Friends Of Europe Podcasts

***This show is a re-run*** While all eyes are now turning to the most recent escalation of conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, the situation in Gaza continues as dire as ever. On Monday alone, more than 30 people were killed while trying to get food at an aid site. In Brussels, the European Union is reviewing its trade and cooperation agreement with Israel. Meanwhile, thousands of people keep showing up in European capitals in support of Palestine. 15 months of war in Gaza have decimated the Strip and left more than 46 thousand Palestinians dead. On the week the World Refugee Day is commemorated, host Catarina Vila Nova spoke with Jonathan Fowler, Senior Communications Manager for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Jonathan joined UNRWA shortly after the 7 October attacks and is currently based in East Jerusalem. What he details is an intense campaign against UNRWA by the Israeli authorities. But nowhere is this situation more

This is the first episode of Overcoming Polarisaton: Paths to Common Ground, a new 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 Catarina Vila Nova is speaking with Miriam Gonzalez, who founded Espana Mejor, a non-for-profit organization providing new non-partisan ways for Spanish citizens to contribute to policy making, and Giles Merritt, the founder of Friends of

Two weeks ago, the centre held in Europe after a Super Sunday of elections in Romania, Portugal and Poland. And that was in part because of Poland where the centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski narrowly beat the nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the first round of the Presidential elections. That is no longer the case. In last Sunday’s run-off, Trzaskowski failed to materialize a victory and lost against Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the right-wing Law and Justice Party. Today’s guests attribute Trzaskowski’s failure to the fact that Prime Minister Tusk hasn’t been able to pass the significant reforms he promised before being elected almost two years ago. Even though the main reason why he hasn’t been able to do so is because of President Duda from the Law and Justice Party. And yet, Poles elected a President that is only going to make Tusk’s life even harder if not impossible. To discuss the fallout from the Polish elections, host Catarina Vila Nova sits down with Leszek Konrad Jażdżewski, Editor-in-Ch

Next week, Friends of Europe is organizing the event “Re-imagining Europe’s health systems”. This event aims to imagine a resilient, sustainable and innovative healthcare system for Europe. Ahead of this event, host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Anke Van Es, Head of Europe for Hospital Patient Monitoring at Philips.

After a Super Sunday in Europe, Policy Voices brings you three guests. The three consequential elections took place in Romania, Portugal and Poland and history kept repeating itself. The centre holds far from an absolute majority, the far-right continues its speedy ascent to power and the left gets handed an embarrassing defeat. In Romania, Nicusor Dan managed to turn around the results from the first round and beat the far-right candidate George Simion in the presidential elections. To bring you up to speed, host Catarina Vila Nova speaks with Dacian Ciolos, former prime minister of Romania and European commissioner who currently serves as special advisor to Romania’s interim President, and Andrei Popoviciu, a Romanian journalist who’s been covering the elections for Politico and The Guardian. In Portugal, the Democratic Alliance (who sits with the EPP in the European Parliament), repeated last year’s feat of winning again the general elections albeit far from an absolute majority. Of note is the fact th

Pete Hegseth’s decision to scrap the Women, Peace and Security agenda from the Pentagon came as a surprise given that the Women, Peace and Security Act was signed by Donald Trump in his first mandate as President of the United States. However, this decision cannot be understood in a vacuum and is part of a wider movement targeting diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the US military and elsewhere. It is also significant that this decision came when Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security from the United Nations Security Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary and countries across Europe are boosting their defence budgets. But this doesn’t mean that we are also seeing an increase in the attention and money being provided to WPS projects. Quite the opposite. And even though Resolution 1325 was successful in starting conversations on why we need to include gender perspectives in peace and security, the work is far from complete. To discuss the broader implications of Hegseth’s decision, hos

Today marks 75 years since the Schuman Declaration. What started first and foremost as a peace project has developed into a European Union with a single market, an official currency for 20 EU countries and freedom of movement. However, at the age of 75, the European project is being attacked from the outside by a war right at its border and an American President questioning the decades long Trans-Atlantic relationship, but also faces challenges from within. To mark Europe Day, host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Arancha González Laya, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po. González has previously held positions in the European Commission, United Nations, World Trade Organization and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain. Sustainability, competitiveness and security are, according to González, the three biggest challenges facing the EU and countries can’t afford to ignore any of them. There is space for disagreement, she adds, but that mu

