We've got a veritable smörgåsbord for you this week on The Europeans, from human rights in Hungary to the sorry tale of two Danish sustainability influencers whose eco-resort business went spectacularly wrong. We discuss why Viktor Orbán is concentrating so much effort on bullying the LGBTQI community at a time when Hungary has major problems to fix, and whether anything can be done to stop him. Plus, Daria Verbytska calls in from Kyiv to explain how an army of volunteer online sleuths helps Ukrainian authorities use open-source intelligence to fight back against Russia.

 

Daria is the executive director and cofounder of the Molfar Intelligence Institute. You can find out about the wider Molfar company on their website and read their investigations here.

 

This week's Inspiration Station offerings: LA NIÑA and Den stora älgvandringen ('The Great Moose Migration' on Sweden's STV).

 

Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available), or gift a donation to a super fan here. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast!     

 

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news.

 

Other resources for this episode

 

'Hungary's ban on Pride has little to do with being gay' - BalkanInsight, March 27, 2025 https://balkaninsight.com/2025/03/27/hungarys-ban-on-pride-has-little-to-do-with-being-gay/

 

'Anti-spying phone pouches offered to EU lawmakers for trip to Hungary' - Politico Europe, April 16, 2025 https://www.politico.eu/article/lawmakers-offered-anti-espionage-phone-pouches-in-hungary/

 

00:00:46  Welcome to Europe, land of toxic eggs and tomatoes

00:06:50  Bad Week: Hungary gives constitutional backing to its Pride ban

00:22:59  Good Week (?) for Guatemala-bound tourists

00:44:51  Interview: Daria Verbytska on how OSINT is being used to help Ukraine's fightback against Russia

00:59:55  The Inspiration Station:  LA NIÑA and Den stora älgvandringen ('The Great Moose Migration')

01:03:07  Happy Ending: The amazing cross-border teenagers tackling antibiotic resistance

 

Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

 

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