A European Union lawmaker released a dove in the parliament’s debating chamber on Wednesday in what he said was a call for peace in Europe and the world.
Miroslav Radacovsky, an MEP for the ‘Slovak Patriot’ party which he also leads, carried the dove in a small bag hidden under his suit jacket. “Europe needs peace”, Radacovsky said in Slovak and English after releasing the dove.
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‘Let this dove fly’
“Let’s let this dove fly above all of Europe. Let’s let this dove unite all of us. Let this dove, a symbol of peace, let us realise that what we need most is really peace,” he added. Slovak MEP’s message was met with confusion when he released the dove into the EU chamber. According to Deutsche Welle (DW), the gesture was met with surprise and dismay among parliamentarians.
Jan-Christoph Oetjen, a vice-president of the parliament, said the stunt would be reported to the president of the chamber. French Greens MEP Caroline Roose raised a point of order after Radacovsky made the gesture, saying Radacovsky had used a live animal to make a political point in defiance of the parliament’s rules. “Where is animal welfare in this speaker’s gesture? I find this absolutely unacceptable,” Roose said.
Social media users were divided on the stunt. “I would say this was a desperate attempt to raise attention to an urgent issue that nobody seems to care about anymore but instead of paying attention to it’s urgency and applauding him for this brave stunt, everyone is busy condemning him and portraying their war mongering sentiments by allegedly caring about the bird (which did not get harmed). If y’all care so much about animals maybe think about how they feel in warzones. That should be your priority to focus on,” said a user on Instagram. “Imagine being concerned about a bird more than humans who died,” said another.
(With agency inputs)
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