The first vice president of the Commission responsible for Green Transition and Competition, Teresa Riberabelieves that the European Union is being too lukewarm in its reaction to the threats of Donald Trump to its partners and allies on issues such as Greenland or community digital laws.
Although he has never mentioned him by name, Ribera has called to stand up to the president of the United States, even if only in words, because he considers that his ultimate objective is to “destroy” the EU. “We cannot remain silent or remain indifferent.“he said.
“It is important to make it clear: these types of threats to partners – based on things that, of course, are not true – are not acceptable. Greenland poses no threat and is not for sale“, highlighted the vice president of the Commission, who is the highest-ranking socialist leader within the Executive of Ursula von der Leyen.
“Maintaining that the only limitation is personal individual morality (as Trump said in his last interview with New York Times) is something that was rejected at the origins of modern States, in the construction of democracy and in the construction of the multilateral order after the Second World War,” Ribera denounces.
“It is important to make things clear and remind us all why it is essential to stand up (…) The rest of the world cannot accept this type of behavior in the international arena,” highlighted the former number 3 in the Government of Pedro Sanchez before making the leap to Brussels.
In his opinion, the EU is not ready for a world in which a traditional ally like the United States, which was at the origin of the model of peace and cooperation after the Second World War, has transformed into a power that breaks the rules and questions alliances.
The only possible answer is continue to defend international law and a rules-based multilateral world orderRibera said when asked about the US intervention in Venezuela. “Forgetting this will not bring us a better future, but will have an enormous cost for all human beings,” he said.
Regarding the Trump administration’s constant attacks on EU digital legislation, the head of Competition defends that Brussels must resist at all costs.
“There may be some powerful companies or some powerful states that try to break our trust.but we must stay united, both at a European level to be able to stand up and defend something that we consider valuable, and also at an international level” with other allies, says Ribera.
“We are open for business, but this cannot be the Wild West; on the contrary, it is important that there are key rules that are known by everyone,” he stressed.
Is the European response to Trump’s threats being too lukewarm? “I think it’s pretty obvious that the European project has been attacked as something to be destroyedboth from outside and from within,” responds the vice-president of the Commission.
“But I believe that there is a large majority of Europeans who understand why it is important to continue building and respond to challenges that were not part of the list of problems that we thought we should address,” he concluded.