The EU’s inimitable chief of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, might have surpassed his previous effort, when he had famously explained how Europe was a “garden” of civilization, whereas Asia, Africa, et al. were a “jungle.” For an encore, Borrell explained to the EU Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference on Dec. 8, why Putin managed to be so popular out there in the global South, aka, “jungle.”
“Russia is able to deflect blame, twist reality, and find an audience in some parts of the world. I have seen in the TV screen these young African people on the streets of [Mali’s capital] Bamako with billboards saying, ‘Putin, thanks. You have saved Donbas and now you will save us.’ It is shocking.
“Well, you can consider these people don’t know where Donbas is, or maybe they do not even know who’s Putin – but they are getting mobilized on the streets.”