“What I will wish for in 100 years is that Europe does not become dark-skinned by force.” This shocking statement was not made by some far-right politician but by former PASOK MP, minister, and European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (1999-2004), Anna Diamantopoulou.
She stunned some of the audience when she made such statements at a panel of the annual conference of the “Circle of Ideas” a think tank.
After talking about a “difficult and shocking trip to 3 African countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana, which are incredibly poor” with no development prospects, the former EU commissioner hastened in a dramatic tone to point out that “but 80% of their population is under 35 years old.”
“Nigeria alone in 2045 will have 400 million, i.e. more than Europe” the ex Commissioner said and spoke of countries that have no development prospects and are “full of young people who have nothing to do and nothing to eat.”
Reactions
“I wonder if she thought to talk about the exploitation of their natural resources by others, colonialism and make a more coherent presentation of the historical reality,” commented Lefteris Papagiannakis, Director of the Hellenic Council for Refugees, on a post at news website parallaximag.gr.
“She probably didn’t want to spoil the punch line by linking immigration to violence and making a well-chosen indirect reference to population replacement theories with a crudely racist comment about “dark Europe,” he ironically added.
“She speaks like a representative of colonialism and tribalism of the 19th century” commented Alexis Haritsis, a SYRIZA MP, on a post on X/Titter.
(1/2)Χτες η κ. Διαμαντοπούλου, σε δημόσια εκδήλωση, ευχήθηκε να μη γίνει η Ευρώπη «σκουρόχρωμη».Απορώ ειλικρινά αν αυτό έμαθε από τη θητεία της επι μακρόν σε ευρωπαικούς οργανισμούς: να μιλάει σαν εκπρόσωπος της αποικιοκρατίας και του φυλετισμού του 19ου αιώνα.
Αλλά πέρα από αυτό pic.twitter.com/Rhqbr3SKyG— Αλέξης Χαρίτσης (@alexischaritsis) November 7, 2023
“I honestly wonder if this is what she learned from her long term in European organizations: to speak like a representative of colonialism and tribalism of the 19th century.”
“Such logic is the blood donors of the extreme right. The normalization of racism, the instrumentalization of insecurity, the inability to meaningfully discuss global inequalities leads there. And this is not changed by any vows to “European modernization.”
She scared the public playing with conservative reflexes and insecurities cultivated in the last years with the Mitsotakis government to have reduced its migration policy to the Evros fence, noted daily avgi.gr
It should be recalled that not long ago, Anna Diamantopoulou was “flirting” with New Democracy that was promoting her for a high-ranking position at the OECD.
London (aka New Troy) from census 2021-
Selected ethnic groups-
White 53.8% (British white <50%)
Asian 20.8%
Black 13.5%
Unsure what point it is you’re actually trying to make, but…
“Government data about the UK’s different ethnic groups.
82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data). ”
The UK is still absolutely predominantly white.
With Scotland also considered the percentage of white people is even higher, Scotland being 95%+ White
Just giving a snapshot of London (circa 2021) and the changes that have occurred there over say 30 years when London was probably 90%+ white, now London is 50/50 white/non white. Things can change quickly, i guess as Scotland will find out in the near future. I grew up in inner London and saw the changes first hand and how quickly the changes impacted on the communities. Could never put my hand on whether the changes were organic or whether there were other motives. Much of western Europe is heading the same way as London, like it or not, where indigenous Europeans will be the minority. So although, Anna Diamantopoulou’s, language may have been clumsy, it won’t be 100 years but much sooner. Same with the US, was 90% white European, now 58% ish white European. That’s just the way it is and the way things are going.
Phil & Mike, so what? Black, white, yellow, brown. We are all humans.
Just cant understand WHY you are talking about skin colour, WE ARE ALL HUMAN, arent we????!!!!!! So, just live and let live, OK!!
That is what the article is about, skin colour? so we are commenting… (the next is just a general comment, not commenting specifically to you), anyhow probably most Government forms, wiki, census, European stats, application for funding to training providers, quotas for employment for instance in the RAF recently all mention ethnicity, so it is important to some people higher up the food chain, I am sure there are many other instances . Go to China or Japan (where some bars do not allow ethnic white Europeans to enter), not to mention the hatred going on nearby with the two wars where there are certainly huge ethnic clashes . Sure, we are all humans but that doesn’t negate the fact that institutions and many people do care about ethnicity. To say otherwise would be putting ones head in the sand. We ain’t in Kansas anymore.
why are you talking about skin-colored here?
Well you have posted the story. Does my internet not have the same title of this story ” Ex EU Commissioner says she hopes “Europe won’t become dark-skinned”
hence I am commenting? I haven’t said anything horrible. If I do/have then I am sure you won’t post my comments. Just stating pretty much facts here, the commication i have learned from diverse inner London obviously does not sit well here. I understand it is a sensitive subject
in fact I was referring more to the “statistics” from UK
Actually, we’ll just be increasingly “tan”, and harder to categorize into Black- White camps.
Thank intermarriage and climate change.
Europe was almost entirely white before mass immigration, whether legal or not legal.
For diversity reasons it is actually important that there are lighter-skinned people, including some of the people in Greece who happen to be blonde haired and pale skinned. Where the various people live is the matter of debate, not that any of them should exist in this world somehow.
By definition, diversity is having many colors of skin, many cultures, many religions, and not extinguishing any of them from existence. It is not a “fait accompli” to believe that eventually there will be no more white-skinned people if they choose to be with others of their skin color, and it is their right to do so. The same goes for cultures and the same goes for religion in that it is simply a choice, and believing that everyone will be darker skinned in the future is just fantasy.