Independent MPs call on Nikolopoulos to quit group

A parliamentary group comprising 15 independent lawmakers asked member Nikos Nikolopoulos to resign Friday over his homophobic tweet concerning the Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

“We unreservedly condemn the unacceptable, provocative and racist statements by a member of our parliamentary group,” the remaining MPs said. “The content and attitude of this kind of language is in conflict with our ideology and political beliefs.”

The deputies called on Nikolopoulos to apologize and to quit the parliamentary group. The former New Democracy lawmaker, however, showed no intention of retracting his insulting comment. In fact, the MP wrote to Bettel and invited him to take part in a conference in Athens. He also wrote to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos asking for their views on homosexuality.

In his letter, Nikolopoulos said he wanted to know if the two men were against “gay marriage becoming law, pedophilia, bestiality and all the other perversions being legalized in European states.”