Spain’s Environment Minister Teresa Ribera warned the future of the European Union was in danger due to “people who stir up social tensions for short-term political profit”.
Ribera, who heads the Spanish Socialist Party list in the June elections, said the European project risked “imploding” due to scapegoating rather than properly addressing causes of problems.
With threats ranging from traditional wars to manipulation of information on social media, Ribera called a right-wing victory a doomsday scenario for Europe.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister @TeresaRibera, a staunch champion of the European Green Deal, will be the new leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party in the European Parliament. https://t.co/XCU8gt295i
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 24, 2024
Amid this uncertainty, the minister urged centre-right politicians to resist the temptation to ally themselves with the “far right”, and to maintain a firm stance against their tactics and language.
Despite Von der Leyen’s criticism of some ECR members as “Putin proxies,” the European Commission president refused to dismiss working with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
“The far right, the extreme right, cannot be stopped by giving them a bear hug in the European institutions,” she added.
For Ribera, the European Commission should “draw a line on the sand” and explain it exists to solve people’s problems, through “the social agenda, solidarity and hugs”.
Government by the hard-right “has never worked. It has not worked in France, it has not worked in Germany, it has not worked in Italy,” said Ribera.
“So I trust that these elections will result in a more united Europe, with the vocation of a European project and not the destruction of what has taken us so many decades to build”, she reiterated.
She also pledged to do everything possible to save the weakened European Green Pact, and warned its failure would be a defeat not only for Europe, but also for its citizens.
The minister stressed the importance of voting in June and warned about the “normalisation of anti-democratic behaviour” in Europe.
Spain’s ecology minister Teresa Ribera may have arrived at a climate summit on a bicycle, but her efforts were somewhat undermined after it became clear she had been escorted by gas-guzzling armoured cars. https://t.co/vQeF3C9k7C
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 11, 2023
