Spain's environment minister, Teresa Ribera, warned that the European Union's future is in danger due to individuals who exploit social tensions for immediate political advantage. She emphasized that the European project faces the risk of "implosion" ahead of the upcoming European parliamentary elections. 

She said, as quoted by The Guardian, “When you have people asking themselves what scapegoats they can use for their problems – rather than correctly identifying the causes of their problems and addressing them – the search for scapegoats ratchets up."

“And that breaks coexistence in a society. I think that’s the riskiest point we’re facing right now – the risk of an implosion of a European project that’s probably one of the most successful projects in history, and of course in recent European history,” she added.

Ribera noted that Europe, grappling with ongoing wars such as those in Ukraine and Gaza, is additionally threatened by individuals who utilize energy, food, disinformation, and social media manipulation as modern tools of warfare.

During this period of global turmoil and unpredictability, Ribera emphasized the importance of center-right politicians refraining from emulating or forming alliances with the far right.

“I think it’s been shown that it’s a huge error – and historically always has been – to think that looking for common territory with the far right is a way to pacify the far right,” she said as quoted by The Guardian.

“That never works. The French know that very well; I think the republican principle of a cordon sanitaire against things that aren’t tolerable is still the best answer.”

Ribera expressed concern over the growing tendency of the moderate right to adopt the tactics and rhetoric of the far right.

“I think that’s very worrying and, up to a certain point, it was a betrayal,” said Ribera.

“When [European People’s party leader Manfred] Weber questioned the restoration of ecosystems, or in the words Von der Leyen has used in these pre-electoral moments, I didn’t see the classic Christian democracy that was at the fore of the construction of the European project, along with social democracy and the liberals. I think that’s very worrying and that we should avoid those kinds of temptations,” she added.

Europe's present threatened by authoritarian past

Ribera, who has overseen Spain's environmental policies for six years, highlighted the recent neo-fascist demonstrations in Italy as evidence of Europe's "democratic" present being threatened by its authoritarian past.
 
“That is what’s at stake right now,” she said. “That’s being normalized. Does anyone really think that recognizing this kind of behavior as legitimate is going to make it disappear? Quite the opposite. It will just grow and become seen as just another sign of institutional and public life.”

“Participation in European elections is usually lower than in local or national elections because people think that all this stuff just goes on working alongside our daily reality,” she maintained. “But that’s a lie: whoever’s in Brussels will end up defending policies in all our member states but also our capacity to react to any crisis.”
 
Ribera noted Spain's experience with alliances between the center-right and the far-right, citing collaborations between the conservative People's Party and Vox in forming regional coalition governments.

Additionally, she emphasized that the urgency of the climate emergency should not be exploited for cultural or partisan political agendas.

“From a physical point of view, it’s obviously impossible to ask nature or the climate system to give us more time,” she said. “The dynamics have been evolving and will continue evolving whether we pay attention to them or not. But it’s more than that – if we don’t pay attention then we’ll accelerate that deterioration.”

Ribera emphasized the choice between proactively addressing the emergency to minimize its impact, lower expenses, and create opportunities, or facing the consequences later in the form of floods, severe heatwaves, and the breakdown of industrial infrastructure.
 
“The far right – and the right has seconded them on this – has sought to portray this agenda as a kind of cultural agenda to be fought against,” she said. “It’s distorted reality as if by questioning the messenger and the message it’ll avoid the problems we’re having.”

Ribera pledged to exert all efforts to salvage the struggling European Green Deal, designed to enhance biodiversity and environmental cleanliness and combat climate change. The EU has scaled back various proposed legislation, such as the nature restoration law, which is close to disintegration, and abandoned other initiatives, including regulations on pesticides.

“I will do everything in my power to stop the Green Deal failing and to make sure that it’s viable, agile and just,” said Ribera, as quoted by The Guardian.

“I think that’s the most important political message of this campaign. I think the failure of the Green Deal wouldn’t just be a failure for Europe; it would be a failure for Europe’s citizens and for their opportunities,” she concluded.

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