So, another European Council meeting has come along and caused a massive uproar, so what better time to run a Substack live to discuss the topic and go through the finer points of the meeting’s agenda.From Middle East diplomacy to European Security, to finally touching upon the topic of supporting Ukraine’s defensive war against a revanchist, imperialist Russia, we go through everything that happened in this discussion and what it means for Europe.

So, Zack Polanski, the leader of the British Green Party and prospective British Prime Minister, has declared that he will try to do what no one else has done before him: convince Russian President Vladimir Putin, known for his imperialism and revanchist foreign policy, to give up his Nuclear Weapons. Which is definitely not going to happen, so in the face of a lot of the reactions and questions I’ve had to this situation, here’s a quick reaction.

As I mentioned in the video, please let me know what you think about this situation and if there’s a topic you’d like me to explore.

As you guys know, France has been going through a turbulent time, with a level of political instability that we haven’t seen since before World War Two, when the political instability led to us not being able to react to Nazi Germany and eventually being occupied.

So, with the second Lecornu government now trying to push towards a budget of some kind, Dave Keating (Gulf Stream Blues) and I (the editor of your favourite newsletter, The French Dispatch) sat down to do a quick Q&A:

We cover:

* The nitty-gritty of the ongoing French political crisis

* What chances Sébastien Lecornu and his government have of succeeding

* How long Lecornu 2 will survive

* The French budget procedure

* What the chances of a French budget for 2026 are, and

* How this will effect Europe.

For the timeline of events leading up to today’s Substack live, check out the following explainers and videos in chronological order:

As always, if you have any questions, drop them below, and otherwise, we hope you enjoyed the chat!

Took a quick break from my cold to give a (not-so-quick) update on the current French political situation, with a particular focus on:

* Lecornu’s final negotiations

* Upcoming legislative elections

* The reason why Edouard Philippe wants Macron to resign

* The strategies being deployed by French extremists

* The current polling situation

As always, remember to like, subscribe, and if you enjoyed this, consider supporting The French Dispatch with a paid subscription!

Right, first of all: new format!

Due to popular demand, I’ll be hosting a weekly European update, in the form of these Substack live sessions, starting today, where I’ll cover the biggest stories from the European Union and our continent.

This week, we cover the Copenhagen meeting, and particularly:

* The EU is putting its money where its mouth is on Ukraine, and EU defence and security

* Europeans moving to cut red tape in defence and security

* How Green goals have clashed with defence needs

* The financial frameworks that could and are being mobilised to fund the future of European defence and EU Strategic Autonomy.

Now, as I mentioned during the video, let me know what you think! I’m also open to turning this into a weekly Q&A to answer your key questions on European affairs and politics.

And as always: don’t forget to subscribe, like, and share this post!

So we’re back, and no longer working on our holidays! Dave Keating and I sat down to talk about:

* Trump’s royal visit

* The horrors of American politics and Jimmy Kimmel being censored by the American government

* What it could take to wake Europeans up from their American subservience

* Von der Leyen’s State of the EU speech, and whether her calls for independence and courage mean anything when she’s not showing those things herself?

* EU changing it’s stance on Israel

With Commission President Ursula von der Leyen having signed one of the worst trade deals I have ever seen, I sat down with Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Blues to dig into the EU’s latest “deal” with the US, and discussed why it’s absolutely not an FTA, no matter how it’s being spun.

We go over:

* What’s actually in the deal (spoiler: not much) and why calling it a “trade agreement” is misleading.

* How US and EU interpretations are already diverging – with clear lessons from the UK’s post-Brexit experience.

* Why the EU went along with it, what the real alternatives were, and the quiet but decisive role of Ursula von der Leyen (she could have led a resistance to this capitulation consensus … and didn’t).

* Which countries pushed for this surrender (hello, Germany and Italy), Bayrou’s sharp comments from France, and whether Paris or the European Parliament could still block it.

* And finally, the important question: does this deal permanently lock the EU into a position of subservience, or is there a way back?

* Did Ursula von der Leyen announce a geoeconomic and defence policy??

* What’s going on with the EU-US trade war?

* Will Von der Leyen ‘survive’ her confidence vote?

* Should we want her to survive it?

* What the hell happened to the Rassemblement National?

If these are the questions you were asking yourself, then you’re in the right place!

Today I sat down with friend of the publication, Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Bluesto discuss the big stories of the past few weeks, including:

* The on-off-on again US Tariff court rulings

* The European Council blocking Spanish regional languages and giving Pedro Sanchez a political headache

* Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban's Budapest pride ban, and the pathetically weak response from the Commission

* And Ursula von der Leyen's Aachen speech on European geopolitics

On one of the most important days of the year, I sat down with friend of the publication, Dave Keating ( Gulf Stream Blues ), to discuss the big stories of the week, including:

* Friedrich Merz’ two-round Bundeskanzler voting scandal, and who was to blame

* How his relationship with Emmanuel Macron is looking

* What is happening with the Weimar Triangle

* What’s the story with the new pope? And was his election politicised?

* And how can Europe tease academics and scientists to the European Union?