The schizophrenic politics of the European Union continue. On one hand, you have the far-right winning big in France’s first round of parliamentary elections and Eurosceptic Viktor Orbán taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (not to be confused with the European Council, which of course no one would ever do). On the other hand, you’ve got a trio of solid centrist and pro-EU personalities set to lead the bloc — and possibly without having to pander to the far-right (or whatever Giorgia Meloni’s ECR says it is) for their votes.

All said, there are ample arguments to be made for both the sky is falling and that everything will be OK. EUO’s Andrew Rettman returns to talk foremost about Hungary’s presidency and Pascal LeTendre-Hanns shares insights into French politics right now.

No matter how uncertain European policymakers might be about the future of their side of the Atlantic, they may be even more worried about the other side. That Biden-Trump debate was a doozy, eh? In the spirit of the Fourth of July (at least at time of recording), we’ll have a look at how the Olde World is looking at the old men vying to lead the “New” World.

Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe hereand get us where your ears go for podcasts:

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Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!

As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.

News doldrums, silly season, Sommerloch. There are many names for the summertime off-season, when there isn’t much to report except the sunburns of politicians as they run off to the beach with everyone else. This summer, however, is shaping up to be anything but slow. The long days are sure to be filled with horse-trading and hand-wringing of all kinds.

Both the United Kingdom and France hold snap elections around the same time in early July. Neither result is likely to be very pretty. Meanwhile, Hungary will be rotating in to run the Council of the EU, while the EU itself figures out what its next parliament and commission are going to look like. Amid all that, outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, will be stepping into NATO’s top civilian post (leaving behind a country that is more extreme right than ever).

Oh, and if Israel declares war on Hezbollah, Hezbollah may declare war on Cyprus — an EU member. Probably not, but just the idea of that is enough to underscore how big the gap is between talk of European defense and actually defending Europe, without the U.S. stepping in. Which depending how things go after the summer, it might not.

Award-winning European correspondent, Caroline de Gruyter, and New School prof, Claire Potter lend their expert hands to help us cover all these issues.

Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe hereand get us where your ears go for podcasts:

* Apple Podcasts

* Spotify

* EUObserver

Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!

As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.

Yes, the “center” of European politics “held.” But oh dear are things fragile. Neither the German nor French political establishment enjoys much legitimacy these days, and only the far-right seem to have come up with an “alternative” to them. Hey, say what you want, but at least it’s an ethos. While there are still plenty of socialists and center-left folks loafing about the halls of European power, it’s anyone’s guess what the EU looks like when its two biggest members are flirting with neo-fascist takeovers or ungovernable coalitions — if not nationally, at least regionally.

In next-largest Italy, the populist right already has things well in hand. EUO’s Valentina Saini returns to Euroscopic to discuss what’s up in Italy and the government’s push towards the fancy-sounding idea of “differentiated autonomy.” Giorgia Meloni may find herself in the awkward position of trying to boost her European credentials while placating the euroskeptic ones that got her into power in the first place. Oops.

But who needs illiberals to dismantle “European values” from within when liberals are happy to do it themselves? EUO columnist Shada Islam joins us to discuss the role that Israel’s destruction of Gaza is playing in splitting the EU — and if Arab and Muslim voters here can form the kind of potent constituency that their counterparts in the United States have been able to do.

Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe hereand get us where your ears go for podcasts:

* Apple Podcasts

* Spotify

* EUObserver

Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!

As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.