Greek MP defends homophobic views after calling Luxembourg Prime Minister a ‘faggot’
A notoriously homophobic Greek MP who tweeted a homophobic message to Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has ‘apologised’ in a letter.
Greek independent MP Nikos Nikolopoulos, who believes same-sex marriage “bombs the family”, responded to Mr Bettel’s engagement announcement last month by tweeting: “FROM EUROPE OF NATION STATES… FAGGOT MATES!!! The Prime Minister of Luxembourg got engaged with his beloved!!”
Mr Bettel diplomatically responded by tweeting: “Hello, I heard you want to tell me something, but I don’t speak Greek. Sorry.”
This week, Mr Nikolopoulos sent a letter to the Luxembourg Prime Minister ‘apologising’ for the incident – though he stood behind the sentiment of his post entirely.
He conceded that the message did not reflect his “usual manners”, but added: “I will not apologize for my solid and straightforward views which triggered my electronic message”.
A group of 15 independent lawmakers previously called on Mr Nikolopoulos to resign over the comments, saying: “We unreservedly condemn the unacceptable, provocative and racist statements by a member of our parliamentary group.
“The content and attitude of this kind of language is in conflict with our ideology and political beliefs.”
Mr Bettel announced his engagement to partner Gauthier Destenay last week. They are already in a civil partnership.
Note: Previous versions of this story quote Mr Nikolopoulos’ outburst as ‘queer mates’, but ‘faggot mates’ was found to be a more accurate translation.
