Visegrad Insight Podcast

Res Publica Foundation
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Politics
  • Weekly

VIP is the number one podcast on Central Europe from Central Europe. Hosted by editors of the Visegrad Insight – Res Publica Foundation, Warsaw, Poland. We are the main platform of debate and analysis on Central Europe. Questions, feedback and ideas: contact@visegradinsight.eu

  1. Oct 16

    Polish and Spanish Foreign Ministers on Migration, EU Borders and Solidarity

    From Poland’s eastern frontier with Belarus to Spain’s borders in Ceuta and Melilla, solidarity is becoming a test of Europe’s ability to deter external threats and preserve freedom within the Schengen area.At the sidelines of Warsaw Security Forum, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and José Manuel Albares Bueno, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, about what European solidarity, migration and borders.Sikorski argues that states must retain the right to control their borders and determine who enters, while Albares stresses the need to combine firm action against irregular migration and human trafficking with legal migration, development cooperation and respect for asylum and human rights.How can Europe defend its borders while remaining consistent with international law? Listen to the episode.(00:00) Teaser(00:37) Introduction(01:25) Spain and Poland's common position toward EU borders(03:16) Albares on whether Spain is ready to die for Gdansk? (04:55) Sikorski on the EU's solidarity(05:46) Sikorski on Palestine, Ukraine and accusations of double standards(07:11) Albares on protecting international law(08:13) Sikorski on what Poland wants from the EU's migration policy(10:11) Albares on Israel, asylum and legal pathwaysThis interview is a co-production of Visegrad Insight and Agenda Pública. It was conducted in Warsaw by Wojciech Przybylski , editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight , together with Marc López Plana, editor and director of Agenda Pública.

  2. Oct 9

    How Can Europe Compete with China? Time Is Running Out

    Europe is becoming a central battleground in the global contest over economic security. As the US and China de-risk from one another, the EU is under growing pressure to defend its market, reduce strategic dependencies and decide how far it is willing to go in confronting Beijing. In this episode, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Camille Boullenois, Associate Director at Rhodium Group, who argues that Europe is far from powerless. Its market size and control over key high-tech inputs give it substantial leverage, but that leverage will matter only if European governments are prepared to use it. How far should Europe go in de-risking from China? And is Europe ready to bear the political and economic costs of a more assertive strategy? Listen to the episode. (00:00) Introduction (02:00) Trump, Xi and the US–China relationship (05:55) Economic warfare and Europe’s role (08:35) Why Europe matters for global de-risking (12:50) China’s real GDP, slowing economy and rising exports (14:20) Did the SOTEU deliver on Europe’s China strategy? (17:22) How can Europe protect its industries from China? (19:00) Can economic tools change countries’ behaviour? (20:20) Where should Europe start using its economic toolbox? (23:03) Does Europe have the political will? (24:28) What to expect from Šefčovič’s visit to Beijing (28:23) Germany’s position on China

  3. Oct 2

    Can Europe Protect Its Borders Without Dividing Itself?

    Europe’s borders may be thousands of kilometres apart, but the challenges they face are increasingly connected. In this episode, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Marc Lopez Plana, editor and director of Agenda Pública, about the recent migration crisis involving Spain and Morocco, the role of social media and disinformation in amplifying political tensions, and the parallels with migration pressures experienced by Poland, Lithuania and Latvia on their borders with Belarus. López argues that the crisis has pushed migration to the centre of Spain’s political debate ahead of the 2027 elections, while forcing the country to reconsider the strategic importance of Ceuta and Melilla and its relationship with Morocco. What can Europe learn from crises at its borders? How can governments respond without fuelling divisions within their own societies? Listen to the episode. 00:00 Introduction 01:34 Parallels between Spain and Eastern Flank's borders02:52 What happened on the Spain–Morocco border? 07:35 Comparing Spain–Morocco and Poland–Belarus 11:25 Social media, disinformation and political polarisation 17:22 Who benefits from division in Europe? 21:00 Migration and Europe’s 2027 elections 24:49 How could Europe defend its borders? YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@visegradinsight⁠⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.substack.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠⁠⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠⁠⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a yearly subscription: ⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/⁠⁠

  4. Sep 25

    NATO Research Director on Europe’s Security Future

    Europe’s security order is evolving, but is the Old Continent still able to build the capabilities, resilience and political confidence needed to defend it? Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Florence Gaub, Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defence College, about Europe’s changing security environment, the limits of old assumptions and the need for strategic foresight. Gaub, who leads research on future challenges relevant to NATO, argues that Europe does not need a new security architecture. NATO and the EU already provide one, but Europeans must now take far greater responsibility for their own defence, particularly as the US focuses increasingly on China and the Indo-Pacific. Can Europe close its capability gaps in time? And what will it take for Europeans to move from dependence to genuine strategic responsibility? Listen to the episode. 00:00 Introduction01:24 Europe’s new security architecture05:03 Does Europe have enough time to defend itself?09:06 “Democracies are stronger when they are defending themselves”13:49 Burden sharing and securing Europe’s frontier states16:12 Strategic communication, democratic strength and deterrence22:50 Nuclear deterrence: France and the UK’s role in European security YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@visegradinsight⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.substack.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠⁠⁠⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a yearly subscription: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/⁠⁠

