ECFR ON AIR

About ECFR ON AIR

Short interviews and comments by our experts and others on breaking news and key topics from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) - the first pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, our objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values-based foreign policy.Listen also to Mark Leonard's The World in 30 Minutes, our weekly series in which we explore the big issues in foreign policy: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

ECFR

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Sept 2020

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

66 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Albania: The Flamingo Revolution explained

   What began as opposition to a Trump-family-linked luxury coastal development in an environmentally sensitive wetland area has stretched beyond 100 days and grown into something much bigger. Now one of Albania’s largest protest movements since the fall of communism, the Flamingo Revolution has turned the bird into an unlikely symbol of anger over corruption, concentrated political and economic power, media freedom—and ultimately, who gets to shape Albania’s future. In this episode, Jessica Hendrick welcomes Enri Hide, executive director of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security and professor at the European University of Tirana working on the RE-ENGAGE project; and Ditmir Bushati, Albania’s former minister for Europe and foreign affairs, who served in Edi Rama’s government and has become a leading commentator on the revolution. Enri sees the movement less as a single spark or final straw than as the tipping point at which private frustration spilled into collective revolt. Ditmir explains why: Albania has had plenty of strong leaders but too few strong institutions—and a development model that favours “the very few at the expense of the many”. But if that model has been brewing for years, how much responsibility does his own political generation bear for its time in office? Drawing on protests likened to the Arab Spring, META censorship of online coverage and Albania’s case-by-case justice mechanism, Jessica, Enri and Ditmir explore if and how and the country’s speedy race to the EU will be affected. Together, they ask whether big tech and state censorship are beginning to overlap as political mobilisation increasingly depends on Facebook and Instagram; whether the house arrest of Albania’s intelligence chief shows that the country’s anti-corruption body is becoming the “mainland of credibility”; and what the EU’s pre-enlargement policy reviews and 2026 Enlargement Package might reveal about Brussels’ response. What does Prime Minister Edi Rama’s UN General Assembly speech reveal about the battle to define the Flamingo Revolution at home and abroad? What can Serbia’s own leaderless protest movement teach Albania, amid news of the “Butcher’s funeral” and President Vučić’s resignation? And as Ursula von der Leyen visits Tirana this week, what would it mean for the EU to reciprocate the extraordinary levels of trust Albanians continue to place in Europe? Further reading: RE-ENGAGE research on Albania (https://re-engaging.eu/selective-europeanisation-and-conditional-trust-eu-democracy-promotion-in-hybrid-albania/) RE-ENGAGE research on the Western Balkans (https://re-engaging.eu/fractured-integrated-at-war-five-scenarios-for-the-geopolitical-futures-of-western-balkans-in-2035/) RE-ENGAGE policy recommendations on the Western Balkans (https://re-engaging.eu/rethinking-eu-democracy-promotion-in-the-western-balkans/) This podcast was recorded on September 29th 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   11 Sept 2026

   Ukraine: The battle beyond war

   Ukraine is fighting for survival against Russia while its democracy faces a second battle at home. Ukrainians show extraordinary trust in the Armed Forces, family and civic networks—but far less in politicians, government and bureaucrats. Now, high-level corruption scandals, calls for wartime elections, roadblocks to EU accession and possible peace talks with Russia are raising a hard question: can the trust that has helped Ukraine survive the war be turned into a state people believe in? In this episode, Jessica Hendrick welcomes Roman Petrov, president of the Ukrainian European Studies Association, professor of EU law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and one of Ukraine’s leading experts on EU accession and EU-Ukraine relations working on the RE-ENGAGE project; and Svitlana Zalishchuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Sweden and former civil-society activist, member of parliament and government adviser, now working at the centre of Ukraine’s wartime defence and European security partnerships. Roman warns that major decisions on peace could be challenged later if Ukraine’s elections remain suspended. Svitlana pushes back on the picture of low public trust, arguing that the war has actually increased trust in the state—just unevenly—and that public trust itself is part of Ukraine’s national defence capability. RE-ENGAGE conducted nearly 600 interviews with Kyiv residents last year, at times even moving them into air-raid shelters as alarms sounded across the city. Drawing on the findings, Jessica, Roman and Svitlana discuss why Ukrainians can deeply distrust the state yet still mobilise to defend democracy; what recent corruption scandals reveal about whether the system actually works; and if fast-tracking EU membership risks turning reform into a superficial “copy-paste” of European laws. How is the far-right AfD’s historic landslide in eastern Germany viewed by those working on EU accession in Kyiv? Why might Ukraine now be better described as a contributor to European defence than a recipient of military aid? And what does Ukraine need to do differently to make its post-war vision last? Further reading: RE-ENGAGE research on Ukraine (https://re-engaging.eu/resilience-and-wartime-transformation-trust-geopolitics-and-eu-democracy-promotion-in-ukraine/) RE-ENGAGE research on Eastern Europe (https://re-engaging.eu/pathways-to-the-east-pathways-to-the-west-four-scenarios-of-eastern-europe-in-2035/) RE-ENGAGE policy recommendations on Eastern Europe (https://re-engaging.eu/indispensable-and-imperfectly-effective-addressing-the-deficits-of-eu-democracy-promotion-in-the-eastern-neighbourhood/) This podcast was recorded on September 9th 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   4 Sept 2026

