The European Union’s top foreign policy official Josep Borrell has slammed Nigeria, and other poor, fragile nations as a “jungle” during a speech, describing Europe as a garden superior to the vast majority of the countries on earth. 

“Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden,” declared Mr Borrell at the inauguration of the pilot programme of the European Diplomatic Academy in Brussels on Thursday.

“Here, Bruges is a good example of the European garden. Yes, Europe is a garden. We have built a garden. Everything works. It is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build – the three things together,” Mr Borrell said. “And here, Bruges is maybe a good representation of beautiful things, intellectual life, wellbeing.”  

The EU top diplomat further pointed out that the “rest of the world – and you know this very well, Federica – is not exactly a garden.” 

He noted, “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.”

The comments drew a backlash from the international diplomatic community, with Bob Rae, Canada’s United Nations ambassador, tweeting, “What a terrible analogy Mr Borrell has made,” “Surely history and our own lived experience teaches us that no part of the world is free from violence.”

Alice Bah Kuhnke, a Swedish member of the European Parliament with the Green Party, added, “This abhorrent, colonial language is unacceptable from any representative of our union, least of all our highest-ranking diplomat.” 

However, Mr Borrell stood by his comments, saying he was misunderstood. 

He maintained that Europe was a privileged place to live and his remarks to aspiring diplomats were to cultivate relationships outside it because it cannot be “an island in the world away from what was going on elsewhere.”

“I do not understand the interpretation that has been given to what I said. I certainly do not share the allegation that it is somehow imperialist, white supremacist or a retrograde message,” Mr Borrell insisted. 

This is not the first time Mr Borrell has made comments referring to other countries outside Europe as a jungle. 

In August, Mr Borrell said, “We will not be able to build walls along our borders high enough in order to defend ourselves from the rest of the world. We will not be the garden in the middle of the jungle. We will not be the fancy garden in the middle of the jungle, and the jungle is growing.” 

These comments were made while discussing the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.