  5. Sep 11

    Who Is Competing for Influence in Europe? | Dimitar Bechev

    Europe is no longer only shaping its neighbourhood. It is also an arena where Turkey, China and Russia pursue competing strategies to influence the continent. In this episode, Wojciech Przybylski speaks with Dimitar Bechev, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe, about his new book 'The Scramble for Europe: Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional Order'. Bechev argues that Russia, China and Turkey should not be treated as a coherent anti-European bloc, as each pursues a distinct strategy. Russia seeks to revise the European order, China aims to deepen Europe’s economic dependence and Turkey seeks a more advantageous place in Europe’s political architecture. How should Europe respond? Can it retain agency in an increasingly geopolitical era? Listen to the episode. 00:00 Introduction02:02 What is Europe’s regional order?05:47 CEE’s experience of power politics11:10 Three strategies for Europe: Russia, China and Turkey19:18 Europe's old (new) strategy of muddling through?25:33 What should Europe do? YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@visegradinsight⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.substack.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠⁠⁠⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a yearly subscription: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/⁠⁠

  6. Aug 28

    Is Hungary a Spin Democracy? Magyar’s First 100 Days

    Péter Magyar’s first 100 days in office have already brought a wave of institutional change and reforms aimed at breaking with Orbán’s system in Hungary. The new government is still enjoying strong public backing, prolonging Magyar’s honeymoon so far. But how long can it last? Wojciech Przybylski returns to speak with Péter Krekó about Hungary’s transition after TISZA took power. Krekó assesses Magyar’s first 100 days in office, the government’s push to reshape the rule of law and democratic institutions in Hungary. 00:00 Introduction01:03 Péter Magyar’s political honeymoon05:50 Hungary: from ‘spin dictatorship’ to ‘spin democracy’?07:55 Magyar’s achievements checklist12:15 How perfect is TISZA’s 'realistic' approach?21:50 How deep is Hungary’s ongoing change?26:42 Balancing speed, efficiency and democracy29:55 Transitional justice and Hungary’s communist past39:22 The start of Poland’s campaign YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@visegradinsight⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.substack.com/podcast⁠⁠ Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a yearly subscription: ⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/⁠⁠

  7. Jun 26

    Kubilius: Europe Free-Rode on America for 30 Years. Ukraine Changed That

    In just three years, Ukraine scaled its annual defence production from roughly one billion euros to 50 billion euros. The EU Commissioner for Defence and Space argues that a combination of digital talent, demand-side doctrinal change and civil society mobilisation drove that transformation, and that the EU has not yet matched this model and therefore needs to bring Ukraine into its defence thinking. At the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk on 26 June 2026, Visegrad Insight editor-in-chief Wojciech Przybylski sat down with European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius for a wide-ranging conversation on what Europe can – and must – learn from Ukraine's military-industrial transformation. 0:00 Introduction: recording live from Gdańsk, Ukraine Recovery Conference 20260:59 Is Europe living through a moment that fundamentally changes the European project?1:34 Why the shift away from US dependency is now unavoidable4:18 Ukraine's drone revolution: digital talent, demand-side doctrine and Mykhailo Fedorov7:54 SAFE instrument: catching up or innovating?9:13 Eastern flank countries and the shared burden of continental defence12:21 Defence as a European public good: Eastern Flank Watch and the path to EDPCI status13:24 Are Europe's strategies speaking to each other? 14:26 Article 42.7 and the whole-society approach16:51 Cutting military construction permits from 4 years to 100 days YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@visegradinsight⁠⁠⁠⁠ Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.substack.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠⁠⁠⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a yearly subscription: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://visegradinsight.eu/membership-account/membership-levels/⁠⁠

  8. Jun 24

    Visegrád Is Back and Magyar Wants It Bigger

    The conversation covers Péter Magyar's outreach to Warsaw, Prague and Bratislava, the proposed V4 plus Austria configuration and Magyar's wider ambition of adding four more partners, with Romania, Slovenia and Croatia named as candidates. Przybylski and Krekó weigh the strategic realignment between Poland and Hungary on Russia and Ukraine, the limits of that convergence over enlargement and fast-tracking, as well as the lingering memory politics dispute between Warsaw and Budapest. Check the podcast on alternative platforms: Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Substack Subscribe to Visegrad Insight for access to all our content, live and online events: ⁠visegradinsight.eu⁠. Use code VISEGRAD35 for 35 per cent off a ⁠yearly subscription⁠. Visegrad Insight is powered by the Res Publica Foundation, Warsaw.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

VIP is the number one podcast on Central Europe from Central Europe. Hosted by editors of the Visegrad Insight – Res Publica Foundation, Warsaw, Poland. We are the main platform of debate and analysis on Central Europe. Questions, feedback and ideas: contact@visegradinsight.eu

Information

  • Creator
    Res Publica Foundation
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    315
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Res Publica Foundation
  • Show Website
    Visegrad Insight Podcast

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