We review the big clash between French presidential contenders Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. And we unpack Germany's struggle over whether to send heavy weapons to Ukraine with military expert and think tanker Gustav Gressel.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray is joined by Clea Caulcutt in Paris to analyze Wednesday night's live TV debate between Macron, the centrist incumbent, and far-right challenger Le Pen ahead of the final round of the French presidential election this Sunday. POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig also joins the conversation to give the broader European perspective on the race.

Matt then brings us this week's feature interview with Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. They discuss Germany's continued reluctance to supply Ukraine with heavy weaponry and its impact on Berlin's standing within the EU and among other Western allies.

Programming note: We'll host a live conversation on the French election on Sunday at 10 p.m. CET on Twitter. Andrew, Matt and Clea will be joined by other members of our French team to analyze the results, hear reaction from the campaign HQs and examine what the outcome means for France and for Europe.

And we'll also bring you a special election edition of EU Confidential, which will land early Monday morning in your podcast feed. So please do subscribe or follow, wherever you listen.

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We analyze the latest from the French presidential campaign and hear Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger's first-hand account of his visit to Ukraine. We also delve into the problems Europe faces in weaning itself off Russian energy.

POLITICO’s Andrew Gray, Matthew Karnitschnig and Maïa de La Baume unpack the strategies of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen as the gloves come off in round two of the French election. We also discuss Ukraine's rebuff of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier amid more German angst over arms deliveries. And we ask what Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer thought he could achieve by visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Our reporter Lili Bayer talks to Slovakian PM Heger about his visit to Ukraine with top EU officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He describes his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a harrowing visit to the town of Bucha, the scene of atrocities against Ukrainian civilians widely condemned as Russian war crimes.

We also hear from Henning Gloystein, energy director at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. He sets out the obstacles facing the EU as it tries to move away from Russian oil and gas — and warns of the risks of energy rationing in the winter if the bloc doesn’t play its cards right.

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In this special edition, we unpack the results of the first round of the French presidential election, which saw Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualify for a run-off vote on April 24.

The show features highlights from an election-night discussion with members of POLITICO's French election crew, broadcast live on Twitter. French Politics Reporter Clea Calcutt explains how the result represents a transformation of the French political landscape and also analyzes the role that Russia's war in Ukraine played in the campaign.

POLITICO's Elisa Braün, Maïa de La Baume, Giorgio Leali and Louise Guillot report directly from the election-night events of Macron, Le Pen, far-right upstart Éric Zemmour and left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

And we look ahead to the all-important second round: What could make the difference between victory and defeat for Macron and Le Pen? And how will voters who backed other candidates in the first round influence the result?

You can find all our French election coverage here and sign up for our free French Election Playbook here. And if you prefer your French politics en français, you can get our daily Playbook Paris here. 

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We preview this Sunday's presidential vote in France, discuss the latest Western responses to Russia's war in Ukraine and reflect on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's reelection. Our special guest is Transparency International Ukraine's Kateryna Ryzhenko.

POLITICO's Elisa Braun in Paris joins Andrew Gray to set up the first round of the French presidential election. She explains the mood in the Macron camp, as the president tries to clinch reelection in the face of headwinds including a lackluster campaign, a strong showing by far-right leader Marine Le Pen and uproar over his government's use of consulting firms to develop policies.

POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin looks at whether the West is moving closer to energy sanctions on Moscow after condemning Russian forces for war crimes over the killings of Ukrainian civilians in the town of Bucha.

And POLITICO's Lili Bayer unpacks how Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his right-wing populist Fidesz party managed to clinch such a decisive victory in last Sunday's election. Lili also explains the EU's subsequent move to trigger a procedure that could cut funds to Hungary over concerns about the rule of law in the country.

Kateryna Ryzhenko, deputy secretary-general of the Ukraine branch of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, tells us what she's asking EU policymakers to do to help her country — now and after the war.

Programming note: Andrew Gray will host a live taping of EU Confidential on Twitter on Sunday at 10 p.m. CET with our team in France to break down the results of the first round of the French presidential election. We will also bring you a special edition of the podcast early Monday morning, so be sure to follow or subscribe to EU Confidential on your podcast app so you never miss an episode.

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We recap Joe Biden's visit to Brussels for a series of summits focused on the war in Ukraine and get you up to speed on Hungary's election this weekend. World Food Programme boss David Beasley joins us to talk about the global food crisis.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray, Matthew Karnitschnig and Lili Bayer take stock of last week's meetings of G7, NATO and European Union leaders, all attended by the U.S. president. The team debates whether it's realistic for Europe to achieve military autonomy any time soon and asks how much substance there was behind the symbolism at the summits.

