The killing of American citizen George Flooded by the police has provoked international reactions against racism, while protests continue in several countries to condemn the crime that sparked widespread unrest in the United States.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today - during a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump - that there is no place for racism, whether in Britain or the United States. Earlier today, he described the death of George Floyd as a shameful and unforgivable matter.
He also said that the lives of blacks were important, and he understood the state of anger and sadness that had prevailed since the American citizen was killed by suffocation when a policeman perched on his neck on May 25.
He also affirmed his support for the right to demonstrate while adhering to the measures of social separation in light of the Corona crisis, but he said that the demonstrations should take place in a legitimate and rational manner. His comments come at a time when London is witnessing a demonstration to condemn the killing of Floyd.
In Berlin, a German government spokesman said today that the government was shocked by Floyd’s defenseless death at the hands of the police, adding that his country must act to combat racism at home, as other countries have done.
Before that, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed his understanding of the protests that have been taking place in the United States days ago, which were punctuated by violence that killed people.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said yesterday that there is a sense of shock in Europe over the killing of Floyd at the hands of the US police.
In France, which witnessed protests condemning the killing of a young man of African descent during his arrest nearly four years ago, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner today threatened to punish anyone who engages in racist acts.
Racism and violence
, in turn, today the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Michel Bachelet, condemned what she called structuralist racism, and the attack on journalists in the United States during protests that have continued for days.
Bachelet called on the US authorities to heed the calls to stop crimes against defenseless citizens of African descent. The UN official said yesterday that the demonstrations sparked by Floyd's killing showed "deep-rooted racial discrimination" in the United States. Whereas, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, had previously called for an investigation of US police violence.
In the same context, China condemned yesterday what it called the chronic disease of racism in the United States, while Russia expressed its shock at the violence practiced by the American police against journalists.
Pope Francis also condemned all forms of racism, and South Africa condemned the violence of the American police, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday that Canadians are following the "horror" of the situation in the United States.
In Iran, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei today considered that what happened in the United States reflects the morals and nature of the US government that it exercised before that in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
Angry demonstrations
In the context of the anger provoked by the killing of Floyd, thousands of people demonstrated today in London calling for justice.
In Portugal, activists called for demonstrations today in front of the US embassy in Lisbon in support of demonstrators in the United States.
Canberra announced on Tuesday that it was investigating that American police officers assaulted two Australian reporters who were covering a demonstration near the White House, and that it was considering the possibility of making a formal protest.
About twenty thousand people demonstrated yesterday in Paris, and chanted the slogans of the current protest movement in the United States, as well as demonstrations took place in other French cities, during which the police arrested about twenty people.