Saturday

1st Apr 2023

Podcast

Macron's ugly side

For many people, Emmanuel Macron still represents the great hope for an open and liberal Europe. So what to make of the French president's growing preoccupation with Islam, terror and security?

Mehreen Khan of The Financial Times dissects Macron's policies and his recent interview with The Economist. For more on Macron, we go to Majlinda Bregu, the Sarajevo-based secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council.

Read and decide

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She criticises Macron's decision to veto EU membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania. She also rebuts prejudices about Albania heard over dinner in Brussels.

Others in this episode include co-president of the European Greens Philippe Lamberts; the Emperor Charlemagne; and European Commission vice president Albert Kuñardocz.

Kuñardocz, who was formerly responsible for inland waterways and catering, is active on Twitter. In fact, Twitter is the only place you'll find him. The celebrated Lebanese musician Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his tracks "Baghdad" and "Thawra" to this episode. You'll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek.

Author bio

EU Scream is the progressive politics podcast from Brussels. Produced by James Kanter with graphics by Helena Malikova and music by Lara Natale.

You may also follow via @euscreams subscribe via iTunes, Spotify or from the EU Scream website.

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