The MPs of Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka have embarked on a series of antics at the European Parliament in Brussels, instead of participating in a no-confidence vote against cabinet at home.

The official reason for the Brussels visit was to demand an excuse from German EPP MEP Doris Pack, who called Ataka "xenophobic" and "anti-European," writes Euractiv.

The Euractiv piece, entitled "Bulgarian extremist party stages Brussels roadshow," reports that Ataka MPs also attempted - and failed - to get a meeting with PES MEPs.

Then, they are reported to have bizarrely requested from the Socialists to arrange them a meeting with Pack, a demand that the S&D group saw as unreasonable.

Having obtained no appointments, the Ataka MPs flocked to the EPP headquarters, but were only able to place a letter in the mail box as the doors of the building remained closed to them, writes Euractiv.

The 23 MPs from Ataka were absent at Wednesday and Thursday's debate at the Bulgarian Parliament on a no-confidence vote on the cabinet of PM Plamen Oresharski tabled by former ruling party GERB.

They were also absent for the vote, scheduled to be held in Sofia Friday morning.

On both occasions, this allowed GERB to sabotage the sittings, by not registering its 97 MPs for the day.

Together, the two parties have exactly half of seats in Bulgaria's parliament, leaving the other half to an informal Bulgarian Socialist Party - Movement for Rights and Freedoms coalition, which backs the cabinet.

In the last, 2009 European elections, Ataka got 2 MEPs elected, but they both withdrew from the party at a later stage.