Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Pakistani army: 6 soldiers and 7 militants killed in clash near the Afghan border
Israeli media: Sirens sound in the settlement of Kerem Shalom in the Gaza envelope area
Afghan source to Al Mayadeen: We still believe in dialogue and prioritize diplomatic solutions with Pakistan; though we are ready for all possibilities.
Afghan source to Al Mayadeen: Pakistan purposely obstructed negotiations in Turkey by making unrealistic demands.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: More than 70 martyrs in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn.
Death toll from latest Israeli strikes on Gaza rises to 30
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Five killed in the Israeli bombing of a civilian vehicle on Al-Qassam Street in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip
Hamas confirms that it has no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah and affirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two civilians were killed and four others, including a child and an infant, were injured in an Israeli bombing of a house belonging to the Al-Banna family in the al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli airstrike targets the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City

Borrell: European Union is a "garden," rest of the world a "jungle"

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 14 Oct 2022 08:34
  • 20 Shares
3 Min Read

The foreign policy chief of the EU perceives the rest of the world as a jungle from which Europe seeks protection.

  • x
  • Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief. (EPA)
    Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief. (EPA)

Delivering a speech on the inauguration of a university in Belgium, the EU foreign policy chief makes a statement exhibiting just how much "European exceptionalism" is still alive and well. 

As he addresses students at the College of Europe in Bruges on Thursday at a university program designed to raise the next generation of European diplomats, Borrell compared the European Union to a "garden" that must be protected from the "jungle" outside. 

The EU, according to Borrell, has the best combination of “political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion” ever known to humankind.

Read more: Europe's detention hell-hole in Libya: Migrants raped, tortured, beaten

“The rest of the world… is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners should take care of it, but they will not protect the garden by building walls,” Borrell said.

He insisted that Europeans have to be "much more engaged" with the rest of the world and put their "privilege" to positive use. 

European engagement in the outside world, particularly in Belgium, resulted in severing African hands and stealing infinite resources. 

Related News

Borrell: EU’s failure on Gaza response ‘colossal and deafening’

EU trade deal shows submission to US pressure: Borrell

Read next: France refuses to apologize for its Algerian past

About 42 students are participating in the pilot program, with candidates coming in from various EU institutions. Georgian, Moldovan, Ukrainian and Turkish candidates are also participating. 

“You are the first generation. You are the trailblazers of a process, and I hope that many others will come,” Borrel told the students. “Keep the garden, be good gardeners. But your duty will not be to take care of the garden itself but [of] the jungle outside.” 

Last March, Borrell told El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper, that “if we don't want the jungle to eat our garden, we have to wake up.”

Europe moving towards a fascist sentiment 

The EU foreign policy chief is keen on adopting this garden-vs-jungle rhetoric, fueling a Eurocentric sentiment focused on gatekeeping the continent from the citizens of countries it either bombs or simply pillages, making refugees collateral damage of this imperial outlook. 

The Spanish government, in conjunction with the NATO Summit, is pushing to designate border crossings as a “hybrid threat” alongside terrorism as part of NATO’s new strategy concept – very fitting for a country with a ‘leftist’ president. 

Europe has been taking on an anti-refugee concept – rigid and violent. Last winter, Poland left refugees to freeze to death in the forests on its border. In 2019, Italy’s former Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, called on the EU to suspend all naval rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, which left thousands of people to drown. “Progressive” Finland, with its application to join NATO, declared its intention to begin constructing barriers along its border with Russia to guard against any refugees being used as “hybrid warfare” by Russia.

This comes hand-in-hand with NATO’s latest strategy, which entails ramping up troop presence in the eastern flank of Europe from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, and employing expansion strategies to counter Russia and China. With that being said, NATO very much hopes to expand in Africa in terms of its military operations – and that in itself entails violence. 

  • Josep Borrell
  • European Union

Most Read

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

'Israel’s Digital Iron Dome: Weaponizing the web against Palestine

  • Technology
  • 24 Oct 2025
Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

Arab League chief exposes secret US deal shielding 'Israel’s' nukes

  • Politics
  • 27 Oct 2025
Hi-tech holocaust: Microsoft’s role in Gaza genocide

Microsoft's role in world’s first AI-driven genocide, in Gaza, exposed

  • Technology
  • 28 Oct 2025
What Marr evidently didn't seem to understand was that Hedges isn't saying that Western journalists manipulate the truth, but that they systematically amplify Israeli narratives they know are false. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Western journalists know they have a case to answer for their betrayal of Gaza, and it frightens them

  • Opinion
  • 24 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), rest near the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region (AP)
Politics

UAE directly funded RSF, leading to fall of El-Fasher: Sudan

'You’re not welcome in Greece': Israelis face port protests
Politics

'You’re not welcome in Greece': Israelis face port protests

This photo released by the Israeli military on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, shows ground operations inside the Gaza Strip (AP)
Politics

IOF soldier who fought in Gaza, Lebanon denied entry to Czech Republic

UN inquiry exposes 'Israel’s' four genocidal crimes against Gaza
Politics

'Israel' committed four genocidal acts in Gaza, UN inquiry finds

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS