Russia’s president has responded to Josep Borrell calling his country a fascist state
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell. © AFP / JOHN THYS
EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, would have likely backed the fascist coup in Spain in the 1930s, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Wednesday.
The Russian leader’s statement came in response to Borrell describing Russia as a “fascist” state. “He’s just grinding his tongue, he is a great specialist in that area,” said Putin, noting that Borrell’s recent calls for a military victory over Moscow on the battlefield are “strange” coming from the EU’s top diplomat.
Putin went on to question whose side Borrell would have taken if he had lived in Spain in the 1930s and seen the signs for General Franco’s coup. “Would he take up arms and whose side would he be on? The democratically elected government of Spain or the putschists?” Putin asked. “In my opinion, he would be on the side of the putschists, because today he supports just the same putschists in Ukraine,” he added, noting that the primary source of Kiev’s power today is the Western-backed armed coup in 2014.
“He supports them, and he would have been on the side of the Nazis back then for sure. That’s who is on the side of the Nazis,” Putin proclaimed.
The Russian president went on to say that Moscow has long pointed out the neo-Nazi elements of the Kiev regime, but has often heard the response that many countries, including Russia, have neo-Nazis as well.
“Yes, we have them. But neither Russia nor any other civilized country promotes Nazis or radical nationalists to the status of national heroes. That’s the difference. And Ukraine is doing precisely that,” he said.
Putin stated that if Borrell had any idea who the likes of Bandera and Shukhevich actually were – Nazis that executed Russians, Jews, and Poles – he would have understood that real fascism is prospering in Ukraine and not Russia.
“He should be given an opportunity to look reality in the eye and then we can listen to him. If he has even a drop of conscience, he must draw the right conclusions,” the Russian president said.
Borrell’s comments about Russia also drew a response from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who stated that the EU commissioner’s “disgusting remarks” about Russia being a fascist state should never be forgotten and that the diplomat should be permanently listed as a “non-handshaking creature without the right to pardon.”
