He just won't learn. The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has once again been the active perpertrator of a racist episode. This time it was in the European Parliament, where instead of referring to Flemish MEP Assita Kanko by her name, he referred to her as a "member of African descent". The attitude of the European Commission vice-president was not at all to the liking of the Catalan MEP for Junts, Carles Puigdemont, who described Borrell as "unspeakable". "The unspeakable Josep Borrell has done his thing again," the president said in a tweet posted this Monday.
After learning of the dreadful response given by the senior EU figure, Puigdemont sent a message of support to MEP Kanko and took the opportunity to recall another racist episode from Borrell. "Remember the 'handful of Indians'?" he asked, referring to a shameful statement by the then-Spanish foreign minister. On a visit to the US, he commented that the country had had few integration problems in the during its colonial era because all the settlers had to do "was kill a handful of Indians". An historical slight that prompted some irate reactions on both social media and among indigenous and decolonization groups.
Translation of tweet:
"The unspeakable Joseph Borrell has done his thing again. Remember the "handful of Indians"? Now he has called the MSP Assita Kanko not by her name but as the "MEP of African descent". Roberta Metsola has some work to do. One more time."- Carles Puigdemont
"He treated me like a Spanish colonizer"
Now, Borrell has done it again: in the latest plenary session of the European Parliament, he referred to Kanko on the basis of her "origin" and not by her name or position, an attitude which is deeply racist towards the New Flemish Alliance MEP and her work. Given the seriousness of the matter, Puigdemont also addressed the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to remind her that she has "work to do" in this area. "One more time," said the Junts MEP.
Obviously, the MEP Kanko herself also spoke out about Borrell's racist insult. "I was so shocked by the arrogance and condescension of Mr Borrell that I had to let it sink in," the Flemish MEP said in a tweet. And she was even blunter, addressing the EU foreign policy chief directly: "Your arrogance, along with your incompetence and lack of balls, is why Europe is doing as well as the Titanic." An uncompromising message entitled "My opinion on the left-wing racism of European High Representative Josep Borrell, which also notes, in its first paragraph, the EU leader's failure in the conflict with "Russia and Turkey". In the wake of these failures, Kanko remarked that the Commissioner once again showed his "arrogance and condescension" when it came to talking about African policy. "He treated me like a Spanish colonizer would have done, confining me to my origins rather than addressing the substantive points I was making on development cooperation," she criticized.
Assita Kanko responds firmly against Josep Borrell's racism / @Assita_Kanko
Flemish MEP Assita Kanko's letter to Josep Borrell / @Assita_Kanko
The Flemish MEP emphasizes that Borrell's attitude was not only an example of "sexism" and "left-wing racism", but "above all, total incompetence". In addition, she states that at that moment, she "heard him thinking" the phrase "Shut up, African" from the pedestal, while her family "lives and suffers" under the rural African conditions to which she was referring. And Kanko comments that it would have been "nice" if Borrell had just listened to her, seen her as a full member of the European Parliament and not just as a "Member of African descent". "My name is Assita Kanko, MEP, elected representative," the letter concluded.
Puigdemont and Kanko are old acquaintances in the European Parliament. In fact, on the day in December 2019, when Carles Puigdemont and his Catalan colleague Toni Comín were finally able to collect their credentials as MEPs, Assita Kanko was there to greet the exiled Catalan president, and she sent a tweet about it.