Angelo Ciocca, a Lega Nord member of the European Parliament, was caught on camera while approaching Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, after a press conference in Strasbourg. Moments later, Ciocca is seen grabbing Moscovici’s notes before stamping them with a shoe he had just taken off.

“At Strasbourg, with my Made in Italy shoe, I stepped on the mountain of lies that Moscovici created against our country,” Ciocca explained on Twitter, uploading the footage of the bizarre episode. Slamming “the Euroimbeciles,” the right-wing MEP said “Italy deserves respect.”

It did not go down well with Moscovici, who later offered his assessment of what happened. He said Ciocca’s stunt was “grotesque” and urged people to stand up to this type of conduct.

“At first we smile… because it is ridiculous, then we get used to the symbolic violence, and one day we wake up with fascism,” the EU official wrote, adding, “Let’s stay vigilant! Democracy is a fragile treasure.”