Far-right Polish politician who extinguished Hanukkah candles wins European Parliament seat

Grzegorz Braun, a controversial far-right politician who extinguished candles on a menorah that was lit for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at the Polish parliament last December, wins a seat in the European Parliament elections.

Braun was a candidate for Confederation, a far-right party with a vocal anti-Ukraine stance, which had its best result ever, coming third with 12.1% — in line with an EU-wide surge of support for nationalist, anti-bloc parties.

Last December, Braun disrupted an event with members of the Jewish community, taking an extinguisher and walking across the lobby of the parliament to where the menorah candles were, creating a white cloud and forcing security guards to rush people out of the area.

He then took to the podium in the chamber where he described Hanukkah as “satanic” and said he was restoring “normality.” Asked later if he was ashamed of his action, he said: “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed.”