‘Can you catch it as well?’: bird stunt causes flap in European parliament

Slovakian MEP pulls dove from bag and frees it as ‘symbol of peace’, prompting criticism from colleagues

A Slovakian MEP has raised eyebrows by producing a live bird from a bag and releasing it into the European parliament in what he said was a gesture of world peace.

To the bafflement and surprise of the MEPs present in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Miroslav Radačovský, the leader of the rightwing Slovak Patriot party, reached into his bag and released a dove into the chamber.