Eurosceptic Romanian MEP ejected from Parliament after loud outburst
During the inaugural session of the new European Parliament, an incident occurred when Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă disrupted Ursula von der Leyen's speech by shouting. The controversial MEP from Romania was escorted out of the plenary hall.
1:13 PM EDT, July 18, 2024
Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă hails from Romania and is a member of the Eurosceptic and right-wing party S.O.S. Romania, which has been accused of being pro-Russian.
Iovanovici-Șoșoacă gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic for supporting anti-vaccine groups and opposing the implementation of pandemic-related restrictions.
In her speeches, she also championed Romania's exit from the European Union and criticized Ukraine after the Russian invasion began.
Meanwhile, in her Thursday speech, Ursula von der Leyen declared that if re-elected as President of the European Commission, she will strive to continue supporting Ukraine and entirely wean the EU off energy resources from Russia. She also spoke about expanding the Community to include additional countries.
Shouting in the European Parliament. "You are killing people"
However, Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă did not wait for the debate after von der Leyen's speech to express her opposition. Instead, she started shouting from her seat in the plenary hall even before the debate officially started.
Among other things, she shouted "In God we trust," and "I have the right to speak. I was voted by Romanians", and "you killed people."
Finally, EP President Roberta Metsola reacted, asking the Romanian MEP to leave the hall. Iovanovici-Șoșoacă initially resisted but eventually complied and left in the company of other Members of the European Parliament.
To draw more attention to herself and emphasize her opposition to the COVID-19 restrictions, Iovanovici-Șoșoacă wore an object on her face resembling a dog muzzle, likely a symbolic reference to the face masks worn during the coronavirus pandemic.
