AU official calls out Germany over leopard jibe that left some offended

Germany apologized on Thursday (Jan. 26) for utilizing a leopard emoji in a tweet refering to the Russian Overseas Minister’s go to to Africa. The publish that was thought to be offensive by some customers was referred to as out by the spokeswoman for the African Union chairman Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat.

The German international ministry tried to poke enjoyable at Russia’s high diplomat throughout his tour of Africa when it tweeted that he wasn’t there in search of leopards, however utilizing the journey to try to justify Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The tweet, and the leopard emoji the international ministry used on its official account, performed off Germany’s resolution to ship a few of its superior Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to again its navy struggle off Russian forces.

However an African Union official questionned using emoji, pointing it may very well be interpreted because the continent being portrayed as soon as once more as solely about wild animals. 

Ebba Kalondo, the spokeswoman for AU Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, tweeted again to the German authorities account questioning if Africa, its folks and its wildlife was “only a joke to you?”

“Overseas coverage isn’t a joke nor ought to it’s used to attain low cost geopolitical factors by illustrating a whole Continent with colonial tropes,” Kalondo wrote in a follow-up tweet.

The German international ministry apologized and stated that the tweet wasn’t meant to offend, however fairly “to name out the lies that Russia makes use of to justify its imperialist struggle of aggression in opposition to Ukraine.”

Lavrov has visited South Africa, Eswatini, Angola and Eritrea this week, the place he has repeated his claims that the USA and its Western allies are utilizing Ukraine as a instrument in a “hybrid struggle” in opposition to Russia.

Many African nations nonetheless maintain historic ties with Moscow. South Africa was one in every of a number of to abstain from a U.N. vote final yr condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Eritrea voted in opposition to the decision alongside Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Syria.