UAE rejects ‘racist statement’ by EU’s Josep Borrell, summons diplomat

UAE rejects ‘racist statement’ by EU’s Josep Borrell, summons diplomat
Josep Borrell compared Europe to a “garden” and “most of the rest of the world a jungle.”
October 18, 2022, 9:30 am

EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell attends the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Royal Palace of El Pardo near Madrid on December 16, 2019. (File photo AFP)

The United Arab Emirates said late on Monday (Oct 17) that it rejects a “racist statement” by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the inauguration of the new European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, Belgium, calling his remarks “inappropriate and discriminatory,” UAE state news agency (WAM) reported.

The foreign ministry summoned the acting head of the mission at the EU delegation to the UAE. The ministry asked Borrell’s office to provide a written explanation of what is described as “hurtful comments,” WAM added.

Last week, Borrell compared Europe to a “garden” and “most of the rest of the world a jungle.”

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He said: Europe is a garden, we have built a garden, It's the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity, and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build, the three things together.

The rest of the world, you know very well is not exactly a garden, the rest of the world, most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden, and the gardeners should take care of it,” the EU foreign policy chief said.

He added that the Europeans must be more engaged in the rest of the world to protect their garden, referring that building walls will not protect the garden very well, and will not prevent the jungle from coming in, that is because the jungle has a strong growth capacity and the wall will never be high enough to protect the garden.

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