World leaders condemn ‘disgraceful scenes’ of Trump supporters storming U.S. Capitol

World leaders condemn ‘disgraceful scenes’ in the US capital Washington DC after the supporters of the outgoing President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday as the House of Representatives and the Senate held a rare joint session to begin certifying the results of the presidential election held in November 2020.

This was the first occurrence of the breach in America since 1814, when the British forces destroyed multiple buildings, including the President’s mansion, in the US capital in an event known as the ‘Burning of Washington’.

It was the historic night of 24 August 1814, as the War of 1812 raged on, British troops stormed the American capital and reduced most of the public official buildings to all but rubble.

Wednesday, 6 January 2021 will go down in world history as the events from the day left the whole world in shock.

The world leaders were quick to respond to the latest development and relayed their messages to the US and its democratic values it has carried in past.

In a radio interview that was scheduled before Wednesday’s events began to unfold, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was following the developments “minute by minute.”

In a tweet later shared Canadian PM said: “Canadians are deeply disturbed and saddened by the attack on democracy in the United States, our closest ally and neighbour. Violence will never succeed in overruling the will of the people. Democracy in the US must be upheld – and it will be.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned the situation in the US and in a tweet he said: “Disgraceful scenes in U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

 

French President Emmanuel Macron in a video on Twitter said: “When, in one of the world’s oldest democracies, supporters of an outgoing president take up arms to challenge the legitimate results of an election, a universal idea – that of ‘one person, one vote’ – is undermined.”

“What happened today in Washington DC is not American, definitely. We believe in the strength of our democracies. We believe in the strength of American democracy” he added.

 

Meanwhile, the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described the incident as “worrying” and said it was “an assault on democracy”.

 

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Stolberg has called the scenes “unbelievable,” and “a totally unacceptable attack on democracy. A heavy responsibility now rests on President Trump to put a stop to this.”