European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been criticized for comparing the conflict in Ukraine to Ireland’s struggle for independence from Britain. The fact that the politician was at the center of the scandal reports the Daily Mail portal.

According to the publication, von der Leyane made her statement at a meeting of parliament in Dublin, which was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Ireland’s membership in the European Union.

“Today, another European nation is fighting for independence. Of course, Ireland is far from the front line in Ukraine. (…) Like our friends in Eastern Europe, you know that more is at stake in Ukraine than the future of one country,” she said. In Great Britain. Thus, deputy Jacob Rees-Mogg called von der Leyen’s statement “undiplomatic, unreasonable and wrong.”

Ireland’s war for independence from the British Empire began in 1919 and lasted until 1921. Irish Republican Army fighters took over arms depots and gained control of a large number of counties in the region. On December 6, 1921, Britain was forced to sign the Anglo-Irish Treaty, according to which most of the region gained independence.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine began in April 2014 after the events of Euromaidan and entered a new phase in 2022, when Russia launched a special operation to protect the republics of Donbass.