One TikTok of the footage has more than a million hits, and the clip has been shared widely by news organisations, left-wing parties, and civil society groups. Nothing creates content more likely to go viral than hate speech and people's reaction to it.
The European Parliament rarely features on the national evening news, so this viral moment is a win for its far-right members. The chant marked their success in teaming up with the Parliament's centre-right European People's Party to reform deportation rules. Swedish far-right MEP Charlie Weimers even said “the era of deportations has begun.“
Far-right and extreme-right groups occupy just over a quarter of the European Parliament's 720 seats. That includes politicians from France's National Rally, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Italy's Brothers of Italy, Hungary's Fidesz, and Poland's Law and Justice.
The packed seats in the clips you see from the assembly are a rarity. Parliament sessions are usually a snoozefest, with 14-hour days and barely anyone in the chamber. The Parliament is currently testing new rules to liven up debates and tempt more MEPs to turn up.
Civil society groups are worried about how the Parliament's tone has changed. 72 of them, including Jesuit refugee services and a sex workers' rights group, wrote a letter to European Parliament president Roberta Metsola last month saying they see a “clear increase in misogynist and sexist, LGBTI-phobic as well as racist and antisemitic hate speech” in the Parliament.
Remarks made to the Parliament “carry significance beyond the immediate political moment and help shape wider public discourse,“ they said, asking Metsola to condemn the “send them back“ chant.
Metsola did so last week, promising future sanctions to ensure there was no repeat.
“The aggressive chanting, jeering, finger-pointing and filming of members that took place is not acceptable,” she said. “There is a limit which was crossed.”
But it's not an isolated incident.
Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani, an Iraqi-born member of the liberal centrist Renew group, last week filed a police complaint in Sweden against a comment from a Danish far-right MEP who told her to “go home.“ The Parliament hasn't yet acted on her group's previous complaint.
Polish extreme-right MEP Grzegorz Braun was this month temporarily barred from attending meetings of the Parliament's security committee after making anti-semitic remarks. He was punished last year for anti-LGBTI comments and interrupting a minute of silence for Holocaust victims.
Child advocacy group Eurochild and LGBTQI rights defender ILGA-Europe complained last year about a March 2025 event organised by an MEP in the Parliament that claimed trans people's rights harmed women and children.
There are also bigger rows between right and left over funding. Left and Green groups helped form a Parliament majority this month to investigate whether the AfD's group, Europe of Sovereign Nations, complies with EU values due to statements made by party members. A ruling against it could remove a €2 million subsidy for the party.
Nicolai von Ondarza, head of EU research at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the “send them back“ chanting matters “because this was a sea change in European politics where a taboo has been broken.“
“It is polarisation and politicisation of the European Parliament, which has for the longest time worked on a grand coalition where the centre-left, centre, and centre-right have always worked together,“ he said.
As a result, “European Parliament politics used to be very boring and intransparent,“ with the parties cutting deals and pushing through compromises.
Now, there will likely be different coalitions on different issues; the EPP isn't likely to vote with the far-right on everything. There are still issues where it agrees more with the left, centre, or Greens.
This uncertainty means “politics in the European Parliament actually matter more,” said von Ondarza.
Pass the popcorn – the show runs until 2029.