Dan Vîlceanu, a former government minister who now sits as an independent MP, will have his salary halved for the next six months and his speaking time reduced to only 10 seconds for the next three months — the harshest sanction that parliamentary authorities can impose, Romania Insider reports.

Footage widely shared on social media shows him appearing to attack Florin Roman, an MP belonging to his former party, the National Liberal Party (PNL).

“I experienced a moment that I never thought I would go through in a civilised world,” Mr Roman said afterwards.

Mr Vîlceanu, for his part, insisted: “It wasn’t a fight… I escorted him out. But we didn’t fight.”