Foreign Ministry did not receive a transcript of Borrell’s speech on Russia

Russia has requested a transcript of the words of the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, uttered by him on September 5 at the inter-parliamentary conference of the European Parliament in Prague, but has not yet received the document. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova during a briefing.

Zakharova answered in the negative to the question of journalists about whether the Russian side received the transcript.

“We are expecting and persistently seeking to receive an official bilingual transcript of Borrell’s words, we have sent a note to the European Foreign Service with a corresponding demand, we will not let the EU members wind up this story,” she said (quote according to TASS).

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also added that accusations against Russia of “fascism” are blasphemous. She stressed that Russia would not be satisfied with excuses about “poor quality translation” and urged “not to muffle the scandals.”

During a speech at the inter-parliamentary conference of the European Parliament in Prague, Borrell switched to his native Spanish. According to the official English translation, he stated that the EU had no plan “how to defeat fascist Russia and its fascist regime.” Later, Borrell’s office stated that the translation was inaccurate.

The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov reacted to the politician’s statement. He noted that with such statements, Borrell “resets himself as a diplomat.” The next day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia had requested a transcript of the speech of the head of European diplomacy.

On September 7, Borrell’s words were also commented on by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a plenary session at the Eastern Economic Forum. “He [Жозеп Боррель] he just speaks with his tongue, he is a great specialist in this field. But God bless him, God be his judge,” the president said.

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