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EU leader blasts Putin comments on liberalism


Bangladeshpost
Published : 28 Jun 2019 06:40 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 03:04 AM

European Union President Donald Tusk has blasted a reported comment by Russian President Vladimir Putin suggesting that liberalism is obsolete.

Tusk said Friday that such comments suggest a belief that ‘freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete’, report agencies.

Putin said in an interview published by the newspaper Financial Times that the "The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population." 

Both leaders are in Osaka for a G-20 summit.

Tusk's statement to reporters said, "We are here as Europeans also to firmly and univocally defend and promote liberal democracy."

He said, "What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective."

The UN chief is urging G-20 leaders to take action on equitable and stable reforms to strengthen the global financial safety net and increase the global economy's resilience.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to leaders gathered in Osaka, Japan, for the two-day summit beginning Friday that while the world has made progress fixing some big problems it's not happening fast enough or shared by all countries.

Guterres said that while there are good plans and vision, what's needed are "accelerated actions, not more deliberations."

He says that fast and equal economic growth should be constructed so that people who live in "the 'rust belts' of the world are not left behind."