“The reaction of my European colleagues was mainly about the absurdity of this threat of annexation. [They said to me] ‘Is this a joke? You know, my team tells me not to comment because it’s a joke,’ said Joly.
She hastened to add that she corrected the situation in the face of these doubts.I told them, “No, no, no, no, this is not a joke. This is a very serious threat, and we don’t mess around over a country’s sovereignty.”