German slur on the Russian envoy’s African tour sparks outrage

Dennis Milanzi

27/01/2023

epa10428443 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Angola's Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio (R) hold a joint press conference following their meeting in Luanda, Angola, 25 January 2023. The visit comes three months after Angola joined the majority of countries in the UN General Assembly that condemned Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territories, despite taking a neutral stance in March 2022 over a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. EPA-EFE/AMPE ROGERIO

After criticizing Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, for visiting Africa, the German foreign ministry came under fire for making an unfavorable generalization about the continent.

Germany’s foreign ministry claimed in a tweet that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Africa “not to view [leopard emoji], but to say plainly that Ukraine’s partners “intend to destroy everything Russian”.”

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The idea that the animals of Africa was the only thing worth sending the Russian envoy to the continent infuriated many.

The African Union chairperson’s spokesperson, Ebba Kalondo, questioned whether “the continent of Africa, its people, and its nature is a joke to you?”

Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, recently paid a visit to the Ethiopian offices of the African Union, according to Ms. Kalondo. She said, “Did she come to observe the animals?

How many times do we need to tell you that Africa offers more than just wildlife viewing? Tweets from Kofi Yeboah.

Zainab Usman concurred, saying, “Using awful stereotypes of Africa—”Africa is a wide panorama of wild beasts in the bush”—to gain the upper hand in a geopolitical conflict with a European foe will not make you popular among Africans.

Germany decided to deliver its Leopard tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday. It has resisted internal and external pressure to provide their tanks to the nation for a while.