Her mother was liberated from the Nazis in Rome
The Swedish MEP who slammed Boris Johnson’s calling Brexit ‘liberation from the European Union’ just schooled the Foreign Secretary on diplomacy and European history.
Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, an MEP for Sweden’s Moderate Party who took exception to Johnson’s remarks during the Q&A at last week’s Munich security conference, said her mother was liberated from the Nazis and fascists in Rome during the Second World War.
She also noted Johnson’s use of words was especially stupid given he was sitting next to Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, ‘a country at war, with Russian troops on its soil’.
Writing in today’s Guardian, Corazza Bildt said:
“For millions of Europeans [the word liberation] still vivid and is about freedom, not about free trade.
Europe was liberated from military occupation, fascism, Nazism and communism. This is part of our common history, where the UK played a major role for countries all over Europe in recovering their freedom during the second world war.
We should be for ever grateful to the brave people of Great Britain for the blood they shed for our freedom.
My mother was liberated from the Nazis and fascists in Rome, as was my father in northern Italy. I was there when Sarajevo was liberated after five years of siege. The UK also played an important role there.”
She added:
“This was surprising language from the representative of a country renowned for its diplomacy all over the world. It was also a completely unacceptable reference that offended several members of the audience. […]
Johnson has said that the UK will leave the EU but will continue to be part of Europe; he should then respect our common history.“
Read the whole thing in The Guardian here.
Johnson is addicted to World War Two references, so he can hardly complain when people read another one out of his ludicrous choice of words.
(He also said during the Brexit camapign that the day of the EU referendum would be Britain’s ‘independence day’, another foolish remark given what that term means for former colonies of Britain and other imperial powers.)
Behold the country’s top diplomat!
Adam Barnett is staff writer for Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBarnett13
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