“Several people in the Parliament saw it happening; it was related to Palestine-Israel tensions, because the MEP is very pro-Israel,” said a Parliament official, who was granted anonymity to speak freely.
The atmosphere in the Parliament on Wednesday was tense as lawmakers debated Israel’s ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip during a plenary session.
A spokesperson for the Parliament said the violent incident, which was caught on surveillance cameras, was “being investigated as a matter of priority,” and “the initial assessment confirms the MEP’s version of events.”
The spokesperson added that the Parliament was providing assistance to Teodorescu, whose office said she had requested additional security.
Earlier, Vänsterpartiet chief of staff Marie Antman alleged to Swedish news agency TT that the staffer had come into her office “in a state of shock and showed marks that the person had received on his arm. Then it turned out that a Swedish parliamentarian had simply physically attacked my colleague.”
The secretary-general of Teodorescu’s party, the Swedish Christian Democrats, said on social media that the MEP is currently “in shock of the event, that such a thing can happen in a democratic institution.”
