A Slovakian MEP has raised eyebrows by producing a live bird from a bag and releasing it into the European parliament in what he said was a gesture of world peace.

To the bafflement and surprise of the MEPs present in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Miroslav Radačovský, the leader of the rightwing Slovak Patriot party, reached into his bag and released a dove into the chamber.

He said he wished “the whole world, the Russians and the Ukrainians” peace. “I would like to set this dove free as a symbol of peace, to symbolise that Europe needs peace. Let’s let this dove unite all of us.”

Rather than uniting those present, however, the stunt appeared to horrify some of those in the chamber. Caroline Roose, a French MEP with the Greens, raised a point of order saying Radačovský had used a live animal to make a political point in defiance of the parliament’s rules.

“He used an animal, hidden in his fanny pack like a simple object, just to make a peace statement today. What are you going to do to get this animal back, sir? Where is animal welfare in this speaker’s gesture? I find this absolutely unacceptable,” Roose said.

As the bird flapped around the chamber, another colleague asked Radačovský: “Can you catch it as well?”

Jan-Christoph Oetjen, a vice-president of the parliament, said the incident would be reported to the president of the chamber, adding: “We hope that the animal will be all right.”