• The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, has justified his actions against UKIP MEP Nigel Farage by explaining that Mr Van Rompuy's visit to the parliament was "a special case" and it was therefore "necessary to give such a strong penalty".

"I proposed to Mr Farage to apologise, but he didn't like to do that," explained Mr Buzek. "First time in our history we had such a person nominated by the European Council as a President of the Council. It was a special case. It was necessary to give such a penalty," insisted Mr Buzek.

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