European Commission spokesperson for foreign policy Peter Stano said that he considers the condolences expressed by European diplomat Josep Borrell over the death of Putin's protege, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, to be ‘normal diplomatic practice’.
Why is the EU quarreling after the death of Raisi
The deceased ex-president of Iran, Ibrahim Raisi, was quite often called "Putin's friend", because he was one of those politicians who helped the dictator to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine.
It was through European leaders that the discussion about what Brussels' official reaction to the death of another war criminal should be started.
The European Commission's foreign policy spokesman continues to insist that it is "absolutely normal to express condolences to the state" in the diplomatic arena when the head of state and its foreign minister die suddenly.
Especially if it happens under such circumstances as it happened in Iran, so I have nothing to add, except that it was a basic diplomatic measure to express sympathy to the state at the institutional level,” said Peter Stano.
Not everyone in the EU wants to sympathise with Iran
The statement of the official Brussels on this matter was publicly criticised by the EC spokesman Eric Mamer
He recalled the European Commission's position on internal repression in Iran, Tehran's role in Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, and its support for proxies in the Middle East in the war between Hamas and Israel.
I think we need to make a clear distinction between the normal diplomatic practice that Peter [Stano] was talking about, which, by the way, you have seen in other institutions around the world, and the views that we hold on the policy of the Iranian authorities” the speaker stressed.
