An ex-member of the right-wing Identity and Democracy group wants to start another, oriented toward peace
Dutch MEP Marcel de Graaff has publicly quit Identity and Democracy, the right-wing parliamentary group that last week handed him a three-month suspension due to his “outrageous” comments against western involvement in Ukraine on social media, he announced on Monday, denouncing the group’s “attempt to silence me about NATO/Ukraine.”
“There is no room for a different opinion in the ID group,” de Graaff lamented in a press release posted to Twitter. “Members are now forced to follow the position of the parties ruling in their own countries. They have sacrificed their principles for power, but I am not prepared to do that.”
“I am in favor of de-escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and I distance myself from the extremely belligerent position of the ID group,” the MEP declared. “We are waging a war that is not ours…