Putin: EU Members’ Mistakes behind Mass Protests

By Staff, Agencies

Russian President Vladimir Putin viewed that the recent wave of protests that swept across Western Europe were the result of the EU’s own mistakes.

He further added that “European countries are struggling to manage the migration crisis.”

“Europeans are dismantling their own traditions, so they are even less able to convey them to migrants,” Putin stated.

Mass protests took place again over the weekend. Demonstrators, reportedly angry over soaring living costs and inept government policies clashed with riot police in several cities.

The anti-government unrest has largely been inspired by the protests in France, which began in September and then spread to other countries.

Putin said some European leaders are unable to take responsibility for unrest.

“Instead of analyzing the situation and identifying its causes they tend to blame other countries - first the US and now Russia,” he mentioned.

“But they quickly came to their senses and reverted to their traditional accusations against Russia. My first reaction when I saw this was surprise, because to claim that we are provoking mass protests in major European cities is really going too far,” the Russian president underlined, adding that it reflects the leaders’ weakness in being unable to tackle the situation.