   Bonus episode: The EU enlargement game

   What happens if your economy is suddenly in crisis, Brussels offers help with strings attached—and Turkey, China or Russia can move faster? What if your country delivers every reform the EU asks for, only for a member state to block the next step anyway? And after years of waiting, would voters still choose to join? In this special bonus episode, The Neighbourhood goes live from Lisbon for an EU enlargement game. Jessica Hendrick brings together RE-ENGAGE experts representing six EU candidate countries and throws a series of fictional—but very plausible—political and economic shocks at them inspired by real headlines: Russia’s intensified attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, Ireland’s EU presidency push on enlargement, Iceland’s referendum, Germany’s regional elections and the upcoming 2026 Enlargement Package. Drawing on three years of surveys, interviews and crisis simulations, each expert has to answer for their country. Playing for each country: Albania: Morten Bøås, research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), representing RE-ENGAGE’s Albanian partners at the European University of Tirana Bosnia and Herzegovina: Damir Kapidžić, director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Sarajevo Georgia: Ketevan Bolkvadze, senior lecturer in the department of political science at Lund University, originally from Georgia Moldova: Mathilde T. E. Giske, research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), representing RE-ENGAGE’s Moldovan partners at Moldova State University Serbia: Luka Filipović, research associate at the Institute for Contemporary History in Serbia Ukraine: Roman Petrov, president of the Ukrainian European Studies Association The result is part enlargement simulation, part policy conversation and part game night. The experts bargain over a fictional €100 million EU cheque, decide whether the EU can compete with faster offers from other powers, test how easily disinformation could exploit frustration with enlargement, and imagine what would happen if EU membership was finally put to a public vote. Along the way, Serbia proposes keeping its relationship with Brussels “casual”, Bosnia finds a creative use for €100 million, and Ukraine calls for Hungarian “Varangians” when backsliding strikes. When a crisis hits, does speed matter more than values? Can “Europe never wanted you anyway” become a winning political message? And if a country finally joins the EU, what stops democracy from sliding backwards once the prize of membership is secured? Further reading: RE-ENGAGE research overview (https://re-engaging.eu/all-publications/) RE-ENGAGE research on Albania (https://re-engaging.eu/selective-europeanisation-and-conditional-trust-eu-democracy-promotion-in-hybrid-albania/) RE-ENGAGE research on Bosnia and Herzegovina (https://re-engaging.eu/trust-social-cohesion-and-eu-democracy-promotion-in-bosnia-and-herzegovina/) RE-ENGAGE research on Georgia (https://re-engaging.eu/trust-and-social-cohesion-in-georgias-path-to-europe/) RE-ENGAGE research on Moldova (https://re-engaging.eu/eus-democracy-promotion-in-the-republic-of-moldova/) RE-ENGAGE research on Serbia (https://re-engaging.eu/trust-social-cohesion-and-eu-democracy-promotion-in-times-of-acute-political-crisis-the-case-of-serbia/) RE-ENGAGE research on Ukraine (https://re-engaging.eu/resilience-and-wartime-transformation-trust-geopolitics-and-eu-democracy-promotion-in-ukraine/) This podcast was recorded live in Lisbon on September 3rd, 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

324,858

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

19

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

81

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