In Poland, an anti-Semitic act disrupted Parliament’s vote of confidence which was to elect Donald Tusk as Prime Minister. An MP used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire in a menorah, a seven-branched Jewish candlestick installed in Parliament for the celebration of Hanukkah.
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With our correspondent in Warsaw, Adrien Sarlat
Men wearing kippahs emerging from the white smoke, gasping for breath, hands over their mouths. This scene of panic unfolded in the Polish Parliament yesterday, as MPs prepared to confirm Donald Tusk as Prime Minister.
At 5 p.m., the deputy of the far-right Konfederacja party, Grzegorz Braun, leaves the hemicycle, armed with a fire extinguisher, and empties it on a Jewish menorah, installed on the occasion of Hanukkah. Magdalena had come to celebrate this Jewish holiday in the Parliament. She tried to block her body to protect the sacred object. “ No one has the right to target me with a fire extinguisher because I defend my religious sign. We are in Poland, in the 21st century, we are not in 1939. »
In the hemicycle too, the gesture deeply shocked the deputies. “ It is shameful. On Polish soil where the Holocaust occurred, there is no place for anti-Semitism. »
Known for his sulphurous remarks, Grzegorz Braun was excluded from the hemicycle and received a financial sanction. He ultimately only succeeded in delaying the vote of confidence in Donald Tusk, confirmed as Prime Minister two hours late last night. He must be invested by President Andrzej Duda this morning, at 9 a.m. before officially taking over as head of government.