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PODCAST

Talking Europe

FRANCE 24 English

Politicians, activists and researchers debate the issues facing the EU and a "guest of the week" offers their insight in a long-format interview that gets to the heart of the matter. Saturday at 7:15pm.

news & politics

All Episodes

00:12:47

EU eyes high-stakes presidential election in Romania:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/25

Romania is about to re-run a high-stakes presidential election, fuelled by a political crisis that has engulfed the country for the last five months. At the end of November, the ultranationalist Calin Georgescu sent shockwaves through the EU by winning the first round of the vote. But the Constitutional Court annulled the result in December, because of allegations of electoral violations and manipulation through social media. Indeed, the role played by TikTok has come under intense scrutiny, with

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00:12:05

Italian PM Meloni's visit to Trump 'frankly useless'...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/18

We speak to the chair of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the United States: Italian politician Brando Benifei. He recently led a group of MEPs to the US to meet members of the US Congress and other players in a bid to de-escalate the trade crisis between Washington and Brussels. He talks of the probability of a negotiated solution, and comments on the complicated political relationship between the US president and the EU – as evidenced by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia

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00:12:44

There's a 'strange backsliding' on human rights:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/18

A crackdown on demonstrators in Turkey, the detention of the mayor of Istanbul and a clampdown on pro-EU protesters in Georgia – there is currently no shortage of challenges to the Council of Europe from its own members. Europe's largest and oldest intergovernmental body – comprising 46 countries – has a relatively new boss: Alain Berset became secretary general in September 2024. We ask him if human rights are under attack, and what recourse he has when members flout the organisation's core

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00:12:34

'Fundamental change is afoot in European defence':...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/11

Our guest is someone who spends a lot of time thinking about Europe's place in the world, and how it should adapt to the new global order of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. We speak to Dutch political theorist and historian Luuk van Middelaar, who heads the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, about European defence, its strategic autonomy, artificial intelligence policy and of course the frayed relationship with Donald Trump in the light of the US president's trade war. Van Middelaar

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00:12:16

EU weighs response to drastic US cuts in foreign aid:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/11

Trade, defence and Ukraine are not the only areas in which the EU is facing a massive challenge from the Trump administration. The US president's "America First" agenda is having a huge impact on the developing world. In March, it was announced that 83 percent of USAID programmes and contracts were being terminated. These programmes "don’t serve US interests", members of the Trump government say. But critics – including some MEPs in Brussels – say the de-funding is costing lives, for example when it

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00:12:35

After 'Qatargate', 'Huaweigate' scandal rocks EU:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/04

It was not supposed to happen again. Two years ago, after the cash-for-favours scandal known as "Qatargate" rocked the European Parliament and sent shockwaves through the EU, reforms were introduced to improve transparency. But now, fresh allegations of bribery have hit the EU's legislature – purportedly to the benefit of China's tech giant Huawei, according to the Belgian prosecutor's office. Huawei is one of many companies that try to shape conversations in Brussels, and firms do report their

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00:12:22

Space race intensifies between EU, US, Russia and China

Talking Europe ·

2025/04/04

Strategic autonomy is a buzz phrase in Brussels, as the EU tries to ramp up its capabilities in key industrial sectors. Defence is of course a major focus for those efforts. But calls have grown for the bloc to boost its presence in space as well. Space is seeing weaponisation and hybrid warfare; indeed, the EU Commission says it is just as contested as land, sea, air or the cyber field. Europe does have some world-class systems such as Galileo or Copernicus, but when it comes to the space sector

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00:12:34

'We will need a European special envoy for Ukraine':...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/28

One of Ukraine's staunchest advocates in the EU and in NATO is Finland, which itself joined the Atlantic Alliance two years ago after decades of neutrality. We caught up with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb as he attended talks of the "coalition of the willing" hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Stubb gives us his perspective on European security and defence, NATO and of course the increasingly fractious relationship between the EU and the Trump administration, as the latter

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00:11:48

'The EU is a trade and technology superpower':...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/28

The European Investment Bank has existed since the inception of the European Union in the 1950s, but despite its vital role as the EU's lending arm, it has not gained the media attention of institutions such as the European Commission or the European Parliament. That is now changing, however. The EIB is taking on a more high-profile role, financing projects in the fields of security and defence. This is a shift that our guest has referred to as a "seismic shock". Nadia Calviño is the president of

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00:12:45

'This is the key moment to bring peace to Gaza and...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/21

The EU is adapting to a new security situation, not just on its own continent, but also in the Middle East. Hopes of a more peaceful Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad have so far been dashed, with sectarian massacres happening on the Syrian coast earlier in March – killings that have triggered an exodus of thousands of people across the border into Lebanon. Lebanon itself remains extremely fragile, economically and socially. And the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is clearly far from

