The Telegraph reports that Boris had been given a new opportunity to test his diplomatic skills as Mayor. Seasoned Johnsonians may remember that after the poisoning of the former spy Alexander Litvinenko, Boris portrayed Moscow as a place where one could be killed “in coffee lounges just because [one has] been mildly disobliging to the regime”. Now, however, officials in Moscow have invited him to visit.
“We hope Boris Johnson will come to Moscow soon and see with his own eyes what a vibrant and fast-developing city Moscow really is,” said Alexander Pogorelov, a spokesman for the city government’s foreign economic relations department.
A visit to Moscow, however, would not come without criticism. The Moscow Mayor, Yury Luzhkov, has previously banned gay rights parades and called homosexuality ’satanic’. Boris should consider the moral implications of such a meeting, and the political effects of mayors hugging homophobes.
Update: The Moscow Times - which describes Boris as being ‘regarded in the opposition Conservative Party as something of a loose cannon’ - alleges that a spokesman for the Moscow city government asked, “Is [Johnson] as friendly with the gays as the former mayor?”
Tags: Diplomacy2 Comments
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So, in other words, Boris is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t?
Yes, sadly.
He’ll get criticism from different people whichever decision he makes, so it really depends upon who he’d prefer to please.