“Radical delegation”, “right-wing campaign” and “circus”: this is how the international press sees Feijóo’s offensive against Ribera in Brussels

Circus, spectacle, right-wing campaign, desire to turn Brussels into Madrid… Numerous media outlets, journalists, reporters, correspondents and columnists draw attention to the unprecedented offensive of Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP in Brussels against the appointment of Vice President Teresa Ribera as vice president of the European Commission.

Of course, after three hours of attacks and asking for her withdrawal, at the end of Teresa Ribera’s appearance in the European Parliament, this Tuesday night, the head of the PP delegation, Dolors Monserrat, came to congratulate Teresa Ribera. Despite the fact that Montserrat’s campaign, Feijóo, supported by the president of the European PP, Manfred Weber, is staggering the future European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen.

Jeremy Cliffe, editorial director and senior policy fellow of the think tank ECFR and contributor to media outlets such as the New Statesman, The Guardian and The Economist, said: “This is ridiculous. A highly coordinated campaign by the Spanish right has led to a competent centre-left candidate for the new European Commission, Teresa Ribera, being questioned about the failures of the Spanish right (Mazón’s failure to prepare Valencia for the flood despite ample warnings).

“A ‘shit show’ or a ‘troll show’? “By the standards of the confirmation examinations of European commissioners it was both… or even more,” he wrote. one of the leading Brussels media outlets in EU information, Politicoparaphrasing the comments of some of the MEPs present at Ribera’s examination: “Members of the Spanish European People’s Party have tried to blame Ribera for the catastrophe in an attempt to divert the attention of the center-right regional president, Carlos Mazón, who is being pressured to resign for his botched management of the crisis. Under Spanish law, regional authorities are responsible for managing emergencies, but center-right MEPs allied themselves with members of the far-right Patriotas group. [el de Vox] to try to attribute responsibility for the tragedy to Ribera. Her repeated mentions of the matter exasperated MPs from other countries, eager to debate issues relevant to the Commissioner-designate’s portfolio.”

Lewis Crofts, editor-in-chief of MLex, one of the European media specialized in international energy markets and industrial competitiveness, stated: “MEPs are turning this hearing into a circus. Many boos, applause, lamentations, banging on tables: ”There is a group of people that divides this house. Giving political details at this point is a complicated job.”

“Teresa Ribera explains…, the right limits itself to attacking.” That is the conclusion reached by Euractiv in its headlineanother of those specialized in community information.

The French media specialized in energy, Contexte, describes the PP’s offensive like this: “After the appearance of the designated vice president, the new Commission is blocked by tensions in the European Parliament. The violence of the PPE attacks and the demand that Teresa Ribera’s evaluation be made conditional on an appearance in Spain marked a breaking point.”

Le Pointa conservative French weekly, states for its part: “The deputies of the Spanish PP have been waiting for this moment to settle scores that have little to do with Europe.”