Jeremy Hunt’s likening EU membership to USSR attracts ire and criticism
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Two former leaders of the Foreign Office and a former president of Estonia were among those who condemned the speech, in which Hunt described the EU as a prison.
Peter Ricketts, who ran the Foreign Office in 2006-10 and is a former ambassador to France, tweeted: “This rubbish is unworthy of a British foreign secretary. The EU isn’t a Soviet-style prison. Its legal order has brought peace and prosperity after a century of war. Our decision to leave was always going to leave us worse off. The only punishment is the self-inflicted variety.”
Peter Ricketts, who ran the Foreign Office in 2006-10 and is a former ambassador to France, tweeted: “This rubbish is unworthy of a British foreign secretary. The EU isn’t a Soviet-style prison. Its legal order has brought peace and prosperity after a century of war. Our decision to leave was always going to leave us worse off. The only punishment is the self-inflicted variety.”
Jeremy Hunt has been rebuked by the Latvian ambassador after he used a speech at Conservative conference to compare EU membership to being occupied by the USSR.
Baiba Braže reacted cooly to the British foreign secretary’s incendiary address, stating that the USSR had “ruined lives of three generations” in her country while EU membership had brought “prosperity, equality, growth, respect”.
Latvia was one of several Baltic states to be annexed by the USSR in the 1940s and later incorporated into it as a constituent republic. After gaining its independence in 1990 it sought EU membership, finally joining in 2004 after an overwhelming referendum result.
A string of senior British diplomats also condemned Mr Hunt’s comments. Lord Ricketts, a former head of the Foreign Office, said Mr Hunt’s claim was “rubbish unworthy of a British Foreign Secretary”.
The peer’s successor as Britain’s chief diplomat, Simon Fraser, said he agreed with his predecessor and that the Foreign Secretary had displayed a “shocking failure of judgement”.
Responding to a journalist reporting Mr Hunt’s words on social media, Latvian ambassador Mr Braže said: “Just for your information – Soviets killed, deported, exiled and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Latvia’s inhabitants after the illegal occupation in 1940, and ruined lives of three generations, while the EU has brought prosperity, equality, growth, respect.”
Former Latvian president Andris K. Berzins also appeared troubled by the speech, re-posting a comment stating that Mr Hunt’s words were “repulsive and below him”.
