“It is nice to demonstrate against climate change as long as nobody asks you to pay for it”: With such statements, the Vice President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, questioned the seriousness of young climate protesters.
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This Saturday, he has now commented on Twitter: “I want to apologize to everyone who, from my inadequate statement about the important youth movement against the #climate Change may have felt offended, “wrote Borrell.
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The 72-year-old had an allusion to “Fridays for Future“-Aktivistin Greta Thunberg said: “The idea that young people are seriously determined to stop climate change – we could call it Greta syndrome – allow me my doubts.” He doubted that the young activists were ready to lower their living standards for their beliefs.
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On the Internet, Borrell’s statement caused outrage. The Greens in the European Parliament wrote on Twitter that Borrell’s statements were “unacceptable to an EU representative”. Protest also rose among young climate protection activists. 18-year-old Anuna De Wever, one of the leaders of the Belgian “Fridays for Future” movement, sharply criticized Borrells’s statements during a demonstration in Brussels.
Already when the criticism began, Borrell, who is also an EU foreign representative, assured young climate activists on Twitter of his “full support”. They would “inspire” politicians and societies.
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