Euroscopic Podcast Martin Gak and William Glucroft

William and Martin continue their criss-crossing of the European political order. With Martin in Vienna, among other places, he got a chance to talk to Luis Moreno Ocampo, a former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. It’s a well-timed conversation, as speculation has emerged that the ICC could be preparing warrants for top Israeli and Hamas officials.
William was over at the other international court in The Hague — the International Court of Justice, which issued its first ruling in Nicaragua’s case against Germany on allegations of violating the Genocide Convention due to support for Israel. Tl;dr: Germany is basically off the hook, though Nicaragua claims partial credit for pressuring Germany to resume UNRWA funding and easing off weapons deliveries.
Before that, William was in Maastricht for an inside-the-bubble debate between eight of the European Union’s Commission President hopefuls. Or, better said: Seven Spitzenkandidaten and Ursula von der Leyen. The American-style stage performance was an opportunity for the lead candidates of EU parties to profile themselves ahead of elections in June in which European citizens do not directly vote for them.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also took to stages recently, promoting their worldviews and wishlist for Europe’s future. In different ways, neither may be all that convincing, leaving Martin and William to ask: Is this it?
Stay with us for some other stories happening around the EU this week, plus an interview with Constance Sommerey and Darian Meacham from the University of Maastricht. They host the university’s podcast, “Woke as Science.”
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit euroscopic.substack.com

What’s six months among friends? The United States Congress finally voted on more than $60 billion in fresh military aid for Ukraine, finding a way around campaign-year politicking that includes more than a few Russian-friendlier Republicans. That combined with the new billions from European Union should give Ukraine a boost on the battlefield. We shall see.
Given how many Republicans — a majority, in fact — still voted against the bill, Ukraine and its supporters should only be breathing a partial sigh of relief. The next round of money needs might be after November elections, and who knows what American foreign policy will look like depending on the results. That leaves the EU stuck in the unpleasant position it has found itself, trying to lead a dance it was always meant to follow.
Martin’s got some more information on the latest far-right shenanigans around the EU, including a high-level arrest on charges of spying for China. Xi Jinping, however, is no match for our fearless leader — EUobserver’s editor-in-chief Alejandro Tauber, who joins Euroscopic to talk about the site’s brand-new redesign and why it matters as an independent operation in an age of fragmented media.
Plus, Lorenzo Buzzoni tells us about his reporting that has analyzed rural voting habits across the EU. The article he co-authored appeared recently on EUobserver.
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback. Facts matter.ds


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit euroscopic.substack.com

Politics and ideology aside, the U.S.-led multinational shoot-down of hundreds of Iranian projectiles coming at Israel last weekend was an impressive feat of military-industrial engineering. So that’s what trillions of dollars and hegemonic-driven regional cooperation buys you. Neat.
Unless you’re Ukraine. Then you’re probably wondering — as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is — why no fire-in-the-skies love for me? Defending Ukrainian airspace from Russian air attack and Israel’s from Iran is not one-to-one, but the double standards are there nonetheless. They are all the more glaring given how Ukraine’s security directly affects wider Europe’s than Israel’s.
With Martin fresh back from a work trip to Brussels, he brings us stories from the Belgian (and European-ish?) capital he is not ashamed to say he loves. And he may be in good company, as new polling suggests European citizens have a crush the supranational legislature they will soon be voting for again.
Plus, Simon Van Dorpe from Follow the Money joins us to discuss his investigatory work into transparency and corruption.
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback. Facts matter.ds


