Estonian MEP has demanded a “final solution” for Syrian refugees who break the law in Europe, in an apparent echoing of the language used by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
Jaak Madison, an MEP for Estonia’s right-wing Conservative People’s Party, made the comments in a Facebook post discussing news reports that a Syrian refugee had attacked a German Kazakh with a sword in Stuttgart.
Mr Madison said this reflected a “new Europe and new Germany,” before adding, in German: "Die endgültige Lösung ist erforderlich" (a final solution is required).
In Nazi Germany, the “final solution” (Die Endlösung) was a euphemistic term for the mass extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.
Estonian politicians condemned his remarks, which were subsequently deleted from his Facebook account.
“In any context, intentionally or unintentionally, the use of terms that hurt a large part of humanity in our society and internationally is wrong,” said Enn Eesma, the chairman of the Estonian parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
“As a member of the European parliament, Madison does not only represent his party, but also the whole of Estonia.”
It was unclear on Friday whether Mr Madison would face disciplinary action from the European parliament over his comments.
In a message to the Telegraph, Mr Madison said his remarks had “nothing to do with Nazi ideology” and said he was merely expressing the political view that “this kind of mess in Europe with migration has to stop.”
Asked why he used a German expression, he said “I can speak German,” adding that he chose that particular language because the incident took place in Germany.
It is not the first time Mr Madison has been accused of endorsing Nazi ideology. In a March 2015 blog post uncovered by Estonian media, he appeared to argue that the use of concentration camps was justified.
He wrote: “It is true that there were concentration camps, forced labour camps, games with gas chambers were being played, but at the same time such a "strict" order brought Germany at the time out of a thorough s***hole.”
The Conservative People’s Party saw significant gains in the March 2019 general election, increasing its share of seats from 7 to 19.
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