Hadja Lahbib Calls on Europe to Anticipate Disasters Rather Than Suffer Their Consequences
In an interview with RFI, the European commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management draws lessons from a summer marked by unprecedented wildfires and warns of rising hybrid threats.
Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, spoke this week on RFI's podcast "Ici l'Europe," hosted by Caroline de Camaret. According to reporting by RFI, she offered her analysis of a summer she describes as unprecedented in terms of forest fires across Europe.
When asked about Europe's strategy in the face of natural disasters, Hadja Lahbib summed up her position in a phrase used as the title of the interview: "Either we keep chasing after disasters, or we prevent them from happening." This statement reflects, according to RFI, her desire to shift the European Union's approach toward greater prevention and anticipation rather than simply reacting in emergency situations.
During the interview, the commissioner also addressed the question of hybrid threats, though details of her remarks on this point were not specified in the excerpt broadcast by RFI. She also defended the European project in a context of rising parties characterized as extreme across the continent, according to how the media presented the interview.
Hadja Lahbib has recently held a portfolio within the European Commission combining issues of equality, crisis preparedness and crisis management. The full interview is available as a podcast on RFI's website.
Sources
- Hadja Lahbib «Soit on continue à courir après les catastrophes, soit on les empêche de survenir» — RFI — Français
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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