The chairman of the Munich Security Conference has called Dmitry Medvedev “a clown”
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the 2016 Munich Security Conference © Getty Images / Lennart Preiss / Stringer
Munich Security Conference Chairman Christoph Heusgen has called former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev “a clown,” according to a report in Bild on Saturday.
Heusgen, who previously served as German ambassador to the UN and a foreign policy and security adviser to ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, made the remark during the Kiel International Seapower Symposium.
“Medvedev is a clown today, I’m sorry to have to say that,” Heusgen said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Though Bild did not provide the context of Heusgen’s remarks, the statement was welcomed by a member of the Ukrainian Delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Ukrainian MP Aleksey Goncharenko.
“I am not surprised by such words of the German diplomat. My impressions of the last meeting with Mr. Heusgen are purely positive… Deep respect from me and all Ukrainian people!” Goncharenko tweeted.
Since the beginning of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, has been very active on social media, harshly criticizing Ukrainian and Western politicians.
In May, Medvedev blamed the looming global food crisis on the “cosmic cretinism” of the West. In April, he warned the “Brussels masochists” that they will have to change their rhetoric if the ‘Russian debt default’ they predict ends up becoming the bankruptcy (both moral and material) of the EU.
In June, he explained why he resorts to this type of language when it comes to Western politicians. “I am often asked why my Telegram posts are so harsh. The answer is I hate them. They are bastards and geeks. They want death for us, Russia. And while I’m alive, I will do everything to make them disappear.”
A few days prior to this post, Medvedev said he writes to provide people with information “in understandable simple language,” without any ambiguity.