EU Confidential

Nov 28 2024 433 ep. 34 mins 4k

EU Confidential Podcast artwork

EU Confidential is a weekly European news and politics podcast published every Friday by POLITICO Europe. Each 30-minute episode features POLITICO’s analysis of the top stories driving EU politics, as well as notable guests shaping European policy and deep-dive stories from around the Continent. It’s hosted by Sarah Wheaton, POLITICO’s chief policy correspondent, who is joined by reporters from around Europe. Discover our show notes for EU Confidential here: https://www.politico.eu/eu-confidential-podcast/

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Romania’s TikTok upset boosts Putin

Nov 28 2024 37 mins

Romania’s presidential election delivered a TikTok-fueled political shock, with pro-Russia, far-right candidate Călin Georgescu winning the first round. His unexpected rise has stunned the establishment and raised serious questions about NATO, Ukraine, and Europe’s future. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton speaks with former NATO spokesperson and Romanian native Oana Lungescu

Scholz on the brink, Rubio in the wings: Europe faces the new Trump era

Nov 21 2024 33 mins

While Donald Trump is filling out his top team, the EU faces a leadership vacuum. Thank Germany, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been on the phone with Vladimir Putin and faces gloomy prospects in likely snap elections. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Gordon Repinski, POLITICO’s executive editor for Germany and host of the Berlin Playbook podcast, and Liana Fix,

The challenges to energy security in Europe

Nov 19 2024 18 mins

Europe’s energy system is entering a period of radical change. The net-zero transition will require a significant overhaul of our infrastructure and our supply chains, right when geopolitical tensions are forcing the continent to find new sources of oil and gas and develop new networks of energy collaboration with allies. In this special podcast episode produced by POLITICO Studi

What the Commissioner hearings revealed about the EU

Nov 14 2024 34 mins

There were 26 hearings and 72 hours of questions, answers and non-answers — and in the end, none of it mattered. Politics clearly trumped policy as MEPs grilled the aspiring new commissioners, with partisanship reaching new heights. EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton unpacks the Commission confirmation hearings with some of POLITICO’s top policy journalists: Senior Reporter for

How Trump is already breaking Europe

Nov 07 2024 41 mins

After Donald Trump’s election victory, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is breaking out the Champagne. Germany’s government, meanwhile, is breaking up. In this week’s episode of EU Confidential, we look at how Trump Round 2 is already reshaping European power dynamics. POLITICO editor-at-large Nicholas Vinocur dials in from Budapest, where Orbán is hosting European lea

Faith, fear and freedom: European eyes are on the US vote

Oct 31 2024 31 mins

For a fresh view of the U.S. election in its final days — and what it means for Europe — this week’s episode of EU Confidential gets a ground-level take from the campaign trail. POLITICO’s Jakob Hanke Vela, usually based in Brussels, has been dispatched to the U.S. to meet voters and cover the campaign from a European perspective. Francesca Chambers, White House corresponde

Brussels vs Moscow: The EU risks losing its eastern neighbors

Oct 24 2024 39 mins

A vote that was supposed to be a slam dunk in favor of the EU turned into a nail-biter: barely 50 percent of Moldovans backed the country’s accession ambitions in last week’s referendum. Does a massive Russian interference campaign of vote-buying and lies explain the result — or is Brussels’ tepid support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression also to blame? Ahead

The world is in crisis and the EU is doing ... nothing?

Oct 17 2024 38 mins

This week’s episode of EU Confidential is a show about nothing. As in: Brussels’ endless lame-duck inertia. Sure, there’s still lots of yadda yadda yadda, but no real action coming out of the EU institutions despite multiple global crises (leaders at this week’s EU summit discussed migration, sure, but left Brussels having taken no concrete decisions on how to tackle it). H

Driving toward a trade war with China

Oct 10 2024 30 mins

Buckle up. This week on the EU Confidential podcast, we’re talking cars. And a looming trade war. European Union countries are split over whether it’s a good idea to take on Beijing and use duties to hit the brakes on China’s booming (and heavily subsidized) electric car industry. At the same time, the EU is trying to shift to greener cars. Seems contradictory? It is. Abigaë

From 'Fortress Austria' to 'Fortress Europe'?

Oct 03 2024 39 mins

In this week’s episode of EU Confidential, we tackle the complex forces shaping Europe’s future — where political shifts, migration and escalating conflict in neighboring regions are all colliding. As tensions in the Middle East intensify, POLITICO's Opinion Editor Jamie Dettmer reports from Tel Aviv, breaking down the situation on the ground and the prospect of an all-out wa