The European Parliament’s legal affairs committee voted today, on September 23rd, against lifting the immunity of the Italian leftist MEP Ilaria Salis, who was arrested and imprisoned in Hungary in 2023 for participating in attacks organised by the Antifa-linked Hammerbande (Hammer Gang).
Members of this group bludgeoned nine innocent people—claiming they “looked like” neo-Nazis—with batons and hammers on the streets of Budapest.
Salis’s election to Italy’s Greens and Left Alliance in the European Parliament last year secured her immunity, which Hungarian authorities had requested to be lifted.
Thirteen members of the committee voted against Salis’ immunity being lifted, and 12 in favour.
Balázs Orbán, the political director of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, said the decision proved that “political loyalty—not justice—is [the European Parliament’s] compass.” He added that the institution had made its choice:
Not to defend justice, but to guard its own ideological allies. This is not about one defendant—it is about the honor and credibility of the European Parliament itself.
The Left Party in the European Parliament boasted on social media that Salis had scored a point over “authoritarian leader” Viktor Orbán. Salis herself described the vote as “an important and positive signal,” saying:
Defending my immunity does not mean evading justice, but protecting myself from the political persecution of Orbán’s regime. This is why its protection is essential.
But, as Italian Deputy PM Matteo Salvini highlighted, the “decisive” vote in this case will take place next month during a plenary session in Strasbourg.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
