Fri, Feb 10 2012

OBSERVER FROM BULGARIA CAUSES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SCANDAL

Fri, Sep 29 2006 10:07 CET

555 Views

European Parliament (EP) observer from ultra-nationalist movement Ataka Dimitar Stoyanov caused controversy after he sent a personal e-mail containing racist remarks.

The e-mail evaluated the nomination of Hungarian MEP Livia Jaroka for award for her contribution to the justice sector, Focus news agency reported.

Jaroka was of Roma origin, Focus reported. Stoyanov's e-mail to his colleagues contained disparaging and discriminatory comments about the MEP's origin.

MEPs reacted sharply to Stoyanov's claims. Other Bulgarian observers also criticised his act.

Later Stoyanov apologised for the content of the e-mail but also said he was offended by being called a racist. Stoyanov said he was entitled to freedom of expression. Though his manner of dealing with social problems was untypical, it did not signify he was racist, Stoyanov said.

Bulgaria People's Union (BPU) leader and EP observer Stefan Sofianski said everyone was free to express a point of view but the manner in which Stoyanov had done it was unacceptable.

Several MEPs were investigating whether they could resort to legal procedures to deal with Stoyanov's abusive statements.

  • Print
  • Send via email
  • Translate to
  • Share:

To post comments, please, Login or Register.


Please read the The Sofia Echo forum comments policy.

More in this category

Auction reveals Ceausescu’s personal age of plenty

Iranian silver-plated pigeons, African leopard skins and a Chinese bronze yak were among the 70 items sold in an auction of gifts presented to Romania’s former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.

EC praises airports for progress in dealing with extreme weather

Airports were also showing signs of better co-ordination and providing passengers with accurate real-time information, compared to previous period of travel disruption, transport commissioner Siim Kallas said.

Hungary's PM condemns international critics amid economic uncertainty

Viktor Orban defends government's record, new constitution in state-of-the-nation address as he slams European Commission.

Polish PM, digitalisation minister hold public debates on ACTA ratification

PM Donald Tusk invited authors, NGOs, experts and bloggers to a debate on the ACTA copyright agreement, but several key organisations, including the Helsinki Foundation, rejected the invitation claiming that the talks will likely offer no opportunity to discuss concrete issues.

Protesters clash in Budapest as controversial theatre director takes stage

'Dirty Jews' and 'Dirty Nazis' were the most popular chants when two groups clashed in front of Új Színház (New Theatre)

© 2000-2012, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.