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In this episode of Policy Voices , we unpack the outcome of Hungary’s 12 April 2026 landslide election, examining its impact domestically, across Europe and the Europe-made brand of far-right populism. We ask what Péter Magyar’s victory means not only for the country’s political future, but for Europe as a whole. Host Thomas Van Vynckt is joined by Gábor Iklódy, Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe and former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, to explore the domestic shifts and wider European implications of the election, as well as the lessons Europe must draw to strengthen the integrity of its democratic institutions following 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s premiership.

Electricity grids have become the backbone of Europe’s energy transition, yet the infrastructure needed to meet rising demand, decarbonise industry, and strengthen energy security remains under pressure. In this episode, we explore the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities shaping Europe’s grids today. Host Davide Sofia speaks with Matt Ersin, Senior Director at Fastned and Chair of the Green Industrial Grids Association (GIGA), who highlights the perspective of companies relying on medium- and large-scale electricity, underlining the practical realities of grid access, congestion and long-term planning. Our other guest, Anastasio Papandreou, Energy Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the EU, provides insight into how the EU presidency is advancing the Energy Union agenda, fostering interconnections, modernisation and digitalisation to support competitiveness, security and affordability across the continent.

Methane is often overlooked in climate debates, yet it is a powerful driver of global warming. Far more potent than CO₂ in the short term, cutting methane emissions today can slow warming within the next decade. For Europe, tackling methane is not just about the climate: it also strengthens energy security, improves transparency in the energy system, and reduces waste across oil, gas and coal supply chains. In this episode of Policy Voices, host Davide Sofia explores the EU methane regulation and its role in shaping a cleaner, more secure and more reliable energy future. He speaks with Dr Léa Pilsner of Environmental Defense Fund Europe, who explains how the regulation establishes monitoring, reporting, and leak detection, including for imported fossil fuels, and why these measures are a practical opportunity to make rapid progress on emissions. The conversation continues with Ursula Woodburn of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and the Corporate Leaders Group Europe, who reflects on the broader policy landscape. They discuss the challenges and opportunities for Europe’s industrial transformation, the impact of the simplification agenda, and the critical decisions ahead as the EU looks towards 2030.

Host Thomas Van Vynckt, Head of Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, is joined by Myroslava Gongadze and Gábor Iklódy, Senior Fellows at Friends of Europe. Myroslava is a Ukrainian-US national whose husband was abducted and murdered in 2000, an event that prompted a career of advocacy and campaigning for press freedom in Ukraine, Europe and the US. Gábor is a Hungarian diplomat who was forced out of the national civil service following the rise of Viktor Orbán. Together, they discuss the warning shot they co-authored and published just days ago. Europe, not just Ukraine, is at war. Russia’s hybrid operations across Europe reach the level of a sustained, low-intensity hybrid war against Europe and NATO warn Friends of Europe Senior Fellows. Yet Europe continues to apply a peacetime logic to an environment that is no longer peaceful and an adversary that does not feel bound by international law. They call for an urgent shift from a peacetime posture to a genuine defensive mindset, arguing that a renewed focus on defence is not sufficient in the absence of a comprehensive EU defence and security strategy going beyond additional spending. These are some of the points set out in Friends of Europe's warning shot, 'Europe at war,' co-authored by Friends of Europe's Senior Fellows Myroslava Gongadze, Gábor Iklódy and Jamie Shea. Read Friends of Europe's warning shot here: https://www.friendsofeurope.org/insights/frankly-speaking-europe-at-war-friends-of-europes-warning-shot/

