The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group has criticised the decision to host an exhibition in the European Parliament organised by Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann featuring controversial works by Düsseldorf carnival float designer Jacques Tilly, who is currently facing legal proceedings initiated by the Russian authorities.

The ECR Co-Chairs said that, in her capacity as Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE), Ms Strack-Zimmermann has shown a lack of institutional judgment and sensitivity in allowing such material to be displayed within Parliament’s premises.

The exhibition includes imagery equating Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin, drawing comparisons with totalitarian figures and depicting the President of the United States in explicitly obscene and degrading sexualised manners. It also features motifs that many would regard as offensive to religious sensibilities.

Nicola Procaccini, Co-Chair of the ECR Group, said:

“We fully respect Germany’s carnival tradition and the fundamental right to freedom of expression. Satire has a legitimate place in European culture, and political leaders must accept criticism.

“The point is that it was neither necessary nor appropriate to display these images again inside the European Parliament. They are poorly placed in a public institution where religious sensibilities, political pluralism and the peoples who democratically elect their leaders should be respected.”

Procaccini stressed that the issue is not censorship, but standards, saying:

“One may agree or disagree with President Trump’s political ideas. But portraying the elected President of the United States in an obscene and degrading form is not simply satire. It is disrespectful to the American people as a whole.”

“That such images may appear during a street carnival is understandable within that context. Displaying them inside the European Parliament is a mistake. Our institutions must reflect dignity and democratic respect.”

Patryk Jaki, Co-Chair of the ECR Group, emphasised the broader institutional implications, saying:

“When material that includes obscene personal degradation, totalitarian comparisons and imagery offensive to religious communities is displayed under the patronage of a parliamentary committee chair, it ceases to be merely artistic expression and becomes a political signal. The European Parliament must remain a space of democratic respect.”

Jaki also referred to imagery targeting Polish political figures:

“The exhibition portrays Jarosław Kaczyński as a Soviet general trampling on ‘democracy’. To caricature a former anti-communist dissident as a Soviet oppressor is a grotesque distortion of historical truth. For millions of Central Europeans, Soviet domination is not a metaphor but lived experience. The European Parliament, founded on the rejection of totalitarianism, should show greater sensitivity to that history.”

“Our institutions should uphold the standards of respect that democratic representation requires.”