EU parliament dumps roaring vice president

strasbourg - The Polish Ryszard Czarnecki is no longer Vice-President of the European Parliament because of a controversial statement. The 55-year-old politician had compared his compatriot and fellow MEP Roza Thun with Polish Nazi laboratories who betrayed Jews in the Second World War.

The leaders of the largest groups in parliament find this unacceptable and had proposed last week to release him from his position. They had the two-thirds majority needed on Wednesday in Strasbourg (477 against 196).

Czarnecki sits on behalf of the Polish nationalist government party Law and Justice (PiS) in parliament. He is a member of the group of European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) who had argued for his stay. The man can remain 'just' MEP.