Members of the European Parliament (EP) are demanding that Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelji resign over an incident that occurred at Tuesday's session while he was answering questions from MPs about enlargement to the Western Balkans.
The Hungarian commissioner apparently called the deputies "idiots" at the plenary session.
Center-right Croatian MP Tomislav Sokol asked Varhelji two questions - what the European Union (EU) intends to do to prevent "the spread of the hegemonic concept of the Serbian world in Montenegro" and what mechanisms the EU has available to force Serbia to join the European sanctions against of Russia, Croatian media reported.
After answering his question, Varhelji took his seat and in Hungarian, while his microphone was still on, said: "How many more idiots are here".
The MEPs reacted violently, demanding his resignation and a strong response from Varhelji's boss, the President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen.
"This is an unprecedented and serious insult to the parliament. We are convinced that the EP must demand the resignation of Commissioner Varhelji," wrote the Hungarian representative of the group of socialists and democrats Csaba Molnar in an email to all deputies on Tuesday evening.
Varhelji issued a statement yesterday in which he did not apologize but said: "I sincerely regret the misunderstanding about my remark. This was related to a private and ongoing conversation in Hungarian between me and my chief of staff about a completely different matter, which was taken out of context "I apologize for any misunderstanding," Varhelji wrote.
He added that he fully respects "all EU institutions, including the European Parliament and its distinguished members".
"He should resign," Green MP Daniel Freund told Politico.
When asked by Sokol whether the EU is ready to suspend accession negotiations until Serbia fulfills all conditions, Varhelji said that the lack of compliance with foreign policy is not part of the criteria "on the basis of which you can suspend accession negotiations."
"As you know, suspending negotiations is the last measure," Varhelji said.
"I hope that Serbia understands how important it is to help us in this fight against the effects of the war. We hope that in the end they will change their attitude".
A spokesman for the European Commission said von der Leyen had "taken into account" the statement and called on commissioners to "refrain from any comment that could lead to this interpretation".
A spokesman for European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said she had asked her services to investigate the incident.
"Insulting MEPs who are doing their job by asking critical questions must have consequences," said MEP Delara Burkhart, describing the apology as a "joke".
"Idiots at least know when their microphone is on. That distinguishes them from big idiots," said French MP Valerie Haier.
EC President Von der Leyen "must dismiss him immediately...otherwise she risks losing the confidence of the entire EP," wrote Belgian MP Guy Verhofstadt from the liberal group Renew Europe.
Some MPs connected Varhelji's comment with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is often the target of criticism for undermining the political unity of the EU by advocating a softer policy towards Russia, Juronuz reported.
"It's wonderful to hear what Orban's man in Brussels thinks about (EU) democracy, said German MP Damjan Bezelager. "Oliver Varhelji should resign. I don't want to see him in the parliament anymore".
"The contempt that Orbán's commissioner showed for the parliament today is unacceptable," said Dutch MP Teis Roten.
Socialist MP Gabriela Bischoff only said: "It's time for action."
These reactions are a reflection of the increasingly tense relationship between Varhelji and the EU Parliament.
Last month, MPs accused the commissioner of "deliberately avoiding and undermining" the issue of democratic reforms and the rule of law in the accession process of candidate countries due to concerns that he favors Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić too much.
In the EP resolution of January 18, the EC is invited to launch an "independent and impartial investigation" on Varhelji in order to determine whether the behavior (...) of the Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy "violates the code of conduct for members of the Commission".
In a statement in January, the group of socialists and democrats assessed, among other things, that the commissioner "consistently downplays the Serbian president's attacks on democracy and allegedly even helped Milorad Dodik's separatist actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina."
In an interview with Juronjuz in December, Varhelji replied:
"To accuse me of diminishing the importance of the rule of law... as I would put it, sounds more like a political game than a real and well-founded criticism".
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