Today in the EU EURACTIV

Around the globe, the number of citizens who show unwavering support for democracy is on the rise but there are also more and more of those voting for leaders who may undermine democracy.
 Today, for the first time ever, more than half of the global population supports such leaders. We spoke to United Nations Development Programme's Pedro Conceiçao and Euractiv's politics hub editor Aurelie Pugnet to zoom in on the implications for the upcoming European Union elections.   

Four Dutch parties, including Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom, have agreed on a government programme emphasising nationalism and a tougher stance on Europe. 
They plan to seek opt-outs from some European policies, particularly migration, despite knowing these efforts will likely fail. Does this mean they’re going for a strategy of confrontation with Europe or one of cooperation? And will their Eurosceptical approach damage the country’s credibility in the EU? 
To understand better the essence of Dutch politics, I’m joined by a special guest who knows the ins and outs of this topic, Euractiv's publisher René Moerland. 

Candidates across the political spectrum are meeting twice this week to confront their adversaries and share on a public stage,their vision for Europe.
So, what did they have to say about the state of the EU economy, and what are their priorities for the next mandate?
In the latest episode of Today in the EU, we sat down with Euractiv’s Economy Reporter, Thomas Moller Nielsen, who attended the debate.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times on 15 May in an assassination attempt that shocked Europe.
The attack has brought the issue of violence against politicians back into the discourse and raised some questions about Slovakia as well: What is the current state of the Slovak political scene and how can stability be achieved?
To understand better what is happening with Slovak politics, we are joined by Radovan Geist, publisher of Euractiv Slovakia.

As Israel widens the scope of its invasion of Gaza to the southern city of Rafah, four EU countries might soon officially recognize the state of Palestine, in line with the long-touted proposal for a 'two-state solution' to the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is hard to tell whether the move will have any positive effect on ceasefire negotiations. Euractiv's Global Europe editor Alexandra Brzozowski explains the likely scenarios in the latest episode of Today in the EU.

The Pfizergate scandal broke in 2021, revealing that during the pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had negotiated a contract for 1.8 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla via mobile phone texts that remain undisclosed to this day.
Today, the case returns to the Belgian courts but the lingering questions remain: Who is the man behind Pfizergate, and what really happened? To look into this topic, we spoke with Clara Bauer-Babef, Euractiv’s health reporter.