British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was attacked by political opponents past and present after comparing the Ukrainian army’s battle to fend off Russia with the Brexit campaign.
“It’s the instinct of the people of this country, like the people of Ukraine, to choose freedom every time,” Johnson said in a speech to Conservative Party members in Blackpool, England, on Saturday. “When the people of this country voted for Brexit in such large numbers, I don’t believe it was because they were remotely hostile to foreigners. It’s because they wanted to be free.”
Reaction was swift. Douglas Alexander, a former minister from the opposition Labour Party, said the comments were “facile, flawed & morally unworthy.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said they were “insane.”
Former European Council president Donald Tusk, who is now Poland’s opposition leader, directly addressed Johnson, saying: “Your words offend Ukrainians, the British and common sense.”
Johnson was the figurehead of the 2016 campaign that won a referendum on leaving the EU, and has been trying to position himself as a leading figure in the efforts to support Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy has been asking EU leaders to grant Ukraine fast-track membership to help him fend off the Russian invasion.
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