Borrell unleashes a storm for describing Europe as a “garden” surrounded by a “jungle”

The Arabs, Russia and Iran were taken for granted with a few words of Giuseppe Borrelthe High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, in which he described Europe as a “garden” and the rest of the world as “jungle”. First it was Moscow who lashed out at him, then some prominent Arab columnists criticized him in the press and on Monday evening the United Arab Emirates (UAE) canceled his last one “racist”, “inappropriate and discriminatory” speech.

Deputy Vice Minister for Political Affairs of the Emirates, Reem Ketaitand the Director of Foreign Affairs convened on Monday the interim Head of Mission of the EU Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Emil Hother Paulsen, to express his refusal to these “statements that contribute to aggravate the climate of intolerance and discrimination in the world”. They claimed that Brussels “provide a written explanation for offensive comments and discriminatory by the High Representative. “The Emirates are, for now, the country that has gone further in its protest. Its legislation is, according to NGOs such as Human Rights Watch“Discriminatory” with immigrants, women and LGBT people.

The statement by Emirati diplomacy adds to other recriminative reactions. “I could just shake my head in amazement and indignation” listening to him, he wrote Palestinian intellectual Marwan Bishara on the Al Jazzera website (Qatar). “His speech would not have deserved much comment if it weren’t for his un-diplomatic callousness and racism,” she added. “He was short on wisdom and long in clichés and contradictions,” she concluded. “Conceptually, “garden” sounds like a euphemism for “civilized” and ‘jungle’ as one of ‘barbarian’, he is also indignant Mohamad Forough, of the GIGA Institute in Hamburg, in a Twitter thread. More briefly, the news agency Iran News Agency limits itself to underlining that the high representative has made “racist remarks”, an accusation also made by the newspapers in Amman or Doha.

The first government to react was that of Russia, the power that invaded Ukraine with blood and fire. Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, strongly condemned Borrell’s speech 24 hours earlier. The so-called “garden” of Europe, he said, “was built by plundering the ‘jungle’ of the rest of the world during the colonial regime.”

A message of ‘solidarity’

Borrell did not attack the Arabs or any particular country. “Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden”declared on October 13 in a speech given to the students of the European Diplomatic Academy. “The gardeners have to take care of it, but they won’t protect the garden by building walls,” she added. “Because the jungle has a great capacity for growth and the wall will never be high enough to protect the garden” https://www.elconfidentcial.com/mundo/2022-10-18/arabes-y-rusos-se – outraged -with-borrell-for-describing-europe-as-un_3508122 /. “Gardeners must go to the jungle. Europeans must do much more for the rest of the world” https: //www.elconfidentcial .com / world / 2022 -10-18 / Arabs-and-Russians-are-outraged-at-borrell-for-describing-Europe-as-a_3508122 /. “Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us, in different ways and means,” he concluded.

The EU sees Putin in despair and Borrell warns: “World peace is in danger”

Nacho Alarcón. Brussels

“My message is not racist, but one of solidarity” Borrell replied on Tuesday morning from Luxembourg. “When I addressed the young people of the European Academy, I wanted to send the message that we cannot close ourselves in a fortress Europe (…), but that we must get in touch with the rest of the world to convey our well-known message, because , nowadays, our model competes with the others “, pointed out the high representative.

The idea of ​​the “jungle” threatening the West, formulated by Borrell in his speech, is not new. It was, for example, collected in the book “The jungle grows back: America and our world in danger” (“The Jungle Grows Again: America and Our World in Peril”) released in 2018 by the American conservative essayist Robert Kagan. The author points out “the essential role that the United States has played for decades in keeping the worst instability in the world at bay” and bets that it will continue to play it.

The Arabs, Russia and Iran were taken for granted with a few words of Giuseppe Borrelthe High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, in which he described Europe as a “garden” and the rest of the world as “jungle”. First it was Moscow who lashed out at him, then some prominent Arab columnists criticized him in the press and on Monday evening the United Arab Emirates (UAE) canceled his last one “racist”, “inappropriate and discriminatory” speech.