THE German Foreign Office has been mocked on social media after mistakenly tweeting the flag of the Ivory Coast in a message of support to Ireland over Brexit.
After British MPs voted in favour of yet more negotiations over the Irish border 'backstop' last night, Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas assured Ireland that it had the EU's backing on the issue.
"Regarding the backstop, Germany and the entire Union are firmly on Ireland’s side. We will not allow Ireland to be isolated on this issue," Mr Maas said.
Reiterating the minister’s comments, the German Foreign Office later tweeted: "FM @HeikoMaas on #Brexit: Germany and the entire EU will stand by Ireland on the backstop. We will not allow [Ivory Coast emoji] to be isolated on this issue".
FM @HeikoMaas on #Brexit: Germany and the entire EU will stand by Ireland on the backstop. We will not allow 🇨🇮 to be isolated on this issue. pic.twitter.com/ELUrYJJQyN
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) 30 January 2019
Dozens of Twitter users were quick to deride the unfortunate gaffe.
One wrote: "You wont allow the Ivory Coast to be isolated? What about Ireland?"
Another said: "10/10 for the sentiment... 0/10 for not proof-reading the correct flag".
A third added: "Stand with them so much that you don’t even know what their national flag looks like."
Thanks to all our followers for spotting the mistake before we did. Fake news will never get past you guys 😉
We will not allow 🇮🇪 to be isolated on this issue. And we will continue to forge close ties with Côte d’Ivoire! https://t.co/h8xU1D3mv2
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) 30 January 2019
Several others struck a lighter tone, referring to Germany with the Belgian flag – which also happens to be made up of black, red and gold.
Very nice sentiment from the foreign minister of 🇧🇪
— Donall Quinn (@quinner1955) 30 January 2019
Who says Germans 🇧🇪 don’t have a sense of humour!
— Terry Treanor (@Eansanead) 30 January 2019
We won't mix you guys up with 🇧🇪 either, even if they would argue they have better beer and chocolate :)
— Cian Twomey 🌐 (@cian2me) 30 January 2019
Realising their error, the German Foreign Office joked: "We're all confused by Brexit".
We’re all confused by Brexit.
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) 30 January 2019
Touché!
Perhaps a Länderflaggensensibilisierungsfortbildungsveranstaltung is in order lads?
