An MP for the anti-Islam party PVV in the European parliament has been accused of being a racist during a debate on the Polish presidency of the EU in Strasbourg.

During the debate, Barry Madlener said the Netherlands ‘does not want to pay for the upkeep of the Polish unemployed or Romanian beggars’, according to Dutch media reports.
German MEP Martin Schulz, who heads the Socialist alliance in the European parliament, said Madlener had used racist language.
European Commission chairman José Manuel Barroso has also said he had heard statements during the debate which ‘verged on racism’ but did not name Barry Medlener by name.
According to the Volkskrant, Madlener said he abhorred racism but was simply stating what had to be said. ‘I have been mugged twice by a Romanian,’ he said.