Thanks indeed to @financialtimes.com for publishing me on the anti-US turn of the European right. From moderate conservatives to nationalist radicals, it is nimbly shifting towards a politics of autonomy. The centre and left must move fast - or risk being outflanked.
www.ft.com/content/cba2...
In deze video spreken we met NAVO- en Europa-onderzoeker bij het @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social, @armida.bsky.social, en NAVO-correspondent Kysia Hekster.
Dat is helemaal wederzijds @armida.bsky.social 💃
Leuk om het samen met @kysia.bsky.social over de NAVO en transatlantische relaties te hebben bij @nieuwsuur.nl.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIL_...
So great to see @zecsaky.bsky.social writing for the @financialtimes.com this morning.
Magyar is up against the clock in Hungary giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Many middle powers are fast diversifying trade ties away from the US
• In May-Dec 2025 trade among UK, Canada, EU, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland rose by 12%
• EU leads the way, as recent burst of free-trade deals with Mercosur, India and Australia illustrates
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
What comes next for Hungary after a historic election? Tune in tomorrow morning at 10:45 a.m. CDT to hear @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social, @armida.bsky.social, and @leslievinjamuri.bsky.social as they analyze the results and Orbán's stunning defeat in a rapid response virtual program. bit.ly/424U9Pm
One down, however many to go...
It's not inconceivable to imagine a Heritage-like regrouping project, with externals funding the gongo's, waiting it out until the next election. After all, Orbán has done it before...
What's going to happen to these gongo's is, to me, one of the key questions. Will they continue to operate and influence from the outside, or will the state cut funding and take back their shares in state-owned companies, as @veghzsuzsanna.bsky.social outlined yesterday? If so, will others step in?
Thrilled to join the Council as a nonresident fellow, alongside my CER role. Look forward to contributing to the Council's work.
94% of votes counted, with a clear 2/3 majority for Magyar's Tisza projected.
And not to spoil the mood, but the new parliament will be composed solely of right- to far-right parties. Next to the right-wing Tisza and far-right Fidesz, extreme-right Mi Hazánk also seems to have won 7 seats. #Hungary
Very good @carnegieeurope.bsky.social discussion on the far right in Europe with @casmudde.bsky.social @cfieschi.bsky.social and @rosabalfour.bsky.social - this is well worth your time.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQFb...
Tell me you're Italian without telling me you're Italian 😂🇮🇹
Key messages should focus on:
🔸 What the security threat to Europe is
🔸 Ways in which governments are preparing
🔸 Deterrence and why it is worth making investments in defence now
🔸 What war will look like
🔸 The additional spending is only 1-1.5% of GDP
🔸 A peacedeal in Ukraine ≠ threat has passed
Reaching younger audiences is key:
1. They are the generation who will need to back defence spending for the longest
2. Their skills will be required in the armed forces or the broader defence ecosystem
This means a national conversation has to have online elements & use social media influencers.
To do the latter, governments need to embark on a comms campaign designed to reach audiences beyond the national security establishment. How do to this?
🔸 Host townhall meetings
🔸 Engage with the arts & cultural sector
🔸 Mobilise popular public figures
🔸 Design national security courses for schools
Gaining public support for high defence spending and the trade-offs required has two elements:
1. Cleaning up defence procurement and ensuring public money is well-spent (easier said than done, I know).
2. Raising the level of threat awareness among the public, a key tactic for gaining support.
Europeans need to rearm and invest more in defence. That involves making difficult choices about public spending, in a context where far-right parties will exploit grievances about cuts to public services.
So how should governments build a national consensus on defence? 🧵
www.cer.eu/publications...
The SD share is the lowest in over a century
The traditional far right party bounced back (and there are also two smaller ones, which tend to get overlooked by outside observers). The cackling noise in the background is the ghost of JM Le Pen.
The whole debate about reforming donations to political parties is becoming a bit of a sideshow.
It's still important. But billionaires can pump millions into loss-making media outlets to further their political agenda with even less regulation. So why wouldn't they?
Europe should not be drawn into this US war of choice in the Middle East. Doing so would, among other things, undermine public support for European rearmament intended to deter Russia writes @armida.bsky.social for @theguardian.com.
buff.ly/sE4ZNTE...
I've been asked over the last few days/weeks what I think will happen on April 12th in Orbán's 🇭🇺 (and the aftermath), so here's my assessment, looking at everything as it stands now 🧵
tldr: It's complicated, and no one really knows (and those who say they do are either lying or overly confident) 1/
“Europeans have little to gain from supporting the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran. Their responsibility to their voters is to minimise the harm from what Trump has described as “a short-term excursion” in Iran, but which is already beginning to look more like a prolonged nightmare.“
Aid to Ukraine from 2022-2026 was a rounding error. We used more in the first two weeks of the Iran war than we provided in the 4 years of aid to Ukraine.
Always a pleasure to write for @theguardian.com 👇
In preparation of our online event next week, @cfieschi.bsky.social and I have written short blog posts on the question: "Is the Radical-Right Threat Existential or Overstated?"
My take: Yes, the far right is an existential threat but mainly because of the weakness of liberal democratic elites.
Thanks!
