Metsola heckled by pro-Palestinian students in Vienna

A small group of students heckled Roberta Metsola with shouts of “free Palestine” and “blood on your hands” during a question and answer session at the University of Vienna on Wednesday.

The European Parliament president was fielding questions from students during an event held at the faculty of law at the Austrian university when a group of pro-Palestine demonstrators pressed her on the Gaza war.

According to the Austrian news website Vindobona, a young woman in the audience took the opportunity to sharply criticise EU policy and accused the EU of financing and arming “an ongoing, relentless genocide against the Palestinian people”.

After Metsola answered a number of the protestors’ questions, including mentioning the European Parliament’s early request for a permanent ceasefire in

Gaza, the programme was disrupted by some shouting.

Commotion ensued for a few minutes and the protesters were escorted out before the event continued. Some of the hecklers also distributed leaflets with demands in an auditorium packed with students.

Metsola’s visit to Austria was part of her efforts to inspire young people to participate in politics and urge them to vote in June’s elections.

Speaking to EU leaders at a Brussels summit on Thursday, Metsola said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was desperate and the EU needed to make every effort to get more aid in.

“That is why the European Parliament will keep pushing for a ceasefire, why we will keep demanding the return of the remaining hostages and why we underline that Hamas can no longer operate with impunity,” she said.

She said Gaza needed peace that empowers peaceful, legitimate, Palestinian leadership and that ensures lasting stability in the region.