On March 25, 2022, roughly a month into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Franziska Brantner, German parliamentary state secretary for economic affairs and climate action, made a case for European sovereignty in a piece for the European Council on Foreign Affairs. In particular, Brantner called for EU investment in military capabilities, cyber security, energy independence, and economic reinforcement. On the first episode of a two-part series analyzing Germany's evolving role in the EU since the Russian invasion, The Eastern Front co-hosts Giselle, Dalibor, and Iulia got a chance to speak with Brantner about her assessment of the EU's—and in particular, Germany's—progress just over one year later. Brantner also shares her thoughts on transatlantic cooperation at a time of war, the state of US-Germany relations, the role of the Visegrád in the EU, as well as the important difference between European strategic sovereignty and autonomy.

Show notes: Sign up for The Eastern Front's bi-weekly newsletter here and follow us on Twitter here; "The True Value of European Sovereignty" by Franziska Brantner