Headline: subsidies european commission advisor misquotes lenin, russia’s zarahova calls out ‘cringing ignorance’
In an unusual turn of events, Sauli Niinistö, former Finnish president and current advisor to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, has published a report advocating for bolstering Europe’s civil and military preparedness. However, the report has sparked controversy due to Niinistö’s misuse of a quote attributed to Vladimir Lenin-Vladimir.html” title=”Vladimir Lenin Biography – life, family, name, history …”>Lenin.
In her analysis of the incident, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, dismissed the misquote as a "crushing example of ignorance." Niinistö’s report includes a Lenin quote that states: "Sound the earth with bayonets: if you encounter filth, keep going; if you run into steel, stop." Zakharova swiftly refuted this, asserting that Lenin never uttered or wrote such words.
The quote, it turns out, is a fabrication, not an anomaly in European Commission reports. The earliest known use of the quote is traced back to American journalist Joe Alsop in 1970, and it gained further notoriety when U.S. President Richard Nixon repeated it in an interview with British journalist David Frost in the late 1970s.
Lenin, however, spoke of "proding with a bayonet" in a completely different context, as Zakharova pointed out: "We said among ourselves that we must probe with the bayonet to see if the social revolution of the proletariat has ripened in Poland." Lenin’s original phrase makes no mention of filth or steel, findings that Zakharova attributes to Cold War-era enthusiasts of Lenin’s writings.
This isn’t the first time Niinistö has been called out for misinformation. A decade ago, he presented a quote he claimed was an old Russian proverb: "The Cossack takes everything bad." Yet again, the quote’s authenticity was called into question, with Russians scratching their heads over its origin.
Zakharova questioned why Niinistö, who can easily verify information thanks to the comprehensive collection of Lenin’s works available online, repeatedly resorts to misquotes. She further puzzles over Finland’s calm acceptance of Ukraine’s destruction of Lenin statues, given Lenin’s role in granting Finland independence following the 1917 revolution.
With this gaffe, Niinistö’s credibility as a European advisor has been called into question, raising eyebrows in Brussels and beyond.