The schizophrenic politics of the European Union continue. On one hand, you have the far-right winning big in France’s first round of parliamentary elections and the eurosceptic Viktor Orbán taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (not to be confused with the European Council, which of course no one would ever do). On the other hand, you’ve got a trio of solid centrist and pro-EU personalities (Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas) set to lead the bloc in Brussels — and possibly without having to pander to the far-right (or whatever Giorgia Meloni’s ECR says it is) for their votes.
All said, there are ample arguments to be made for both that the sky is falling in and that everything will be OK. EUobserver’s Andrew Rettman returns to talk foremost about Hungary’s presidency and Pascal LeTendre-Hanns shares insights into French politics right now.
No matter how uncertain European policymakers might be about the future of their side of the Atlantic, they may be even more worried about the other side. That Biden-Trump debate was a doozy, eh? In the spirit of the Fourth of July (at least at time of recording), we’ll have a look at how the Olde World is looking at the old men vying to lead the “New” World.
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