Assault on a staff member of the French Embassy in Bulgaria by the leader of the far-right Party ATAKA. Jean-Pierre Audy (UMP, PPE, F) astounded that the Bulgarian government has not condemned this outrageous situation.

During a Bulgaria Air flight from Sofia to Varna on 6 January, a staff member of the French Embassy was attacked by a Bulgarian Member of Parliament, Volen Siderov Nikolov, President of the far-right Party ATAKA. A victim of insults and threats, this person (a woman) had to face Siderov who criticised her nationality and asked to check her identity papers without any legal authority to do so.

Jean-Pierre Audy, Member of the European Parliament and Head of the French Delegation of the EPP Group, has strongly condemned this behaviour which not only physically harmed the staff member of the French Embassy, but also abused her freedom and dignity.

"I am astounded that the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria through its Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, and the Bulgarian Socialist Party through its President Sergey Stanishev (who is also President of the European Socialist Party), have not condemned this attack. I hope that the difficult political balance that led the National Assembly of Bulgaria, after the last parliamentary elections of 12 May 2013, to entrust the government to a political coalition led by the Socialists with the implicit support of the far right Party ATAKA is not the source of this silence."