Fianna Fáil’s group in the European Parliament has called for an apparent ban on all rhetoric supporting migrant deportations in the elected body.
A joint statement published by Renew Europe — of which Fianna Fáil is a member — called for MEPs in other groups to be sanctioned for online “verbal violence” by parliament president Roberta Metsola, insisting that the very use of the term “deportation” is a reference to the Holocaust.
The statement went on to single out Charlie Weimers, a senior MEP for the conservative Sweden Democrats, as deserving of particular punishment for a post he made on social media hailing a recent vote approving the streamlining of legal deportations from Europe.
“In particular the post by colleague Charlie Weimers celebrating ‘the start of the era of deportations’ making reference to the Holocaust is one shocking example of incitement to hate,” the post, which was also endorsed by the Socialists and Democrats group and Green groups, of which the Irish Labour and Green parties are respective members, said.
The letter went on to accuse the “far-right” as a whole of regularly making “polarising and violent statements” in the European parliament, though no examples are cited.
Posted on Monday, the statement has earned ridicule from across the bloc, with Weimers in particular saying that no amount of complaints from left-wing EU groups would impede shifting views on migration.
“The centre-left and the extreme left are now demanding sanctions against me simply for stating the obvious: the era of deportations has begun,” Weimers said in a statement to Gript.
“Enforcing the law and sending home people with no legal right to be here is not ‘hatred’ – it’s what every normal country does. Yet the same European Parliament that, in the Home Affairs committee, tried to impose the euphemism ‘irregular migration’ instead of ‘illegal migration’ now wants to police our language and punish straight talk.”
“The paradigm has shifted. Europeans have had enough of open borders and soft-touch policies. The age of mass returns is here, and the left can cry ‘hate’ all they want – it won’t stop us,” he added.
Weimers also indicated that leftists were “once again weaponising the Holocaust to smear political opponents” despite the growing levels of anti-Semitism within their own parties.
The Sweden Democrats, while having suffered from scandals relating to anti-Semitism in the past, are now seen to be some of the strongest critics of anti-Jewish hatred in Brussels, with party leader Jimmie Åkesson giving a speech in Israel at a gathering on the issue in February this year.
The European Conservative and Reformist group, of which the Sweden Democrats are members, also overwhelmingly takes a hard stance towards fighting anti-Jewish sentiments.
Fianna Fáil has been approached for comment.