The plenary of the European Parliament has confirmed the immunity of the Italian self-declared ‘anti-fascist’ Ilaria Salis.
In a vote today, with 306 in favour, 305 against and 17 abstaining, it was decided not to back the request of the Hungarian Government to lift Salis’ immunity for her alleged part in a violent attack.
“We are all anti-fascists,” the MEP wrote on X after the ballot, with a picture showing her raising her left fist in the air. She also received a bouquet of flowers from her colleagues.
Salis said it was “a victory for democracy, the rule of law and anti-fascism”.
“This decision shows that resistance works. It shows that when elected representatives, activists and citizens stand up for democratic values together, authoritarian forces can be confronted and defeated. The fight is far from over. Threats remain and continuing to fight is essential,” she said.
“All anti-fascist activists targeted for challenging authoritarianism and fascist forces must be defended,” Salis continued. She has demanded to be tried in Italy.
According to a report by the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Salis “was subjected to harsh conditions and detention measures during the criminal proceedings against her”, to silence her because of her political views and activism.
At the end of September, she had already won over a tight majority in a European Parliament’s legal affairs committee secret ballot, where 13 MEPs voted against lifting her immunity with 12 in favour.
Budapest is accusing her of taking part in violent attacks as a member of the so-called “hammer gang”. That is a left-wing extremist group that has allegedly assaulted nine random civilians – based on what they said was their victims’ “Nazi-like” clothing – with hammers, batons and pepper spray, leaving several comatose or otherwise severely injured.
The Hungarian prosecutor wants to put Salis to trial but she is protected by parliamentarian immunity, which she only received after her alleged crimes.
Salis has denied the charges but has been consistently identified as an anti-fascist activist. She described what she called her persecution as stemming from her political beliefs.
Despite the practice of open voting, the Left asked and obtained a secret ballot on the matter, opening the door for people to support Salis in private.
According to observers, the support for Salis came from certain European People’s Party (EPP) members, in exchange for the Left support for retaining the immunity for Peter Magyar, the leader of the Hungarian opposition. He is also wanted for allegedly instigating a bar fight and throwing a mobile phone in the Danube when he was on a drunken rampage.
Shortly ahead of the Salis vote, the President of the EPP in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, had declared: “As EPP we are in favour of respect for the rule of law and therefore respect for the rules of procedure of the European Parliament. Our legal advisers have told us that it is right to waive the immunity of Salis because her crime was committed before her mandate.
“We are for the rules, we must not politicise the issue”.
Hungarian Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said: “Thanks to today’s vote by her comrades in the EP, Ilaria Salis remains shielded from her rightful punishment. Her place is in prison – not in Parliament. Let’s not forget who Salis really is: A [allegedly] violent Antifa activist who came to Hungary to hunt down political opponents in the streets – with a hammer.”
On the Italian Right, reactions were also negative: Nicola Procaccini MEP of Brothers of Italy said: “Today we have witnessed the invasion of politics on the judicial sphere. The legislative power has invaded the field of the judiciary.
“Budapest, which is accused of violating the law, today has suffered a very serious violation of the rule of law. In short, those who fall within the general political agreement have the license to hurt others.”
Licia Ronzulli, an MP with Forza Italia, noted: “The European Parliament has transformed immunity into impunity.
“The vote that saves Ilaria Salis from trial is a slap in the face of justice and common sense. Europe has missed an opportunity to defend the coherence and credibility of its institutions, accepting the fact that anyone can be a candidate only to escape the law and not be tried for violent acts committed when he was not a parliamentarian.
“Once again, the Left demonstrates that guarantees are valid only when it is convenient, bending the principles of legality to political convenience. Today democracy has not been saved, but only a party comrade,” she said.
In a joint statement, Italian Greens and Left Alliance politicians Angelo Bonelli and Nicola Fratoianni said it was “a beautiful day for those who believe in the Rule of Law”.
“Ilaria Salis never wanted to escape from the trial, she said it clearly, but a trial must guarantee the rights of the defence and in Hungary this would have been impossible,” they said.
“Now [Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo] Salvini and his fascist friends from all over Europe who, foaming with rage and anger, are currently mounting another of their intolerable hate campaigns, calm down: Europe is the space of rights, freedoms, democracy.”
German MEP Tomasz Froelich, of the Alternative for Germany Party (AfD) and part of the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN), said the ballot result was “a disgrace”.
“The European Parliament has voted against lifting the immunity of Ilaria Salis, who is alleged to have smashed the skull of an innocent person with a hammer gang in Hungary and then sought refuge in her mandate to obtain immunity,” he said.
“Salis was probably saved by the votes of the EPP, to which the CDU [Germany’s Christian Democratic Union] also belongs – in return, the immunity of [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán’s opponent Péter Magyar was not lifted with the votes of the left-wing bloc. Christian Democrats as accomplices of left-wing terrorists – a new low!”
Was für eine Schande: Das EU-Parlament stimmt gegen die Aufhebung der Immunität von Ilaria Salis, die mit der Hammerbande in Ungarn den Schädel eines unschuldigen Menschen zertrümmert haben soll und sich dann ins Mandat flüchtete, um Immunität zu erhalten.
Vermutlich haben… pic.twitter.com/AqIeAThtKB
— Tomasz Froelich (@TomaszFroelich) October 7, 2025