It is not a new problem but the housing crisis has gotten bad enough that the European Commission created a Housing Task Force and, in the European Parliament, the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU was born. In simple economic terms: there is too much demand and not enough supply. At least not enough supply to meet the demands of lower and middle income groups. Hotels, Airbnb, digital nomads, and golden visas have made the situation worse. What seemed like a sound economic policy back then ended up working too well and backfired in the faces of locals searching for affordable housing. In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova sits down with Irene Tinagli to address the housing crisis in the European Union. An economist by training, Tinagli is a Member of the European Parliament where she chairs the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU. Catarina asked her how bad the housing crisis is in Europe, how did we get here, and what is being done to fix this problem.

In three months, EU leaders will gather once again to decide – or not – to extend sanctions to Russia for another six months. It is a dance everyone is getting used to with Hungary threatening to make good on its veto until another EU leader finds a clever or not so clever way out. But there are real concerns that next time around Hungary and Slovakia may get to lift sanctions on Russia. That is why Daria Kaleniuk is calling for Europe to get its act together. She is the founder and executive director of the Anti-Corruption Centre, an Ukrainian NGO that has played a key role in shaping the country’s powerful anti-corruption apparatus. In this conversation with host Catarina Vila Nova, she tells why she thinks Hungary and Slovakia may be the reason why sanctions to Russia will be lifted and not extended in July and makes the case for confiscating Russian assets in Europe. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

Russia’s war in Ukraine, rising instability in the Middle East and North Africa and an unpredictable transatlantic alliance expose deep vulnerabilities in Europe’s defence architecture. Considering the precedent of the European Defence Community, the European Union now has the opportunity to implement changes that will create greater shared responsibility in defence and allow its security to be less dependent on the United States. This conversation with Sylvie Goulard, former French minister of defence and Trustee of Friends of Europe, and Federico Fabbrini, European Young Leader and Full Professor of European Law at Dublin City University (DCU), presented the outcomes of the ALCIDE (Activating the Law Creatively to Integrate Defence in Europe) project and the report “Getting Serious about European Defence Integration: The European Defence Community Precedent”. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

Citizens in Europe want their governments and the EU to be more proactive on defence and cybersecurity. This is one of the conclusions of a new study soon to be published by Debating Europe, the citizens’ engagement unit of Friends of Europe. On climate, citizens still feel unheard by policymakers and corporations. They want stronger policies, more corporate accountability and they don’t want to bear the cost of eco-friendly options. In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova is joined by Adam Nyman, Director of Citizens Outreach and Engagement at Friends of Europe. He came on the show to talk about Voices for Choices, a report that will be published by Debating Europe on 7 April that is the result of an engagement of more than two thousand young citizens across Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Poland. They were asked about the big ticket items in Europe nowadays: sustainability, prosperity, security, and democracy. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press

In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova is joined by Oleksandra Matviichuk, an Ukrainian human rights lawyer. She heads the Center for Civil Liberties which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year Russia started the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Matviichuk’s organization has documented more than 80 thousand war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. But as she reminds us in this conversation, the war started much before 2022. They discuss the special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine which will allow for the prosecution of senior Russian officials for planning and coordinating the full-scale invasion in 2022 and fills a void created by the International Criminal Court. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

In today’s episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova sits down with Sirpa Rautio, the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). In this wide ranging interview on the state of fundamental rights in the EU, they talk everything from migration and asylum, DEI, security and defence, competitiveness, justice and the rule of law. They spoke just a few days after FRA published a landmark position paper on the creation of “return hubs” in non-EU countries for migrants who have been ordered to leave the EU. Sirpa Rautio warns that, where the “EU is taking action, you cannot have rights-free zones”. “We cannot accept that people are abused or mistreated, deported or returned, without adequate legal safeguards and without knowing their rights”, she said. On the rule of law, FRA’s Director still trusts the “fairly strong infrastructures and legal frameworks in place” in the EU. The same cannot be said about the efforts to make the bloc more competitive vis-à-vis the United States. Her

