from RT:

A group of 29 MEPs from Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party symbolically turned their backs on the European anthem as they were sworn in during the EU Parliament’s opening ceremony on Tuesday.

As the newly elected politicians took their seats for the first time, they turned around as the European anthem ‘Ode to Joy’ rang out in the parliament building in Strasbourg.

WATCH: This is the moment @brexitparty_uk turn their backs during the EU national anthem at the EU Parliament.

MORE: https://t.co/Yu1nwSY4kR pic.twitter.com/y10prqF33i

— RT UK (@RTUKnews) 2 July 2019

The protest appeared to get under the skin of the parliament’s president Antonio Tajani who said: “You stand for the anthem of another country”.

Prior to the protest, leader Farage said he had a “funny feeling” that his MEPs would still be there come November 1, despite the UK’s date for leaving the bloc currently being set for October 31, and the expected incoming prime minister Boris Johnson has vowed to leave the union by then with or without a deal.

“We’re not going to sit in there and listen to our country be talked down,” Farage told reporters during a photoshoot outside the parliament building. “At the first sign of insult, they will know we’re here, don’t worry about that.” 

Brexit Party MEPs also flew miniature British flags in yet another symbolic act of defiance.

Read More @ RT.com