EU parliament: Tory politician calls Nazis "socialists" - and causes turmoil

Little cares in politics so reliably for anger as a Nazi comparison. But the indignation that has now been sparked by conservative British MEP Syed Kamall in the European Parliament has been remarkable, even in this category.

"We have to remember that Nazis were national socialists," said Kamall, head of the conservative ECR Group, in Strasbourg on Wednesday - making it clear that he does not only see the similarity in the name. National Socialism is "a variant of socialism". Nazis represented "a left ideology". "They want the same thing as you," said the Tory MP in the direction of the S & D Socialist Group.

Scandal about Nazi comparison in the European Parliament

In parliament, there were then tumultuous scenes and furious interjections. Kamall was unimpressed: "You do not like the truth, right?" As the protests grew louder and louder, the Briton was dumbfounded. "Come on, it's called National Socialism!", He said, while sitting next to him Upper Brexite Nigel Farage nodded eagerly.

Some lost their composure. "The first people killed were socialists, you idiot!" Exclaimed Social Democrat Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission and otherwise not known for emotional outbursts. Kamall had "brought the fascists who set fire to this world close to my political family," scolded S & D leader Udo Bullmann. This was an "unspeakable insolence", "a derailment" and the EU Parliament unworthy. Social Democrats opposed National Socialism, hundreds of thousands of them were victims of the Nazi terror.

Kamall apologizes - a bit

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal Alde faction, demanded an apology from Kamall. To speak of Nazis as socialists "is an insult to all Social Democrats who fought against the Nazis and died in concentration camps."

Kamall then tried to calm his mind. "If I offended you, I apologize without reservation," he told Bullmann. But in the matter Kamall did not take back anything: he was tired of the fact that National Socialism was called a right-wing ideology. He disagreed and the freedom of speech still applied. On Twitter, the Tory politician then repeated his apology, again without substantive correction.

S & D leader Bullmann sees in Kamall's words therefore more than a one-time derailment. "If someone who has previously been taken for granted, says that Nazis are socialists and want the same as the Social Democratic movement, you can not go to the agenda," Bullmann said in an interview with the SPIEGEL. "This is a demagogic denigration of our story."

"What happened only to the Conservative Party?"

Anyone who, like Kamall, believes that Social Democracy and National Socialism have the same roots, "not only fails to recognize where fascism came from," says Bullmann. "He also does not know why the EU was founded." This, in turn, may explain why someone who once led the Tories in the EU Parliament wants to "strip the EU like an old shirt and does not understand why he is bringing his country for its future."

Even Commission Vice Timmermans showed hours later in the plenary "emotionally struck" by Kamall's remarks. The claim that National Socialism is on the left has been part of the repertoire of the far right for years. "But it is new to me that the leader of the Churchill and Thatcher party in this House embraces this narrative," Timmermans said. "What happened only to the Conservative Party?"