The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, issued a statement apologizing for his controversial comments last week, saying they had been taken out of context and misunderstood.

Last Thursday, Borrell declared that Europe is a "garden", and the rest of the world is a "jungle", and warned that "the bush" would invade that "garden".

In his controversial statements, the European official said, "Europe is a garden, we have built a garden, the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion that humanity has been able to build, but the rest of the world is not quite a garden, the rest of the world...Most of the rest of the world is jungle."

He added that "the bush can invade the garden, and the gardeners have to take care of it, but they will not protect the garden by building fences, a beautiful little garden surrounded by high walls to prevent the bush will not be a solution (..) the gardeners have to go to the bush, the Europeans have to be more involved with The rest of the world, otherwise the rest of the world will invade Europe."

In his statement published on the European Union's website on Tuesday, Borrell said his use of the terms "garden" and "bush" was not his invention, but the concept had been present in academic and political debates for decades.

Borrell explained that the concept refers to the "law of the jungle" where the international system is based on the will of the strongest away from principles accepted by all given the power of its actors.

Last week I gave a speech at the College of Europe.

The metaphor I used has caused offense because it was misunderstood.

I would like to put the record straight in my new blog post https://t.co/FcVeUukncr pic.twitter.com/SNoIH8lp3a

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 18, 2022

"Some have misinterpreted the metaphor as 'colonial Eurocentrism'," he said. "I am sorry if some are offended."

Borrell added that he recommended the EU ambassadors last week to be "humble", warning them that their focus should be on Europe only, and noted the importance of getting to know the rest of the world better, including the southern part of the world, as he put it.

He stressed that he is opposed to the concept of "fortified Europe", which refers to the negative way in which Europe treats immigrants, and said: "I also have enough experience to know that Europe and the West are not perfect and that some countries of the West have sometimes violated international legitimacy."

He added that what he meant is the increase in violations of international laws and rights in the world, and it has become like a "bush" in various places, including in Ukraine, stressing that his statements "have no racist, cultural or geographical significance."

Borrell stressed that what he means is not similar to the "school of political thought" followed by American neo-conservatives, and the contexts in which they used the terms "garden" and "bush," he said.

The failure of the #EuropeanParliment to call out the Racism of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs @JosepBorrellF speaking volumes about the EU – It should help people understand why most of the Global South refused to take sides in the #US #NATO Proxy War in Ukraine… https://t.co/h6geRuXypF

— Mick Wallace (@wallacemick) October 18, 2022

Josef Borrell's statements met with wide echoes of anger and denunciation from human rights defenders, politicians and activists, which developed into demands for his resignation against the background of his statements, which were described as racist.

The Movement for Democracy in Europe 2025 created a petition to collect signatures from supporters of Borrell's resignation, describing the movement as "strange" and "horrific".

The two MEPs in the European Parliament, Mick Wallace and Mark Botenga, condemned Borrell's comments and called on the European Union to denounce and act on them.

Josep Borrell represents the racist and colonial roots of Europe's ruling class.

👏Resign!👏 https://t.co/ZyXxB5J97e

— Federation of Young European Greens - FYEG (@FYEG) October 19, 2022

British journalist Asa Winstanley commented on Borrell's apology: "The racist EU leader defends his racist metaphor in which he said that non-European countries are the 'bush' encroaching on the European 'garden', and says 'sorry if some are offended'. This is disgusting."