Channeling Brussels

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

In this episode, the deputy chief monitor of the OSCE's monitoring mission in Ukraine speaks to Teri just before a new ceasefire -- a "recommitment" to the ceasefire already agreed upon -- is due to go into effect between Ukraine's armed forces and Russian-backed separatists. Alexander Hug has been on the job four years, documenting not the peace agreement he was sent to monitor, but as many as a thousand violations of it every single day as the agreements are all but ignored by the parties. Still, Hug holds out hope for the "harvest ceasefire."

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

In this episode, former US Ambassador to the European Union Tony Gardner talks about soaring transatlantic trade tensions and urges the EU to stick together -- and stick up for itself in the face of Washington's pressure.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

In this episode, Teri travels to Iceland, which during the Cold War was a key lookout post for Soviet activity, especially submarine movements. A huge US presence at Keflavik airbase was reduced to almost nothing in 2006, but after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Washington suddenly wanted to come back. She speaks with the Icelandic commander of the base, Capt Jon Gudnason, and Icelandic Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, who says his country is getting more NATO attention now than "in many years."

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

In this episode, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin talks about the threat he feels Russia poses for Europe, with the recent nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, England serving as a warning that the Russian government - which denies involvement - will stop at nothing to exert its will outside its borders.

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

This week's guest for International Women's Day is the European Council's Gender Equality Advisor Cristina Gallach. She discusses the impact of sexual harassment scandals that broke in the US but opened the floodgates in Brussels too. Gallach talks about her office's efforts to empower women to move up into management positions in European Union institutions where the balance is currently 30% women vs 70% men.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

This week's guest is NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, one of the pre-eminent American experts in dealing with nukes and Moscow. She says the Kremlin has long been breaching the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces agreement, the INF -- she was dispatched by President Barack Obama to tell the Russians that. Gottemoeller supports the Trump Administration's threat of "consequences" if a return to compliance is not found. Gottemoeller was also the chief negotiator on the "New START" arms control treaty that has just come into full implementation and which, she believes, can prevent a new arms race.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

Channeling Brussels, hosted by journalist Teri Schultz, gets newsmakers, movers and shakers to lose the lingo, burst out of the Brussels bubble and have real conversations about the critical foreign and security policies shaping our world. it's the rest of the story, beyond the few seconds of soundbites that make it into the news.

This week's guest is the US envoy for Ukraine negotiations, Kurt Volker, who's heading into his fourth meeting with Kremlin counterpart Vladislav Surkov on Friday, trying to find a way forward for the nearly four-year conflict in eastern Ukraine. Volker came to Brussels on his way to the Surkov rendez-vous in Dubai, to brief NATO and EU officials before visiting Kiev and the frontline in Donbas.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

This week's guest is Setara Hassan, the CEO of Zan TV, Afghanistan's first all-female television news station. Zan TV's managers, assignment editors, reporters and anchors are all women, covering issues other programs overlook or avoid.

The interview was recorded at NATO headquarters during a recent meeting of the Afghan defense minister with his NATO counterparts.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/ )]

This episode, Channeling Brussels comes to you from Helsinki, Finland, where the first joint NATO-European Union Center of Excellence (CoE)has been set up to counter hybrid threats. Few places know how to handle hybrid threats better than a country with an 830-mile border with Russia.

In this episode, Teri Schultz speaks with Hanna Smith, the CoE's Director of Strategic Planning and Responses, about how Finland plans to help partners with its deep understanding of its big neighbor and its preparedness for dealing with any threat to sovereignty and stability. Finland's special history, sometimes maligned in the past, is now being praised as a model.

Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]

This week, Channeling Brussels is looking at the aftermath of the German election September 24th...where the ruling coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel lost a big chunk of support and a far-right newcomer seen as sympathetic to Nazi views gained enough to get seats in parliament, the first time such a group has reached the threshhold. While that's plenty upsetting to many people inside and outside Germany, my guest this week puts everything in perspective and says there's no calamity. Elmar Brok is the longest-serving member of the European Parliament, holding his seat since 1980. He's a member of Chancelllor Merkel's Christian Democratic party and has known her personally for decades.

Brok has a lot to say about the relationship between Europe and the Trump Administration...the need for strong leadership in France so that Paris and Berlin can propel reform in Brussels...but we start with his belief that there's reason for concern but not for panic at the spike in support for the German far right.

This week's Channeling Brussels is brought to you by the Atlantic Council.

[Intro/Outro music "Happy Rock" by Bensound under a CC-BY-ND license (www.bensound.com/royalty-free-mus…rack/happy-rock/)]