(Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Monday summoned the acting head of mission of the EU delegation to the United Arab Emirates and asked him for an explanation of what he said were racist comments made by the head of foreign policy of the UAE. EU, Josep Borrell, last week.
The UAE Foreign Ministry said the comments were “inappropriate and discriminatory” and “contribute to worsening the climate of intolerance and discrimination around the world,” the UAE state news agency (WAM) reported. ).
In his remarks at the new European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, Belgium, which have been widely circulated online since he made them last week, Borrell called Europe “a garden” and most of the world a “jungle” that “could invade the garden”. “
“The gardeners must take care of the garden, but they will not protect the garden by building walls. A nice small garden surrounded by high walls to prevent the jungle from entering is not going to be a solution. Because the jungle has a strong growth capacity, and the wall will never be high enough,” said Borrell, a Spanish politician.
“The gardeners have to go to the jungle. Europeans need to be much more engaged with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us,” he said.
Political cartoons about world leaders
At a press conference this Monday, Borrell denied that his message was racist or colonialist, the EFE news agency reported. The comments were intended to reject the idea of a “fortress Europe” and encourage students to engage with the world, he said.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah and Andrew Mills; Editing by Chris Reese and Rosalba O’Brien)
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