Polish lawmaker Grzegorz Braun has been barred from the European Parliament until October after disrupting a minute of silence for the victims of the Holocaust, Polish media reported Monday.
"Let's pray for the victims of the Jewish genocide in Gaza," the far-right member of the European Parliament shouted during the silent commemoration in January.
Braun said in a YouTube video that European Parliament President Roberta Metsola informed him in writing that he would not be allowed to participate in plenary sessions until at least October.
"Madam President is punishing me for asking for prayers for the victims of the Jewish genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip," Braun said in the video.
He said he was also fined a month's pay.
In December 2023, Braun used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament.
"Those who take part in acts of Satanic worship should be ashamed," he said at the time.
Braun is running in Poland's May 18 presidential election, though opinion polls suggest less than 2% of the electorate plans to vote for him.
However, Confederation, Poland's first openly antisemitic party of nationwide significance since the post-communist era, has been surging in the polls. Founded in 2019, it is often compared to Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
A recent poll showed the party's nominee, Slawomir Mentzen, in second place, slightly ahead of the candidate from the right-wing Law and Justice party.
Braun was expelled from Confederation in 2024 after announcing his candidacy for president despite the party having already selected Mentzen as its candidate.
