In September 2023, the media disseminated a statement by Ursula von der Leyen, in which she allegedly held Russia responsible for the bombing of a Japanese city in 1945. We have verified the accuracy of such publications.
September 22, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova published in his Telegram channel a post dedicated to the speech of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at an event in the USA. According to a Russian official, one of the leaders of the European Union during her speech “blamed the tragedy of Hiroshima on Russia.” “Not a word about the USA and the Washington executioners who dropped bombs on Japanese cities and civilians. <…> It’s disgusting and dangerous how Ursula von der Leyen lies,” Zakharova emphasized. Her post at the time of writing this analysis had received 540,000 views.
About the statement of the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry they wrote “News", RBC, "Kommersant", "Channel 5", "Gazeta.ru", "Star", "Moskovsky Komsomolets", News.ru, "National News Service"and many other Russian media.
September 20, the head of the European Commission performed at the Global Citizens Award ceremony, presented by the American think tank Atlantic Council. Among the 2023 laureates was Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - von der Leyen read out speech preceding his award ceremony. Text of this speech available on the European Commission website, and the video on YouTube channel executive body of the EU.
Introducing the laureate, von der Leyen emphasized the role of the Japanese prime minister in the international counteraction to Russian aggression against Ukraine, including in organizing the G7 summit in Hiroshima this spring. The head of the European Commission noted that this is Kishida’s hometown: “Many of your relatives died when the atomic bomb razed Hiroshima to the ground. You grew up hearing the stories of survivors. And you wanted us to listen to the same stories, to face the past and learn something about the future. <…> From the very beginning of this war, Japan’s position was clear. As the only country to suffer the atomic bombings, you made the whole world listen.”
In the middle of this passage, the European official uttered a phrase that caused Zakharova’s indignation. In the original (von der Leyen spoke in English) it sounded like this: “It was a sobering start to the G7 and one that I will not forget, especially at a time when Russia threatens to use nuclear weapons once again.” The speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, who omitted the first part of the sentence about “a sobering start to the G7 [summit] that will never be forgotten” (the head of the European Commission along with other leaders entrusted wreath for the memorial in Hiroshima), translated its second part as follows: “Russia threatens to use nuclear weapons again.” From this, Zakharova concluded that von der Leyen blamed the Russian Federation for the bombing in August 1945.
Although the translation made by the official representative of the Russian Ministry is correct, the head of the European Commission did not state that Hiroshima was bombed by the Russian military. She only mentioned that her experience of visiting the city was especially emotional against the backdrop of constant messages from Russian officials and propagandists threats And appeals use nuclear weapons against Ukraine and other countries. If such words turn into action, this will be the second time, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that an atomic bomb has been used in combat, that is, it will be used again, but this time by Russia. To be fair, von der Leyen did not really say that Japanese cities were bombed by the American military.
Thus, although Zakharova generally correctly translated von der Leyen’s speech, she misinterpreted her words. The European official can rightly be reproached for her poor choice of wording and concealment of who exactly dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, but the accusations that the head of the European Commission allegedly blamed these bombings on Russia are unfounded.
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