A year into his unlikely political experiment, social media star turned MEP Fidias Panayiotou has begun taking stock of life inside the European Parliament and of the controversy that has come to define his first term.
“I get death threats all the time,” he told Brussels Signal.
The Cypriot independent has spent much of his debut year under sustained criticism for a series of votes that have put him at odds with fellow MEPs and the European Union institution.
Panayiotou abstained on a resolution calling for the return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia. He was then accused of serving Kremlin interests.
“The report said that 20,000 children had been abducted, and I researched this myself using the official materials provided by the EU. I could not find evidence to support that figure,” Panayiotu told Brussels Signal as part of a wide-ranging interview.
The Cypriot independent insisted that his abstention was not an act of sympathy for Moscow but a rejection of what he describes as a dishonest legislative process.
“I am against the war and against funding it. The issue of child abductions is being used to package other measures, including sending weapons, which I oppose.
“This is how propaganda works. Everything is bundled together so that Members of the European Parliament feel they have no real choice but to vote in favour, because otherwise their political careers are threatened,” he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has survived her fourth motion of censure. https://t.co/UtAZ8kkCMu
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 22, 2026
As an independent with no party affiliation and a large online following, he insisted that the usual levers of political discipline do not apply to him.
He said now, using his social media following to vote in the EP in an attempt at direct democracy through his own application, Cypriot citizens can choose what he should vote on.
The exclusive one-hour interview can be found on the Brussels Signal homepage and YouTube channel on January 30.