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit euroscopic.substack.com

Not even sickness can keep Martin from the news. Thanks to his suffering, listeners get treated to his extra-savory radio voice. And there are many savory items to get through. William takes great pleasure in watching wonky soothsayers read the tea leaves of what it all means when electoral fortunes break one way or another. Last week it was Turkey; this week it was Poland.
Then we turn to the state of education, especially around Africa — home to some of the world’s youngest populations and the most in need of resources. The European Union is a big player in that sort of development aid. We speak to Laura Frigenti, the CEO of one of the EU’s biggest partners on that front, about the importance of education not only for the individual and the immediate society, but for long-term security and stability around the world.
The big story is, of course, Germany’s day in international court, facing allegations of aiding Israel’s genocide in Gaza — as Nicaragua (and not only) view it. Both sides at the ICJ in the Hague presented compelling evidence to support their respective cases: Nicaragua basically said that German officials know of violations of international law and yet have not changed course on its “reason of state” to support Israel; Germany says that’s nonsense — its support for Israel could in no way help commit genocide, if there even is one taking place at all. Nicaragua’s beef is misplaced, Germany’s lawyers repeatedly argued.
William was there for both days of oral arguments and kept his followers up-to-date.
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback. Facts matter.ds


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit euroscopic.substack.com

Very little happens quickly in the European Union. How much Germany has to do with that may be more correlation than causation, though the parallel is strong. For a coalition government that came into power at the end of 2021 “daring more progress,” it has taken more than half its term to do what many similar countries have already done. Pot is, finally, more or less legal. Whatever the political, economic, and social repercussions now, it will be a relief to stop hearing about every step of the tortured legislative process that was required to pass a fairly mild reform.
Germany must be smoking something, though, because a major state-backed bank thought it was a good idea to freeze the assets of an anti-Zionist Jewish peace organization. It’s a highly unusual move that sounds like a past Germany — and Sparkasse, the bank, has been rather tight-lipped as to why it did so. Theories abound, however, and the incident dovetails with the bigger silencing campaign the German state and its affiliated institutions have waged against Israel critics. The chair of Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East joins us to discuss the situation.
Read EUobserver’s story here.
Otherwise, there are local Turkish elections to discuss. And Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen club. Mostly, anyway. Plus, what “Pfizergate” tells us about the European Commission and its leader, Ursula von der Leyen.
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback. Facts matter.ds


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit euroscopic.substack.com

Remember when loosely affiliated terror groups carrying out isolated, but deadly attacks in the name of religious fundamentalist ideology posed the gravest threat to European security? Weren’t those the good ol’ days. Now, following a brazen terror attack in Moscow, they’re back. And so is ISIS — at least in terms of getting talked about.
This week’s Euroscopic takes some time to consider the political consequences of a terror threat that never really went away. Security hawks and law-and-order nationalists make good bedfellows, as matters of public safety and border/migration policy dovetail ahead of a European election year.
But the most focus goes to Israel’s ongoing campaign in Gaza and the increasing international isolation it faces as a result. Amid recording this episode, the United Nations Security Council finally agreed enough on a resolution endorsing some sort of ceasefire. Just before it did, Palestine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot, joined us to explain why he is hopeful despite the humanitarian catastrophe that is as avoidable as it is seemingly unending.
Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe here and get us where your ears go for podcasts:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* EUObserver
Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!
In light of time and production constraints, there is no way we can unpack every claim and position made by our interview subjects in real time. To at least attempt to compensate for that, we would like to include more information here regarding some of Zomlot’s comments. In addition to the well-publicized UN report finding “reasonable grounds” for sexual violence committed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack in Israel, the UN has also expressed grave concern for sexual and other unwarranted violence against civilians committed by Israeli troops in Gaza. While “genocide” is a disputed term currently at the center of legal proceedings, the International Court of Justice did agree, in its Jan. 26 ruling, that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention.”
In an updated news release, the ICJ added more “provisional measures,” including stronger calls for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, avoid acts of genocide, and provide the court a report substantiating its efforts to those ends. A second case, which Nicaragua has brought against Germany alleging complicity in genocide, will be heard in early April.
Mahmoud Abbas has been president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005. Elections were indefinitely postponed in 2021. A complex feedback loop of Israeli policy that represses Palestinian self-determination and Palestinian political ossification has created a crisis of democratic legitimacy. Polling suggests increasing public support for Hamas, including in the West Bank where it does not rule, less because of its brutal tactics and extremist ideology, and more as a release valve of popular anger. A deeper overview of Palestinian politics can be found here.
The use of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure by Hamas is Israel’s justification for targeting these places. While Hamas presence among the civilian population is well documented, to what extent they have commandeered facilities like hospitals is a matter of dispute.
As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eu