This is the tenth and final episode of Overcoming Polarisation: Paths to Common Ground, a podcast series from Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit. Europe is feeling fractured. Whether it’s politics, climate, tech, or trust in institutions, more and more people are feeling left out, unheard, and uncertain about the future. But what if we could flip the script? What if instead of fuelling division, we looked for common ground? In this series, we’re diving into the real issues behind polarisation. Economic inequality, climate anxiety, digital disruption, and bringing together voices from across the spectrum. From policymakers, activists, business leaders, and most importantly, citizens’ voices via our latest study “Voices for Choices”. In today’s show, host Sabina Șancu spoke with Fabien Curto Millet, Google’s chief economist, about the challenges that AI brings to the future of work and education, and how Europe can prepare to support itself as an aging continent. Discussing healthcare, productivity and lifelong learning, Curto Millet invites us to see AI as a generational opportunity. In the second part of the episode, two of the people who made Voices for Choices happen explain some of the trends from the current edition of the study and give insights into the next edition. Alessandra Cardaci, head of programming and operations, and Adam Nyman, director of citizen outreach and engagement, shared their vision for this research spanning multiple European countries. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

What do we talk about when we talk about brain drain? What actually makes a highly skilled person choose to move away from their country? Wha makes them decide to never go back? Brain drain has been one of the most hotly debated issues when it comes to the future of the Western Balkans. In this episode, we start exploring the personal experiences and choices, as well as the systemic obstacles that influence the decision to emigrate. Host Sabina Șancu is joined by Tijana Tamburic, who co-founded the creative agency Female Narratives. She runs that from London, having moved to the UK as a child because of the impact the '90s wars had on her home country of Serbia and her parents’ opportunities there. Our other guest is Armin Čerkez, the founder of the NGO Youth Power. After working for years to make a change in his home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armin decided to move to Berlin in search of an easier life, one more suited to his personal priorities. Both Tijana and Armin are part of our European Young Leaders (#EYL40) programme, a group of people from all across Europe who fight for change in their own countries, cities and communities. EYLs play an essential role in reconnecting people with and rebuilding trust in politics by engaging a wider community around key policy issues.

Twenty-five years after the Women, Peace and Security agenda was enshrined through Resolution 1325, the face of war looks completely different. And so does the face of peace. Breaking new ground, women are now involved in negotiating peace and independence – more than ever before. And outside the physical realm, women find space for themselves in digital security. Host Sabina Șancu and Eugenia Rossi, programme assistant in charge of the Frontline Voices project, spoke to Edita Tahiri, former Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, about her efforts in building an independent country where women would be accounted for in constructing peace. We also spoke to Anett Mádi-Nátor, President of Women4Cyber initiative, about the importance of cybersecurity in today’s world, and how women can leave a mark in maintaining peace through this avenue. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

While EU countries debate the role of artificial intelligence in our lives and economy, China has embedded AI at every level, from the home to the streets and the factories. We wanted to find out more about this new shift in China’s role in the global technology sector and the philosophy behind its regulation model. Podcast host Sabina Șancu and programme executive Francisco Lopez explored the different approaches to AI between Europe and China from Sacha Courtial, EU-China associate researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute. In the second part of the podcast, we get to find out more about the Chinese perspective from Shanhui Zhang, news anchor at CGTN and research fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation. On October 13, Friends of Europe organised our annual Europe-China Forum, an event where representatives from both sides met to discuss international and economic cooperation. One of the big themes that emerged was that of China’s progress in the field of AI, one of the technologies of the future.

This is the ninth episode of Overcoming Polarisation: Paths to Common Ground, a podcast series from Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit. Europe is feeling fractured. Whether it’s politics, climate, tech, or trust in institutions, more and more people are feeling left out, unheard, and uncertain about the future. But what if we could flip the script? What if instead of fuelling division, we looked for common ground? In this series, we’re diving into the real issues behind polarisation. Economic inequality, climate anxiety, digital disruption, and bringing together voices from across the spectrum. From policymakers, activists, business leaders, and most importantly, citizens’ voices via our latest study “Voices for Choices”. In today’s show, host Sabina Șancu spoke with MEP Lena Schilling about her agenda for COP30 and her fight to protect the Green Deal. Schilling, the youngest MEP in this mandate, also talks about how youth voices can best be represented at the highest levels of decision-making. In the second part of the episode, Paul Watkinson, former climate negotiator, explains how COP negotiations actually happen and unravels the layers of participants around the decision-making core. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

