France Summons Russian Envoy over Cartoon Mocking Europe

French Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to France over a cartoon post mocking Europe, as the ministry deemed it unacceptable.

The Russian Embassy in Paris had posted a picture depicting a body lying on a table called "Europe" with characters representing the United States and European Union jabbing needles into it.

The post implied that the European continent was being destroyed by policies undertaken by the United States and the EU. The needles jabbed into the body illustrating Europe had words such as "NATO", "COVID-19", "Cancel Culture" and "Sanctions".

"We made that clear today to the Russian Ambassador," the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters. "We are trying to maintain a demanding channel of dialogue with Russia and these actions are completely inappropriate."

Speaking to reporters in Brussels, President Emmanuel Macron dismissed the cartoons as false propaganda.

"It's unacceptable. We believe in a respectful dialogue and will continue it and that means respect on all sides. It's a mistake. It's been corrected and I hope it won't happen again. We demanded it."

Moreover, France's European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune had slammed the cartoon post, calling it "a disgrace".

The picture has since been removed from the embassy's feed.