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The first Citizens Global Assembly took place around COP26 in Glasgow and it provided a true snapshot of what humanity looks like. It was co-initiated by Jamie Kelsey and kickstarted because of climate change but its potential goes beyond this single issue. By bringing people together from truly diverse backgrounds it can be a solution to the polarised world we live in today. That’s why host Catarina Vila Nova spoke to Jamie Kelsey, from the Citizens Global Assembly, for the third and last episode of this series on the rise of the far-right in Europe.

If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.

In this second episode of the three-part series on the rise of the far-right in Europe, we want to zoom in on Germany. With its history, surely Germany would be more immune to the far-right movement but this is clearly not the case.

That’s why on this episode of Policy Voices host Catarina Vila Nova spoke to Kristina Krömer and Dario de la Rosa from metro_polis. Born in Dresden and expanded to Leipzig, metro_polis realised that the tram was the perfect place to kickstart conversations about people’s problems and why not climate change and the return to dictatorship as well.

Kristina and Dario have been doing this work for a few years now and they tell how they noticed a change in the discourse of the people they encounter on the trams. But also how all it takes sometimes is to spend a few minutes with someone to get to the bottom of the issue.

If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.

If recent elections in The Netherlands, Slovakia and Portugal taught us anything is that the far-right is making serious gains across the continent and is a force to be reckoned with. With only two months to go before the entire union heads to the polls, we at Friends of Europe felt that it was necessary to dedicate some time to this movement.

Yes, we understand the rise of the far-right as a threat to democracy itself. Yes, we believe it should be fought. And that is why we are bringing you a three-part series on the rise of the far-right across Europe starting today.

In today’s episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova is joined by Daphne Halikiopoulou, Chair in Comparative Politics at the University of York, and an expert on the far-right. In just 30 minutes, we condensed Daphne’s life’s work as we answered the question: how did we get here? Perhaps more ominously, are we back to where we were a century ago?

If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.

We knew it already that this year was set to be dominated by wins of the far-right across the board. The Netherlands set the scene in the end of last year with the victory of far-right populist Geert Wilders and Portugal continued the trend when it recently elected 50 – yes, 50 – far-right members of parliament in the year it celebrates as many years of democracy.

As we are approaching the pivotal moment of the European elections, we want to dedicate some time exploring the rise of the far-right in Europe. We want to answer how did we get here and how do we solve this? So bear with us as we put together these series which will come to you already from next week.

And now more than ever, we want to hear from you: do you know of any activist or organisation that is actively working to combat the rise of far-right in Europe? Think small-scale community projects working to deconstruct the harmful narratives of the far-right movement. It can be anything from working with migrants and refugees, to fighting against hate towards the LGBTQ+ community, misinformation…

If you know of anyone that we should speak to get in touch with us. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.

In the meantime, and because the next episodes are not going to be the most cheerful we have done, we want to take a step back and re-run our first episode of 2024. We want to take you to space with us with astrophysicist Guillem Anglada-Escudé. He spoke with Rayan Vugdalic, Programme Officer for the Making Space Matter Initiative at Friends of Europe.

Host Catarina Vila Nova sat down with Irene Fellin, NATO’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels shortly after her return from her second trip to Ukraine. What she describes – the lack of body armour tailored for women – is just one very practical example of why NATO still needs a special representative for women, peace and security.

The start of Fellin’s tenure as NATO’s special representative for women, peace and security came mere weeks before Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine. What had until then been a decade of crisis management quickly turned into NATO’s core tasks of deterrence and defence.

But how does one get to become NATO’s special representative for women, peace and security? For Irene Fellin, it was not an obvious path. She describes how, being a wife of a diplomat, she found herself trapped in gender stereotypes and expectations and how she had to fight for her career. The rest is history…

Irene Fellin also answered if she would be disappointed if her next boss would be another man and what legacy she hopes to leave for her twins in this episode of Policy Voices.

If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.

In the year Portugal celebrates 50 years of democracy, it elected almost as many far-right MPs to the national parliament. Sunday’s elections saw the end of eight years of socialist rule with the social democrats coming first but by an extremely slim margin.

In this episode of Policy Voices, host Catarina Vila Nova spoke to Ana Gomes, former MEP for the Socialists and Democrats. Ana Gomes painted Sunday’s elections as a choice for or against the ruling Socialist Party who was castigated by voters for not solving a critical housing problem, persistently low wages and lack of opportunities for the younger generations.

With only three months to go until the European elections, Portugal stands as a warning sign to the rest of Europe of the gains the far-right is set to make across the continent.

If you want to comment on this episode you can send us an e-mail. Our address is press@friendsofeurope.org.