Swedish teenage eco-activist Greta Thunberg is once again in the spotlight after being pictured giving MEPs the “middle finger” in the European Parliament.
Thunberg’s behaviour was described as “despicable” by one parliamentarian, who accused her of not just insulting her opponents in the Parliament but European farmers as well.
She is said to have made the gesture during a plenary session in Strasbourg after parliamentarians narrowly approved the EU’s controversial nature restoration law.
The teenager had been one of the bill’s most prominent backers, having warned politicians that shooting down the reforms would be a “betrayal” of “humanity as a whole”.
Seemingly happy that her stand had been vindicated, Thunberg was the pictured by the media outlet AFP snappers giving the derogatory middle-finger salute with both hands.
Greta Thunberg gestern im EU-Parlament mit einem Gruß an die Gegner des Renaturierungsgesetzes. #RestoreNature ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6pn6nRRsXU
— ULTRAKÆRL (@ULTRAKAERL) July 13, 2023
Reports have speculated the rude gesture was directed towards the bill’s opponents on the Right, with Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes denouncing the Swede’s actions as a “spit in the face” for many Europeans.
“The despicable act of Greta Thunberg to show the finger was a spit not to the European Parliament, but all the farmers, whose farms will be destroyed by the nature restoration law, and to all the people in Europe who’ll have to pay more for food, energy and gas due to this law,” he said.
German outlet Bild has also suggested that Thunberg was “flipping the bird”, as it’s known, to EPP boss Manfred Weber, seen as the chief opponent of the legislation within the Parliament.
The successful passage of the bill has been seen as a blow to the German politician, with some commentators suggesting it might be time for the Christian Democratic Union MEP to resign from his leadership role.
Brussels Signal has approached Thunberg’s media representatives for comment but as of writing none was forthcoming.
