The Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, was not very successful with his last metaphor.
The Spanish socialist politician is not exactly a man of nuance, but rather a broad-stroke man who often lets himself make headlines.
Also today, the Vice-President of the European Commission referred to the continent of Europe as a “garden” and compared it to the rest of the world, describing it as a “forest that could invade the garden”.
It is true that he later tried to clarify what he wanted to say in his speech to young people at the Spanish College in Bruges, but judging by the reactions of some governments, the damage was done.
Criticism doesn’t exactly come to him from countries lauded for their respect for human rights, like Iran or the United Arab Emirates, which immediately call his words the result of a “racist” or “colonial mentality.”
What Borrell apparently meant was that Europe should be more concerned with what was happening outside of its geographical area, because otherwise the continent would risk being invaded by new barbarians.
Europe may be a garden for some, at least compared to what happens in certain parts of the world, including the USA, but for others, certainly the majority, the so-called garden is full of blackberries and thorns.
For example, we can talk about the extremely unequal distribution of wealth, the deterioration of public services, revolving doors, the increasing instability of the youth, some anti-democratic laws, problems with the justice system, corruption. and many other things.
But that’s not all: Borrell’s reference to Europe as a garden means, first of all, a complete lack of recognition of how the continent was able to achieve the prosperity that its liberal ideologists are so proud of.
Could Europe have gotten to where its singers are today without something as blatant as the ruthless exploitation of the human and natural resources of other continents?
For example, shouldn’t we Europeans be ashamed of the more than ten million Africans who were forcibly removed from their habitats and sent as slaves to North and South America?
Shouldn’t we be ashamed of the large-scale theft by Europeans of the wealth of other peoples, to whom we are proud to bring our religion and language as compensation?
Haven’t we Europeans, men of technological progress and human rights, historically justified all kinds of abuses against peoples we call “backward”, not directly “savage”?
Hasn’t our progress always served as some sort of moral justification tool? Doesn’t it hide deep down a racism that is the result of the superiority we always ascribe to ourselves?
And you don’t even need to go back in time: Aren’t big Western corporations currently exploiting the enormous resources of the African continent, supporting their dictators as long as they serve our interests?
Don’t many of these companies make huge profits, often at the expense of child labor in the mines, or simply don’t pay poverty wages while claiming they want to help the African continent develop?
Don’t millions of small farmers in these countries suffer from the generous subsidies of the Common Agricultural Policy?
Even French President Jacques Chirac admitted with rare candor: “We have drenched Africa in blood for four and a half centuries.” And on another occasion: “Without Africa, France would be a third world country.”
No, Mr. Borrell, yours was not a lucky metaphor.