“Europe is in a fight.”
With those words, Ursula von der Leyen set the tone for her State of the European Union speech — framing this as Europe’s “Independence Moment.” She proposed sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers over Gaza; floated using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine; and backed calls for a drone wall to protect the bloc’s eastern flank against Russia. She also pledged action on jobs, poverty and housing.
But were those fighting words enough to bridge the gap between promises and reality — or did they simply paper over a fraying coalition?
Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of Carnegie Europe’s Strategic Europe blog; Carsten Brzeski, ING’s global head of macro research; and Sorcha Edwards, secretary general of Housing Europe, to unpack the geopolitics, economics and social policy in the speech. We’ll also hear from POLITICO’s Max Griera in Strasbourg, with on-the-ground reactions from MEPs — and look across the border to France, where President Emmanuel Macron faces fresh political turmoil after the government of Prime Minister François Bayrou collapsed.