Social media influencer and MEP Fidias Panayiotou on Tuesday apologised for calling paralympic athletes “loonies”, though he did at the same time suggest that there may have been political motivations behind those who criticised him for his use of language.

“The first thing I want to say is that I should not have used this word to characterise anyone, any disability, disorder or illness,” he said in a video on social media, though he twice insisted that he used the term “without wanting to” and “unwillingly”.

He then explained that he had made the comments during a six-and-a-half-hour-long podcast episode published in November last year, and that the guest on his podcast, paralympic athlete Loizos Chrysanthou, was on the podcast as he had expressed interest in standing in May’s parliamentary election as part of his Direct Democracy party.

“I want to publicly acknowledge my mistake and make a big apology to the paralympic athletes in the S14 category who compete with determination and strength to make us proud, but also to anyone I may have offended or upset with what I said,” he added. The S14 category comprises athletes with intellectual disabilities.

He went on to say that “perhaps one of the deepest reasons” for his use of the word is “an extension of the fact that more generally, our society neglects and ignores these people who have some kind of disability, and does not even bother to think of any words to describe them with respect and dignity”.

It was at this point that he suggested that reaction to his comments may have been politically motivated, saying, “as I told you guys, I made this podcast two months ago, on November 29 specifically, and I am just wondering why some people now remembered to get angry with me and now started making accusations against me.

“Is it related to the fact that a day or two before this topic started being discussed, Direct Democracy was shown at 10 per cent in the polls, compared to the five per cent we had two months ago?” he asked.

Nonetheless, he said, “whatever interests are at play behind this, this of course does not justify what I said, and of course, everyone has the right to judge me and make accusations against me, and I really like this, because as a person who wants to improve, being judged by tens of thousands of people has helped me to become better”.

He then said he wishes to take some form of action to help people with disabilities, saying, “the first thing I thought of was that the next group of people I will bring to the European Parliament will be people with disabilities”.

Fidias made the original comment during the podcast episode after Chrysanthou had explained to him his own categorisation – S10 – which concerns swimmers with disabilities impacting their legs. Chrysanthou has polyneuropathy – a dysfunction of peripheral nerves which results in numbness and muscle weakness, among other symptoms, in the feet and hands.

He told Panayiotou that “it has to do with movement, endurance, strength, which obviously impact performance”, before explaining that there are a total of 14 categories for para swimmers.

“The last category is called S14, which has to do with mental problems, of the brain, obviously,” he said, with Panayiotou then answering, “S14, you said, for the loonies?”

To this, Chrysanthou replied, “no, my friend, sorry, I do not know if I said it wrong, it has to do with the brain, they have mental problems”.

Panayiotou then said, “okay, the loonies, yeah, yeah”.

His comments had garnered condemnation from many corners of society, including from the paralympic committee, which described them as “offensive, derogatory, and deeply regressive” and adding that the term he used was “abusive, stigmatising, and offensive to thousands”.