Ilaria Salis, an anti-fascist activist arrested in Hungary during the 2023 “Day of Honour” rally, has been elected as a Member of the European Parliament.
The rally, commemorating the failed attempt by Nazi forces to break through the Soviet army’s siege of Budapest in 1945, attracts fascists from all Europe each year, and led to a large counter-protest in 2023, where Salis was arrested after allegedly attacking a participant of the rally, facing charges of “crimes against the community”.
Nicola Fratoianni, secretary of Sinistra Italiana (a social democratic Italian party) announced Salis’ election, supported by Europa Verde’s Angelo Bonelli. Both parties formed a coalition in 2022, Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra, and ran for the 2024 European elections under a common list, under which Salis was elected.
Salis, currently under house arrest, may now receive parliamentary immunity, protecting her from detention and judicial proceedings. Her lawyer, Eugenio Losco, highlighted the need for European office intervention to formalize her status by July 16.
Losco also added that a refusal from the Hungarian judges would lead to further action at the European Court or a European parliamentary commission.
