Borrell calls Europe ‘garden’, raps others as ‘jungle,’ sparks Russia rebuke

European Union’s foreign policy chief has described Europe as a “garden” while banishing the rest of the world as “a jungle” that could “invade the garden,” prompting a strong rebuke by a senior Russian diplomat who insisted the so-called ‘garden’ was built through “barbaric plundering” of the ‘jungle.’

"Europe is a garden. We have built a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle," Josep Borrell said while addressing the opening ceremony of the European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, Belgium on Thursday.

Borrell then continued his racist remarks by warning that the jungle “could invade the garden” and that “the gardeners” have to go to the jungle “to protect” the garden without elaborating on details.

“The rest of the world is not exactly a garden,” he claimed. “Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners should take care of it.”

“But the gardeners will not protect the garden by building walls... Because the jungle has a strong growth capacity and the wall will never be high enough in order to protect the garden,” the native Spanish diplomat then theorized, insisting that “the gardeners have to go to the jungle” and that “the Europeans have to be much more engaged with the rest of the world.”

Slamming Borrell’s insulting remarks, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova emphasized in a Twitter post on Friday that the ‘garden’ of Europe was built by looting the ‘jungle’ of the rest of the world during the colonial regime. 

She went on to explain: “Europe built that ‘garden’ through the barbaric plundering of the ‘jungle’. Borrell could not have phrased it any better: the world’s most prosperous system, created in Europe, nurtured by roots in colonies which they ruthlessly oppressed.”

The Russian official was referring to the long-drawn-out history of colonizing huge expanses of the world by western European countries during which they engaged in unabated ravaging, tyrannizing, and pillaging of colonized nations – mostly across Africa and Asia.

Borrell’s controversial statements came amid the persisting conflict in Ukraine that began in February, when Russian waged a “special military operation” after the US-led NATO military alliance declined to provide Moscow with security guarantees it demanded amid Kiev’s vows to join the aggressive alliance.

Moscow further declared that its military operation – described by the EU and its Western allies as an “invasion” -- was also intended to protect the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk's pro-Russian population against persecution by Kiev.

Back in 2014, the republics broke away from Ukraine, refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government in Kiev that had overthrown a democratically-elected, Russia-friendly administration.

Since the onset of the conflict, the US and most of EU member states have been flooding Ukraine with advanced weapons and other military hardware, while taking coercive economic measures against Russia.

Russia warns EU about continental security risks of military aid to Ukraine

Russia’s deputy foreign minister says the EU is inconsiderate of the consequences of providing military aid to Kiev.

The US declared on Friday that it will ship to Ukraine $725 million more in military assistance, citing Russia’s recent retaliatory strikes on Ukrainian targets in response to a truck bombing of a major bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

The latest weapons package includes more ammunition for the HIMARS rocket system and brings the total amount of American arms supplied to Ukraine by the Biden administration to more than 18.3 billion, according to a Pentagon statement.

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