Poland’s once-dominant Law and Justice party has split, with former PM Mateusz Morawiecki breaking with longtime leader Jarosław Kaczyński and preparing to build a rival force on the right. Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart examine whether the rupture offers current PM Donald Tusk a lifeline ahead of the 2027 election — and what it means in Brussels, where Morawiecki leads the European Conservatives and Reformists party.

They also look at plans to close Belgium’s Charleroi Airport for several months in 2028, leaving more than 10 million annual passengers, thousands of workers and Ryanair up in the air.

Plus: As Montenegro moves closer to EU membership, Brussels prepares to add Montenegrin as the bloc’s 25th official language.

Want to get in touch? Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wildfires raging across France and Spain have forced more than 300,000 people from their homes and stretched national firefighting services to their limits. Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart look at how the EU is helping through its Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU emergency reserve — and why Brussels says that even dozens more firefighting planes would not be enough without much greater investment in prevention.

Then, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington amid signs that U.S. President Donald Trump and parts of the MAGA movement may be warming towards Kyiv. But will the apparent change of heart translate into sanctions against Russia and concrete military support?

Plus: Could antibodies produced by llamas provide farmers with a safer alternative to chemical pesticides?
Want to get in touch? Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Icelanders begin voting on whether to restart accession talks with the European Union, reopening a debate shaped by security fears, economic uncertainty and the question of who controls the country’s fishing waters.

Zoya Sheftalovich and Kathryn Carlson also examine Donald Trump’s threat of new tariffs after the EU fined Google €890 million, and what that could mean for the fragile Turnberry trade deal.

Plus: Beethoven, Marie Skłodowska-Curie or a kingfisher? Europeans get a say on the next generation of euro banknotes. Which would you choose? Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s the seventh British prime minister to walk through the famous black door of Number 10 Downing Street since the Brexit vote 10 years ago. Can Andy Burnham refresh relations with Europe and rescue a reset with Brussels that feels like it has been kicked into the long grass? 

Host Anne McElvoy talks to two guests who know the knotty relationship between Britain and the European Union. Sylvie Boulard was France’s defense minister in 2017. She was previously an MEP who joined Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche party and advised him on the fallout from Brexit.

Sir Simon Fraser led Britain’s Foreign Office between 2010 and 2015. He knows his way around Brussels, having served as Peter Mandelson’s chef du Cabinet when he was EU trade commissioner  and held a senior position at the British Embassy in Paris.  Now he leads the business consultancy Flint Global, where he worked with James Purnell — who’s just become Andy Burnham’s chief of staff.    

Send us a voice note or message us on WhatsApp here, or at +32 491 05 06 29. You can also email us at [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Google could be hit with the largest fine yet under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Zoya Sheftalovich and Kathryn Carlson explain why Brussels believes the tech giant is unfairly pushing its own services in Google Search and limiting what app developers can tell customers — and why the case is becoming another source of tension with Washington.

Then, the EU’s startups commissioner, Ekaterina Zaharieva, heads to Sofia for an unusual visit to Bulgaria’s new leaders. We look at the government’s mixed signals on Ukraine, the billions in EU recovery money still at stake, and why Zaharieva’s former job as Bulgaria’s foreign minister may serve her well.

And finally, Portugal’s new digital exam-marking system leaves thousands of would-be university students waiting to find out whether their grades are correct.

Are students where you live also having trouble with exam results or university applications? Let us know what’s happening. Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today is a make-or-break moment for the EU’s 21st sanctions package targeting Russia.

After EU countries failed to agree on the ins and outs of the deal last week, ambassadors are meeting again today in Brussels to finally clinch the deal. But can they hash out the remaining thorny issues?

Next: European Parliament is trying to reengage with China after a seven-year diplomatic freeze. But despite the defrosting of relations, it’s clear lawmakers are unsure of what their stance towards Beijing should be.

And finally, as Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” hits cinemas, a Hollywood culture war hits Greece. 

Do you have a Hollywood trope about a specific European country that grinds your gears? Let us know! Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

And for those intrigued about the new monkey species with Ian Wishart’s hairstyle found hiding in the DR Congo’s forests, you can read more here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

July 21 is a national holiday in Belgium, so we decided to do things a bit differently on this long weekend.

We recently celebrated our 100th episode with a live recording in front of an audience. Those in the room were lucky enough also to see an exclusive Q&A with Zoya and all the hosts. We’re now bringing that segment to our wider audience.

In this episode we answer your questions on everything from technology to how the show gets made ... and all the spicy bits that get left on the cutting room floor.

Do you have a question for Zoya and the gang? Don’t hesitate to send a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europeans are traveling in huge numbers this summer — but the conflict in the Middle East, volatile fuel prices linked to disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, and a troubled new border system are making journeys more complicated.

Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO reporters Ben Munster, Tommaso Lecca and Jordyn Dahl to unpack how Europe avoided the jet fuel crisis that many had feared; whether flight ticket prices could still rise in the coming months; what passengers are owed when things go wrong; and why the EU’s new Entry/Exit System is producing such long queues.

Plus, we’d love to hear your summer reading recommendations. Anything goes: politics, crime, romance, non-fiction, poetry and more. We’ll feature some of your suggestions in a future episode.

Send us a voice note or message us on WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. You can also email us at [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The European Parliament’s 719 lawmakers are about to head off on their six-week summer break. But that doesn’t mean an end to the political headaches.  

That’s because as soon as they return on Aug. 31, lawmakers will dive straight back into backroom negotiations ahead of Parliament’s big midterm reshuffle. Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart discuss the scheming already happening behind the scenes.

Next: Europe wants to restrict children’s use of social media — much like Australia. But does the implementation of Canberra’s ban serve as a warning or a trailblazer? Zoya speaks with the Aussie eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, to learn more.

And finally, it seems the EU’s new digital border system can’t tell identical twins apart. We dig deeper.

… And we talk about monkeys again. Do you have a monkey story? Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

European allies are moving to help strengthen Ukraine as Kyiv ups the pressure in its war against Russia.

As a part of that push, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and a group of EU leaders are making a surprise trip to Kyiv to push through a string of new defense initiatives. Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart discuss these packages set to be announced today.

Next: As of today you can walk from Spain into the British territory of Gibraltar and barely notice you’ve crossed a border. We take a look at one of the loose ends of Brexit that is finally being tied up.

Lastly, we all know Brussels is a political hub ... but could it become an academic one as well? French university Sciences Po is considering opening a campus in Brussels to help train the next generation of eurocrats.

Questions? Comments? Send us a message or voice note to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices