Hungary shows limits of 'anti-EU narrative' pushed by far-right, Ribera tells Euronews

Published on 17/04/2026 - 8:30 GMT+2

Speaking to Euronews’ Europe Today, the European Union’s contention main Teresa Ribera said the decision of Viktor Orbán aft 16 years successful bureau reflected the limits of anti-EU rhetoric, arsenic Hungarians opted for person ties with Europe successful ample numbers.

“Hungarians decided that they wanted to beryllium Europeans, that they wanted to combat for their rights,” she said, describing the effect arsenic a decisive and “very clear” telephone for change.

Orbán, a cardinal state of US President Donald Trump successful Europe, had agelong positioned himself arsenic a unit for disruption wrong the EU and 1 of its fiercest critics. Ahead of the vote, US Vice President JD Vance campaigned successful favour of Orbán and praised his intelligence publication to the planetary blimpish movement. That endorsement proved futile.

Ribera told Euronews the effect exposed the “limitations and harm” of a heavy-handed US attack to European politics, often bordering connected interference. The Trump medication has referred to EU enactment arsenic weak, decaying, and excessively liberal.

It has besides criticised its migration argumentation and described attempts to modulate integer companies arsenic censorship. In a arguable nationalist information papers released past year, the White House vowed to enactment with governmental forces resisting the “current trajectory”, informing that the EU faces “civilisational erasure” unless it changes course.

Still, the Hungarian predetermination proved, according to Ribera, that this strategy is flawed. “This communicative against Europe, against moving together, can't triumph implicit the mean term,” she said, arguing that nationalist enactment for the EU is often underestimated.

Ribera doubles down connected greenish agenda, rules retired deregulation

As the warfare successful Iran rattles the planetary vigor market, respective subordinate states, including Italy, person called connected the European Commission to suspend clime policies. Ribera said flexibility is imaginable but ruled retired a imperishable rollback of the EU’s greenish agenda.

Ribera, a vocal clime advocator and erstwhile clime minister, insisted that cleaner, homegrown vigor is the fastest and safest mode for the EU to found economical information and urged subordinate states to accelerate their greenish modulation plans.

After reports that the Commission is preparing a large overhaul of merger rules to let for the instauration of alleged European champions — a word utilized to picture ample European companies susceptible of competing astatine standard with the US and China — Ribera said the caller model volition not loosen EU contention rules, akin to deregulation.

"We are entering the past signifier to follow an updated mentation (of these rules)," she told Euronews' EU exertion Maria Tadeo successful an interrogation connected Friday. "We cognize we request to update our world to today's economy, but that doesn't mean forgetting the halfway of our mission,"

“We stay committed to protecting consumers and we volition not springiness anyone a blank cheque,” she added.

You tin ticker the afloat interrogation with Teresa Ribera connected Euronews and crossed each societal platforms. Europe Today airs astatine 8am from Brussels Monday to Friday.