Reporting from Budapest, Lili explains the stakes in Sunday's parliamentary election in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is running for another term. We hear from leading opposition candidate Péter Márki-Zay, Orbán's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás, and MEPs Klára Dobrev and Anna Donáth about the impact the war in Ukraine is having on the campaign. Opposition candidates also explain why they're not competing on a level playing field when it comes to challenging Orbán's ruling Fidesz party.

Then we hear from the executive director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley. He spoke to POLITICO's Eddy Wax about the growing world food crisis — which is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine — and lays out the consequences that the European Union could face if its leaders don't cough up more cash to deal with rising food costs.

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We dive into the issues at the center of three Brussels summits dominated by Russia's war in Ukraine, as Joe Biden meets with leaders of NATO, the EU and the G7. Our special guest is Ukrainian novelist and thinker Andriy Kurkov.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray is joined by colleagues Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin and Barbara Moens in Brussels to discuss some of the big questions facing leaders at the summits — such as whether to go further with sanctions on Moscow, including an import ban on Russian energy, and whether the EU should aim to become more autonomous.

Our special guest is Ukrainian author Andriy Kurkov. He spoke to POLITICO's David M. Herszenhorn from western Ukraine after being forced to leave his home in Kyiv. Kurkov says Vladimir Putin is waging a war against Ukrainian culture as well as against the country itself and sets out what he thinks the West should offer in terms of support.

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This week we examine China's role in the Ukraine crisis and unpack the latest EU efforts to bring the war to an end. We also hear how organizations like the UN Refugee Agency are supporting Ukrainian refugees.

POLITICO's Sarah Wheaton brings us up to speed on the latest news from Europe, including another round of EU sanctions and a visit to Kyiv by the prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

Sarah is joined by POLITICO's EU-China correspondent Stuart Lau who explains the role that China and its leader Xi Jinping are playing in this war — whether China will provide economic or military support to Russia or try to balance its own interests and side with Western demands.

And POLITICO's David Herszenhorn joins from Brussels to analyze how EU and European leaders are managing their wartime roles.

Our special guest is Sophie Magennis, head of the policy and legal support unit at UNHCR’s (the UN Refugee Agency) representation for EU affairs in Brussels. Magennis explains the work her orgnization is doing in Ukraine and neighboring European countries. She also discusses the EU's policy response to the needs of over three million refugees who have fled the war in recent weeks. Here's more information from UNHCR on how you can help for those in Belgium and around the world.

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In this episode, we learn how the war in Ukraine is being reported inside Russia and unpack the confusion over whether Poland will supply fighter jets to the Ukrainian government. You'll also hear from Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and Latvian PM Krišjānis Kariņš.

Reflecting on another tumultuous week, POLITICO's Andrew Gray is joined by Moscow correspondent Eva Hartog, who recounts how Russia has changed dramatically in the space of a few weeks with repressive measures such as a fierce crackdown on independent media. She also describes the messaging coming out of the Kremlin and how it's landing with the Russian population.

Andrew is also joined by Chief Europe Correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig, who analyzes the dilemma facing the EU over calls to ban Russian energy imports and unpacks the on-again-off-again saga over whether Poland will send fighter jets to Ukraine.

Our special guest is Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. He tells POLITICO's Lili Bayer that Bulgaria should be counted as a full supporter of NATO and EU action against Moscow despite its ties to Russia, but admits some proposed measures would be particularly hard for his country.

We also hear from Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš on what he believes is Vladimir Putin's real goal in Ukraine and beyond. Our conversation with him was recorded before the invasion began but this excerpt has stuck with us and remains quite prescient. 

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In this extended episode, we recap and reflect on the week that changed everything, for Europe and the world, after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. We also hear from scholar Dimitar Bechev on Turkey's potential role in this crisis.

We begin with a review of the unprecedented flurry of dramatic measures taken by Europe in the past few days in response to Putin's war. Then POLITICO's Andrew Gray is joined by colleagues David M. Herszenhorn, Matthew Karnitschnig and Lili Bayer to reflect on a momentous week and examine potential repercussions yet to come.

David also gives us a personal account of his journey out of Ukraine as the war intensified and tells the story of a Ukrainian businessman risking his life to save both family members and strangers.

Our special guest is Dimitar Bechev, a lecturer at the Oxford School of Global & Area Studies and expert on Russia and Turkey. He discusses Turkey's potential role as a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine, and unpacks the themes of his new book, "Turkey Under Erdogan: How a Country Turned from Democracy and the West."

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This episode focuses entirely on Russia's war on Ukraine. We have reporting from inside Ukraine, news of the European response and analysis of the global repercussions.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray hears from colleagues David M. Herszenhorn in Ukraine, Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin and Lili Bayer in Brussels in a conversation broadcast live on Twitter hours after Vladimir Putin launched his massive military attack.

POLITICO editor Zoya Sheftalovich joins the podcast to share stories she's hearing from friends and family in Ukraine. Zoya also describes what it was like to handle the news that Putin had declared war on the country in which she spent her childhood.

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