“What I wish in 100 years is that Europe will not be forced to become dark-skinned.” This shocking statement was made not by any far-right politician, but by former PASOK MP, Minister and European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (1999-2004) Anna Diamantopoulou.
She stunned some listeners, making similar statements at the annual conference of the Circle of Ideas think tank. Recounting a “difficult and shocking trip to three African countries – Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana – that are incredibly poor” and have no prospects for development, the former commissioner EU hastened to note in a dramatic tone: “but 80% of their population is under 35 years old.”
“In Nigeria alone, 400 million people will live in 2045, i.e. more than in Europe,” said the ex-commissioner and spoke about countries that have no prospects for development and “young people who have nothing to do and nothing to eat.”
“I wonder if she thought about talking about the exploitation of their natural resources by others, about colonialism, and presenting a more coherent historical reality.” – Lefteris Papagiannakis, director of the Greek Refugee Council, commented on a post on the news site parallaximag.gr.
“She probably didn’t want to spoil the shockwave by linking immigration to violence and making a well-chosen oblique reference to population replacement theories with a crude racist comment about ‘dark Europe.’“,” he added ironically.
“She speaks as a representative of 19th century colonialism and tribalism.” – commented SYRIZA MP Alexis Haritzis in a post on the X/Twitter website.
(1/2)Χτες η κ. Διαμαντοπούλου, σε δημόσια εκδήλωση, ευχήθηκε να μη γίνει η Ευρώπη «σκουρόχρωμη».Απορώ ειλικρινά αν αυτό έμαθε από τη θητεία της επι μακρόν σε ευρωπαικούς οργανισμούς: να μιλάει σαν εκπρόσωπος της αποικιοκρατίας και του φυλετισμού του 19ου αιώνα.
Αλλά πέρα από αυτό pic.twitter.com/Rhqbr3SKyG— Αλέξης Χαρίτσης (@alexischaritsis) November 7, 2023
“Frankly, I wonder if this is what her long career in European organizations taught her: to speak like a representative of 19th-century colonialism and tribalism.”
“This logic is the blood donor of the far right. It leads to the normalization of racism, the instrumentalization of feelings of insecurity, the inability to meaningfully discuss global inequality. And this cannot be changed by any vows of “European modernization.” It frightens the public by playing on the conservative reflexes and insecurities cultivated in recent years by the Mitsotakis government, which has reduced its migration policy to a fence on the Evros.”– the newspaper notes avgi.gr.
It should be recalled that not so long ago Anna Diamantopoulou “flirted” with New Democracy, which promoted her to a high post in the OECD.
And what do you think? You can leave your point of view in the comments.
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