Leadership Quote by Fernando Flores

The line weaponizes a compliment and then snaps it in half. Flores starts by naming the “big mythology” that props up European soft power: the flattering global story that Europe is refined, orderly, morally advanced. Calling it a mythology is the tell. He’s not disputing a specific policy or person; he’s puncturing an aura, the brand equity that lets European actors move through international spaces with presumed legitimacy and civility.

The pivot to “But I know” is pure political theater: it stages insider knowledge against a naïve consensus. Flores casts himself as the adult in the room who has dealt with Europe up close, where manners can coexist with condescension, bureaucracy, or exploitative interests. “Impeccable” signals surface polish; “jerks” drags the conversation down to the level of everyday behavior, where hypocrisy is easiest to recognize. It’s strategically blunt, too. A softer term would invite debate; “jerks” is sticky, memorable, hard to launder into diplomatic language.

As a politician, Flores is likely speaking from the position of someone negotiating across asymmetrical prestige. The insult isn’t just emotional release; it’s a counter-myth meant to rebalance the table. He’s telling domestic listeners: don’t be intimidated by European reputations. He’s telling Europeans: your halo won’t protect you from being read as self-serving. The subtext is postcolonial without being academic: respectability is not innocence, and “civilization” can be a mask for entitlement.