As geopolitics shakes our perception of the world on a nearly daily basis, how does this translate in the tangible terms of the economy? Are states that seem at odds with each other actually avoiding investing in each other, or are they in fact doing business together? And are they doing so more than they did before the current tensions, or less? Host Sabina Șancu and programme executive Francisco Lopez sat down with Tiago Devesa, senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, to discuss trade distances and geopolitical divides, and assess trade diversification. If you want to comment on this episode, you can send us an e-mail: [email protected] You can read more about MGI’s research here: https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/global-connections

When we talk about geopolitics, we tend to look around ourselves at eye level. We look at countries and borders, institutions and politicians, trade and wealth, identity and community... Recently, we’ve also started looking down, as the rush for resources such as rare earths has entered the conversation. Yet, do most people look up, especially now after the space race has subsided? This episode brings a new layer to diplomacy: cooperation, competition and countering pollution only 36,000 kilometres above us. Host Sabina Șancu spoke to Ambassador Marjolijn van Deelen, the EU Special Envoy for Space, about the challenges and untapped potential of the EU’s diplomacy in orbit. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

On October 16th, Friends of Europe organised its annual State of Europe high-level roundtable, where many of the continent’s brightest minds got together to debate issues ranging from geopolitics to the single market, enlargement to defense, climate and innovation. This occasion also marked the launch of the new Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation. On the margins of this event and with a nod to the discussions taking place on the day, host Sabina Șancu spoke to Romania’s Foreign Minister, Oana Țoiu, about Europe’s biggest challenges at the moment and what her hopes are for our Union and its citizens. Our other guest is Joaquín Almunia, former European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs (2004-2009) and for competition (2009-2014), who reflected on the Union’s hardest moments around the 2008 financial crisis and shared his own hopes for Europe’s future. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Europe is experiencing a decisive moment in terms of its energy: it is at the crossroads of fossil fuels and renewables, as well as in a delicate geopolitical balance with the countries who have the resources to supply energy. Trying to wean ourselves off of Russian gas, is it a safe bet to go for American energy instead? Host Sabina Șancu spoke to MEP Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (France, S&D) about the current state of our energy supply and security, the influence of the private sector on lawmaking, and about paths towards creating a greener, more resilient EU. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

This is the eighth episode of Overcoming Polarisation: Paths to Common Ground, a podcast series from Debating Europe, Friends of Europe’s citizen engagement unit. Europe is feeling fractured. Whether it’s politics, climate, tech, or trust in institutions, more and more people are feeling left out, unheard, and uncertain about the future. But what if we could flip the script? What if instead of fuelling division, we looked for common ground? In this series, we’re diving into the real issues behind polarisation. Economic inequality, climate anxiety, digital disruption, and bringing together voices from across the spectrum. From policymakers, activists, business leaders, and most importantly, citizens’ voices via our latest study “Voices for Choices”. In today’s show, host Sabina Șancu spoke with Thomas Coombes, founder of Hope Based Communications (also known as “The Hope Guy”) about the way that hope can be a useful strategy to stay afloat in difficult times and forge ahead with a clear plan. In the second part of the episode, Jakub Skrzywanek, artistic director at the National Stary Theatre in Krakow and 2025 European Young Leader (EYL), talks about how art in general - and theatre in particular - can help us envision alternative futures. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]

Twenty-five years after the Women, Peace and Security agenda was enshrined through Resolution 1325, the face of war looks completely different. What started off as an initiative from a handful of women in conflict-torn countries was at first hard to understand for the international community. Yet, as it was getting incorporated by Western countries, it also started to lose its original aims. In a tense world, militarisation risks obscuring the “peace” in the term Women, Peace and Security. Host Sabina Șancu and Eugenia Rossi, programme assistant in charge of the Frontline Voices project, spoke with Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, one of the people who formulated resolution 1325. She is now the founder and CEO of International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN). If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: [email protected]