Bulgaria's members of European Parliament has furiously slammed UK colleague Godfrey Bloom, who warned of an unprecedented crime wave if Romanian and Bulgarian citizens are given full access to his country, due in 2014.
"Britain will be unable to stop the tidal flood of new immigrants because the government's hands are tied and it cannot stop restrictions being lifted without tearing up the treaty signed with Bulgaria and Romania when they joined the EU in 2007," Godfrey Bloom wrote in an article earlier this month.
"The Bulgarian administration is corrupt to the core, funded by the European Union. If the rot is at the top, that filters down through society and we do not want that here. The pure economics of these countries will dictate the migration numbers. Bulgaria has the lowest average income in the EU,"
"Bloom's statements are groundless and discriminatory and only fuel hatred and xenophobia at the tough time we all are going through," Feliz Hyusmenova, MEP from the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms fumed at the European Parliament.
Socialist Iliana Yotova was even harsher and said that if Bloom fails to embrace the European Union values, he has no place at the European Parliament.
Godfrey Bloom MEP represents UKIP in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and is standing for election as police and crime commissioner for Humberside.