Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska | Olivier Hoslet/EPA ‘F**k how I hate this!’ says commissioner at the Parliament European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska caught swearing in plenary.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, the European commissioner for industry, was caught swearing in the European Parliament after making a statement on banning animal testing for cosmetics, according to Polish media reports.

Speaking in the plenary last week, Bieńkowska described animal welfare as "an extremely important topic [not only] for European citizens [but also] for me, personally," praised the European Union for its "pioneering" role on the issue and called on other countries to follow suit, saying "the time is right for global action."

But as she sat back down — unaware her microphone was still switched on — she said: "F***... How I hate this."

The incident prompted Polish tabloid Fakt24 to send out a message of support to Bienkowska: "Only six [more] months and you can come home!"

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