The rise of far-right politicians to power across the Western world has led to a normalization of a discourse that many would be ashamed to speak just a few years ago. The normalization of misogyny in the public sphere is just the first step that leads men to think it’s ok to rape a woman because her husband consented for her. Just like what happened to Gisele Pelicot. Ahead of International Women’s Day, host Catarina Vila Nova sits down with Lina Galvez, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. They spoke just a few hours after Luis Rubiales, the former head of the Spanish Football Federation, was convicted of sexual assault for kissing Jenny Hermoso without her consent during the World Cup final. In this conversation, they talk about the consequences of this case and also that of Gisele Pelicot. Two cases that alert us for all there’s left to do in the feminist fight. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friends

The results are in and Germany chose its new chancellor. To the surprise of no one, Friedrich Merz will succeed Olaf Scholz and Europe can finally get to work after being on hold since November. The challenges are plenty and Germany’s new chancellor has his plate full: not only he has to deliver on migration and the economy, he must do so to avoid even bigger electoral gains for the far-right AfD next time around. In today’s episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova speaks with Liana Fix, Fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations. Fix is a historian and political scientist and an expert in German and European foreign and security policy based in Washington. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

Today marks the end of what was perhaps the most consequential week for the future of Europe’s security and defence since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Still reeling from a shocking security conference in Munich over the weekend, European leaders then gathered in Paris to attempt a coordinated response to America’s provocations. Host Catarina Vila Nova is joined today by Jamie Shea, senior fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe and former deputy assistant secretary general at NATO. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

This year, the European Union will be working on amending the European Climate Law. The importance of this law cannot be understated: it is the European Climate Law that defines the goal set out in the European Green Deal to become climate-neutral by 2050. Of the many ways possible to become climate-neutral, in this episode of Policy Voices we are focusing on what is a rather niche topic: carbon dioxide removal. Host Catarina Vila Nova speaks with Anna Costova, Senior Policy Analyst at Carbon Gap, an organization focusing on scaling up just and effective carbon dioxide removal. They talk about what carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is and disentangle the concepts surrounding this conversation, such as net zero and climate neutrality. Anna also explains the different ways CDR occurs – from trees to the most technologically advanced methods – and what is the cost of not doing CDR. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

How to stay hopeful on the fight against climate change during Trump 2.0? Well, a great first step is listening to Helen Mountford. Helen Mountford is the President and CEO of ClimateWorks Foundation, a global platform for philanthropy to scale-up climate solutions, and my guest for today’s episode. Before joining ClimateWorks, Helen worked at Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for 16 years, advising governments on policy reforms and oversee work on things like green fiscal reform, climate change finance, and green growth. In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova spoke with Helen who helped put things into perspective but also left some serious homework for EU leaders. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

In just his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders that threaten American democracy and are already being challenged in the courts. With the system of checks and balances in question and a Democratic Party still trying to get back on its feet, in what state is American democracy left? On what is perhaps the most difficult episode of the series on how to not lose hope under Trump 2.0, host Catarina Vila Nova is joined by Greta Bedekovics. Bedekovics is the Associate Director of Democracy Policy at the Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan policy institute based in Washington. Before joining American Progress, Bedekovics worked on the US Senate as a policy advisor on voting rights and election security. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org

With Trump back in power it is all too easy to lose hope. As the guest in today’s episode of Policy Voices says, the next few years are going to be “a wild ride”. Nonetheless, there may be some silver linings when it comes to peace, security and defence. For example, as Rose Gottemoeller puts it: NATO countries are in a much better place than they were in 2016 when Trump first took office. Listen to the first episode of the series of Policy Voices on How to Not Lose Hope Under Trump 2.0 where host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Rose Gottemoeller, former deputy secretary general of NATO, and former under secretary for arms control and international security at the U.S. Department of State. If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail: press@friendsofeurope.org