Protests Mar Opening of EU Parliament's New Session

Date: 02 July 2019 - 21:55

News ID: ۶۷۶۴۴

STRASBOURG, France (Dispatches) — Legislators from right-wing parties, Brexiteers and Catalan independence backers have disrupted the formal opening session of the European Parliament.
Some refused to stand as a jazz ensemble started playing the EU’s anthem — Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ — while others, notably from Britain’s Brexit Party, turned their backs on the proceedings.
There was also a protest against the decision to deny Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont taking his seat and a defense of the German ship captain who is held in Italy in a standoff over migrant rights.
Rebel MEPs from the UK Brexit Party turned their backs on the European Parliament as the bloc's anthem, Ode to Joy, played at the institution’s opening ceremony at Tuesday morning’s session.
But Brexit Party MEPs were met with opposition protests from Liberal Democrats, who arrived sporting yellow "Bollocks to Brexit" tees.
Tuesday marks the first day in the new five-year session of the legislature following the May elections which set the scene for a more fractured parliament.
May elections saw the highest turnout in decades and set the scene for a more fractured parliament, handing more power to far right and environmental parties. Mainstream conservative and socialist parties still have the most seats, but their dominance is diminished, so finding consensus is expected to be harder.