Let's all pause and ponder this incredibly awkward suggestion by the spokesperson of Russia's Foreign Ministry
The spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, coined the term “Whoexit” last week in response to the result of the British referendum on leaving the European Union. Zakharova claimed that in the new future, instead of using specific terms like “Grexit” or “Brexit,” people would be better served by the general term “Whoexit,” as referendums to leave the European Union will become commonplace and the use of specific terms to describe particular cases will become unnecessary.
Zakharov's joke, posted on Facebook, is a play on the Russian swear word that rhymes loosely with the English word “who”—the language's most ubiquitous obscenity (which generally translates to “dick,” though its applications in Russian are far wider and more terrifying).
“Another few years of prohibiting [members states] from [enjoying] their sovereignty in making independent decisions in the realm of international relations and in regards to sanctions and the European Union will have set conditions for far more than such referendums amongst its territories,” Zakharova wrote.
Zakharova is not the only Russian politician or public personality to have expressed her views on Brexit on social media. Politician and businessman Boris Titov wrote: “It seems that it has happened: UK out!!! In my opinion, the most important long-term consequence of this development is that Europe will be ripped away from the Anglo-Saxons and that means from the United States. This is not the freedom of Great Britain from Europe, but the freedom of Europe from Britain. [Which means that] we are not too far from a united Eurasia—perhaps within 10 years.”
The noted blogger and Russian Orthodox Archdeacon Andrei Kuraev said, “The Fourth Reich is in the midst of being born in Europe, for Europe without England is a German hegemony,” adding that the current situation will more or less benefit the United States and not necessarily benefit Russia.