A Bulgarian member of parliament is under fire after giving a Nazi salute in the chamber of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
According to Deutsche Welle, the lawmaker, Angel Dzhambazki, did the gesture after speaking during a debate on the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.
Dzhambazki, a member of the Bulgarian nationalist VMRO party, was seen extending his right arm in front of him before exiting the chamber in a video of the debate.
"We will never allow you to tell us what to say and do. Long live Orban and Fidesz, long live Kaczynski and PiS, long live Bulgaria and our nation-state," Dzhambazki said during the debate.
"Long live the Europe of nations," he concluded.
On Twitter, he also described as an "abomination" the European Court of Justice's decision to validate a mechanism that allows the blocking of funds to countries where there are violations of the rule of law. Hungary and Poland had contested the law, which was dismissed by the EU's top court.
The vice-president of the European Parliament, Italy's Pina Picierno, said the institution would "check with the cameras what happened in this hemicycle, to see if there was a fascist salute or not."
"We do not in any way allow fascist gestures and symbols. If this has been done, it is extremely serious and sanctions will be taken," she warned, according to Deutsche Welle.