for and we call for immediate sanctioning,” he wrote on Twitter.

Dzhambazki has denied giving a Nazi salute, saying it was an “innocent wave”. 

“When you mistake a simple wave with a Nazi salute you have a real Godwin's law problem. The fact that one disagrees with you does not mean he is a Nazi. I apologise if my innocent wave (meant as an excuse) has insulted anyone but this is some serious case of Reductio ad absurdum,” he wrote as a comment on Twitter.

The controversial MEP, now one of VMRO’s three newly-elected leaders, is well known for his scandalous behaviour. In 2019, he had to apologise for xenophobic remarks during a parliamentary debate, when he called MEP Karima Delli “a Frenchwoman of Algerian origin”, and MEP Ismail Ertug “a German of Turkish origin”.

Dzhambazki commented to Nova News channel that he intends to sue those who have accused him of giving a Nazi salute.