Look Who it Was Random video

Orban protest, Weber selected, and Salvini gets dumped (Tweets of the Week, S2 E9)

1,231 views · Published 9 November 2018 · 3:31 · Indexed 29 September 2026

Channel: Rapporteur News · 2018 · News & Politics

Watch on YouTube

Welcome to EURACTIV’s Tweets of the Week. This week it’s Orban’s face on a van, Manfred’s the EPP man and Salvini loses a fan.

This episode is supported by the ALDE party.

And it was ALDE that gave us one of the most unconventional moments of the week, with a larger-than-life picture of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, plastered on the side of a van, in the latest stage of the PR war between Brussels and Budapest.
https://twitter.com/alemannoEU/status/1059765633867485185

Luke James said ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt gave Orban “a taste of his own medicine”.
https://twitter.com/LEJ88/status/1059764235952119809

While Belgian MEP Hilde Vautmans said “Europeans have to speak out against Orban’s politics” because he “takes our money but not our values”.
https://twitter.com/hildevautmans/status/1059764122743685122

Verhofstadt also made another symbolic point, this time in his office kitchen. His much treasured Union Jack fridge is OUT, replaced with a brand new EU-flag-branded model. The ALDE leader tweeted that he hopes “one day it might return”.
https://twitter.com/guyverhofstadt/status/1060111453439574016

James Crisp called it “one of the most under-reported tragedies of Brexit” and suggested that it is proof enough that Brussels is sure the UK will definitely leave the EU and complete Brexit. https://twitter.com/JamesCrisp6/status/1060117692764577792

But Anton Lazarus pointed out that the maker of The Hof’s shiny new cooler doesn’t produce any models that meet the EU’s top level energy label. Whoops!
https://twitter.com/_antlaz_/status/1060174032199401475

Keeping Brexit news to an absolute minimum this week, the European Court of Justice revealed that it will rule on whether the all-important Article 50 letter, triggered by the UK, can actually be reversed.
https://twitter.com/EUCourtPress/status/1060080924862439424

If the EU judges rule it can, that will please a good number of Brits, more and more of whom would now back remain, according to a major new poll.
https://twitter.com/krishgm/status/1059601943595769857

That could prove a major headache for the next president of the European Commission, who may turn out to be the EPP’s Manfred Weber, after party members meeting in Helsinki chose the Bavarian to be their lead candidate.
https://twitter.com/EURACTIV/status/1060498392957227009

Weber won with nearly 80% of the vote and will now go on a tour around the EU as his campaign kicks off in earnest.
https://twitter.com/ManfredWeber/status/1060501730197204992

Martini Seltzermayr asked the twittersphere who would make a better president, Weber or an old broom handle. Early results suggest that the stiff piece of wood is going to win in a landslide.
https://twitter.com/mseltzermayr/status/1060435283714469889

But Evan O’Connell, among others, still thinks that Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will still get the nod to take over from Juncker.
https://twitter.com/evanoconnell/status/1060427417989341184

Although, the silver-haired Frenchman had to endure a rough time during his speech, when the rest of the room rudely talked among themselves and took selfies with each other.
https://twitter.com/DarrenEuronews/status/1060462328574025729

At the end of the day, Finnish ironman Alex Stubb’s youth-focused campaign wasn’t enough to convince EPP heads to give him the nod but he was gracious in defeat, insisting he will support Weber “100%”.
https://twitter.com/herszenhorn/status/1060500407863140352

But his fresh take on the Spitzenkandidat process has threatened to shake things up. As Nicholas Whyte tweeted, giving away free hotdogs was a good idea, even if it didn’t quite carry him to victory.
https://twitter.com/nwbrux/status/1060174519871176706

Speaking of the murky world of the Spitzenkandidat process, take a look at my colleague Alexandra’s straightforward explainer video, which will guide you through the whole convoluted affair.
https://twitter.com/alex_owski/status/1060096615627800576

But Stubb wasn’t the only politician left disappointed this week. Italy’s hot-headed interior minister Matteo Salvini got more than he bargained for when he logged onto Instagram, where he found out that he had been dumped by his girlfriend.
https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/1059389472033398784

The far-right Lega leader later tweeted that despite a busy day of work ahead in Africa, his phone was ringing off the hook for other reasons and lamented that some people have other priorities.
https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1059542393643565057

That’s it for this tweets of the week. Thanks to ALDE for supporting this edition, check out their twitter feed to follow all the action from their congress in Madrid.
https://twitter.com/ALDEParty/status/1060250976546947073

Jennifer Baker will have probably escaped from the phantom zone to return for hosting duties next time around, so be sure to tune back in then!

More from this channel