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Metsola
to rule on complaints about hate speech following deportations vote
Danish
MEP denies racist speech allegations after he said Iraqi-born Swedish lawmaker
should “go home.”
June 22,
2026 11:58 am CET
By Max
Griera
BRUSSELS
— European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has to decide whether to
sanction two MEPs accused of hate speech after a vote last week on EU migration
rules.
Valérie
Hayer, the head of the liberal Renew Europe group, complained in a letter to
Metsola on Friday that Danish MEP Kristoffer Storm and Finnish MEP Sebastian
Tynkkynen, both from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, had
committed acts of “a racist nature” against Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani, a
breach of the Parliament’s code of conduct.
“I am
increasingly concerned by the sense of impunity that risks taking hold if such
behavior is left unaddressed,” Hayer said, asking Metsola “to examine” the
conduct during and after the vote and “to make use of the appropriate
disciplinary measures.”
Metsola,
as president of the house, is tasked with hearing from all parties and
enforcing penalties, which could include a formal reprimand, a temporary bar
from representing Parliament or accessing confidential information, the
suspension of the daily allowance, or restricting participation in
parliamentary activities for up to 60 working days.
No
timetable has been given for a decision but Parliament spokesperson Delphine
Collard said the Parliament pays close attention to all complaints from
lawmakers. “It is clear that all members have to feel safe in exerting their
mandate,” she said. “The president made clear it will be looked into.”
After
last week’s vote on the return regulation, a proposal aimed at speeding up the
deportation of irregular migrants, Swedish liberal MEP Al-Sahlani said in the
hemicycle that she had “never felt as unsafe” in the European Parliament. After
the vote, right-wing lawmakers chanted “send them back.”
Tynkkynen
posted a clip of Al-Sahlani on social media with the caption “cry more.” Storm
commented on the post, writing that Al-Sahlani — who was born in Iraq — “should
go home.”
On
Thursday, Al-Sahlani filed an official complaint to Metsola, according to an
email seen by POLITICO.
“We ask
that you take this incident very seriously, as MEPs engaging in hate speech
against each other is clearly against the code of conduct signed by every
Member,” Al-Sahlani’s office said in the complaint.
Storm
denied that the comment constituted hate speech. “I will not accept being
called a racist by political colleagues, and I take that kind of defamatory
allegation very seriously,” he told POLITICO. “I don’t understand why Ms
Al-Sahlani thinks it’s a reference to her ethnic background, country of birth,
or heritage, and any interpretation suggesting otherwise is incorrect.”
“The
phrase ‘go home’ was intended to mean that if she found the democratic decision
and the reactions to it so distressing, she would have been better off leaving
the chamber and taking time to reflect rather than accusing a big majority of
political opponents of making her feel unsafe,” he added.
Al-Sahlani
insisted the comment was “about racial exclusion.”
“I am
home. I learned the language, studied, worked, paid taxes, became a Swedish
citizen, and was elected to the European Parliament. In other words, I did
everything we tell people is the European dream. Yet when I disagreed with a
far-right politician, I was told to ‘go home,'” she told POLITICO.
Tynkkynen
did not reply to a request for comment.
Following
the right-wing lawmakers’ “send them home” chants in the hemicycle — which were
countered by cries of “shame on you” by the opponents of the deal — the Social
Democrats, Renew, Greens, and The Left filed a complaint to Metsola about what
they said were “racist” comments, according to two people familiar with the
matter, who added that Metsola said she would look into the issue.
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