The EU Council chief, who grew up in Poland and was an anti-Communist activist, said the USSR was about 'gulags' and the EU is about 'freedom and human rights'
DONALD Tusk last night savaged Jeremy Hunt over his comparison of the EU to the Soviet Union – calling it “as unwise as it is insulting”.
The EU Council chief, who grew up in Poland and was an anti-Communist activist, said the USSR was about “gulags” and the EU is about “freedom and human rights”.
He stormed: “I know what I am talking about.”
In an angry address he accused British politicians of “wasting time” in the Brexit negotiations by resorting to “emotional arguments”.
Mr Hunt sparked fury across the Continent earlier this week when he compared Brussels trying to “punish” Britain to the actions of the Soviet Union. Eastern European politicians were incensed by his remarks, which he later tried to explain were not meant literally.
Mr Tusk became the latest to express outrage at the comparison following a meeting with Irish leader Leo Varadkar in Brussels yesterday.
He fumed: “In respecting our partners, we expect the same in return. “Comparing the EU to the Soviet Union is as unwise as it is insulting.
“The Soviet Union was about prisons and gulags, borders and walls, violence against citizens and neighbours.
“The EU is about freedom and human rights, prosperity and peace, life without fear.
“It is about democracy and pluralism – a continent without internal borders or walls.
“As someone who spent half of my life in the Soviet Bloc, I know what I’m talking about.”
Mr Tusk was an anti-Soviet student leader in the Polish port city of Gdansk in the ’80s and played a key role rebuilding his country after decades in the USSR.
In a bid to repair the damage done by the foreign secretary, Theresa May alluded to the bravery of protesters in her conference speech.
But her diplomatic olive branch appeared to go unnoticed, with the top eurocrat also attacking the PM over her response to the Salzburg humiliation.
He said: “Emotional arguments that stress the issue of dignity sound attractive, but they do not facilitate agreement.
“Let us remember that every actor in this process has their dignity, and confrontation in this field will not lead to anything good.
“Unacceptable remarks that raise the temperature will achieve nothing except wasting more time.”
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