Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell apologises for ‘Greta syndrome’ remarks on youth activists
- Foreign policy chief said in television interview that he doubted ‘idea that young people are seriously committed to stopping climate change’
- Veteran Spanish politician, 72, has reputation for making undiplomatic comments
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, apologised on Saturday for dismissive comments about youth climate activists during a television interview, in an about-turn a few months into his role as top EU diplomat.
Borrell recently said on Spanish television that he doubted “the idea that young people are seriously committed to stopping climate change – we could call it the ‘Greta syndrome’”.
Greta Thunberg is a Swedish teen activist who inspired the student-led Fridays for Future movement with her weekly climate strike in front of the Swedish parliament.
The diplomat said people were happy to take to the streets if it cost them nothing, while questioning whether demonstrators were prepared to reduce their quality of life to pay for the high cost of combating climate change.
Climate change is a priority issue for the European Commission, of which Borrell is a vice-president.
“I want to apologise to anyone that may have felt offended by my inappropriate reference to the important youth movement fighting #climatechange,” Borrell wrote on Twitter on Saturday, while returning from a visit to the United States.
The television interview was met with strong criticism on Twitter. The Greens in the European Parliament called the comments “unacceptable” for someone who represents the EU and promised to confront Borrell on the issue.
The European Commission distanced itself from the remarks on Friday, with spokesman Eric Mamer noting that all its top officials – Borrell included – stood behind the executive’s European Green Deal, “which acknowledges and supports the ambitions of young and less young people to combat climate change”.
“I don’t believe the ‘Greta syndrome’ has been defined as a medical condition yet,” Mamer quipped, when pressed further on the issue.
‘How dare you!’ Greta Thunberg shames world leaders in blistering speech
Borrell also appeared to backtrack on Friday, when he posted on Twitter that “youth movements to fight climate change have my full support and inspire politicians and societies”.
“Climate change is one of [the] biggest geopolitical challenges, we can’t afford costs of inaction,” he added, while noting that “to be successful, we also need to tackle social and economic costs of the transition”.
The 72-year-old veteran Spanish politician, who took up his current post on December 1, has a reputation for making undiplomatic remarks.