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00:12:19

Tackling under-investment in EU defence: Is the bloc...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/21

Just about everyone in the EU institutions and national capitals can agree that business as usual is no longer an option when it comes to security. With the US stepping back from Europe and NATO, and Ukraine under great pressure, the EU is mulling what looks like an ambitious plan to overhaul its defence policy. In theory, ReArmEU will raise €800 billion for this effort. But it is not clear exactly how all that money is going to be made available, nor how fast the effects of this overhaul are going

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00:11:41

Defence shortages create ‘temptation for Putin to...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/14

The EU has just launched an ambitious-sounding defence plan, “ReArmEU”, and it is also publishing a landmark white paper on defence. The person at the heart of these initiatives is our guest on the programme; Andrius Kubilius is the EU Commissioner in charge of defence and space. A Lithuanian conservative who was twice prime minister of his country, he started this crucial job – the first time such a portfolio has been created at the Commission – in early December. But questions remain about the

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00:12:33

EU unveils plan to cut bureaucracy and boost...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/14

The European Union has long talked about reducing the bureaucratic burden on businesses. In the current EU mandate, there has also been a lot of emphasis on competitiveness – putting Europe’s industries, large or small, in a better position to rival the likes of American or Chinese industries. Now, the EU Commission has presented what it calls a “simplification shock”. Essentially, that means removing red tape in order to stimulate investment and growth, and to make European companies more

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00:12:19

‘We, Europeans, are alone’, French economist Jacques...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/07

For the best part of five decades, Jacques Attali has been whispering in the ears of French presidents. Initially an economist, he has written over 80 books and essays, sat in some of the most secret high-level meetings alongside former president François Mitterrand, and was the architect of Mikhail Gorbachev's 1991 presence at the G7 in the UK. Attali speaks to FRANCE 24 about the geopolitical storm hitting Europe and the prospect of war with Russia. “We, Europeans, are alone”, Attali says, adding

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00:12:27

Is the EU a world leader in promoting women's rights?...

Talking Europe ·

2025/03/07

International Women’s Day first took place in March 1911, with more than a million people marking the event in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. At that time, women were not allowed to vote, and in numerous countries higher education was not open to women, and divorce was not legal. A huge amount has changed since then, of course. The political leaders of two of the EU’s three top institutions today are women, for example. But violence against women and gaps in pay between men and women

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00:12:45

We should work with trade partners that don't...

Talking Europe ·

2025/02/28

Farmers' protests peaked across Europe around this time last year. Rising production costs, unfair pricing, bureaucracy and foreign competition were among the drivers of the movement. The European Commission responded with a package of measures, and has now unveiled what it calls a "Vision for Agriculture and Food", the proposals coinciding with the annual agriculture show being held in Paris. We explore this strategy with the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, as well as

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00:12:16

EU unveils new plan for agriculture and food:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/02/28

In this episode, we consider the political hot potato that is farming, one year after farmers’ protests peaked across the EU. Brussels responded with a package of measures, but many in the agricultural sector say the crisis is far from over. We delve into the issue with two MEPs. On February 19, while Paris was preparing to host its annual agriculture show, the European Commission presented its “Vision for Agriculture and Food,” a roadmap that builds on the response to the widespread farmers'

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00:12:53

Exclusive: EU's Costa says 'no credible negotiations...

Talking Europe ·

2025/02/21

FRANCE 24 was granted exclusive access to EU Council President Antonio Costa, just before he left for Ukraine to mark the third anniversary of the war. He responds to US President Donald Trump's direct talks with the Russian government, insisting that negotiations will not be credible, nor achieve results, if they exclude Ukraine and the EU. Costa reiterates that peace in Ukraine cannot be separated from security in Europe. We discuss how he is sounding out EU member states on what security

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00:11:41

Trump begins talks with Russia without Ukraine or EU:...

Talking Europe ·

2025/02/21

Europe does not have a seat at the negotiating table: the message could not be clearer from Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg. This week, the US president opened discussions with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin – with no Ukrainians present – at a high-level meeting in Riyadh and then seemingly blamed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war. The pressure is mounting, not just on Ukraine itself, but on the EU, which still appears to have no

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00:11:55

EU should give Ukraine 'very strong security...

Talking Europe ·

2025/02/14

Europe is facing increasingly hybrid threats, and it lacks a shared culture of preparedness, according to our guest. Sauli Niinistö was the president of Finland from 201HJYYUU2 to 2024 and is now a special advisor to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. In that capacity, he has authored a major report: "Safer together: A path towards a fully prepared Union". We discuss Niinistö’s proposals to improve the EU's civil and military preparedness, and debrief some of the latest

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