Friends Of Europe Podcasts

9 June 2022: In Episode 15 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast’s special on the war in Ukraine, host Tracey D’Afters is joined by our Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence, Paul Taylor and guest speaker Holy Ranaivozanany who is Head of Advocacy and Outreach at the Africa-Europe Foundation. We discuss the implications of the war on Ukraine on the African Continent and ask if the Africa-Europe partnership is ready for the testing times ahead; how the emerging geopolitical differences affect the partnership; how long have we got before the food crisis becomes an issue for African countries. Tune in to find out what our speakers have to say.

2 June 2022: In Episode 14 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast’s special on the war in Ukraine, host Tracey D’Afters is joined by our Senior Fellows for Peace, Security and Defence, Paul Taylor and Jamie Shea. Energy is top of the agenda. With the EU deal to ban Russian oil this week, we discuss how effective these oil sanctions are likely to be and whether the EU would go a step further and adopt an embargo on Russian gas. We ask Jamie for an update on what’s happening on the ground in Ukraine and Russia’s ongoing military strategy. Paul considers the role that Turkey can play in mediation. And finally, we ask: ‘is the West still united or losing its way when it comes to the strategic approach towards the war in Ukraine?’

19 May 2022: In Episode 13 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast special on the war in Ukraine host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Paul Taylor, Senior Fellow from Peace, Defence and Security and guest speaker Camilla Toulmin who is a British economist and former Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and our senior fellow in sustainable energy. Camilla joins live from the Sustainable Energy for All Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where she is representing the Africa Europe Foundation (AEF). Note about the AEF The Africa-Europe Foundation is co-founded by Friends of Europe and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, in partnership with the African Climate Foundation and the ONE Campaign and with a multitude of stakeholders from civil society, business, policymaking and the youth sector across Africa and Europe. The purpose of the Africa-Europe Foundation is to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue, catalyse partnerships and unlock new opportunities that can transform Africa-Europe

12 May 2022: Episode 12 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast special on the war in Ukraine this week is hosted live from Zagreb, Croatia, where our European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme is hosting a three-day seminar on the topic of ‘Saving Democracy From Itself’. We explore the concept of ‘constructive journalism’ and why ensuring a free and open press can embolden democracies everywhere. Listen to Journalist and Researcher in Euro-Mediterranean Affairs, specialising in Libya, Trustee of Friends of Europe and 2013 European Young Leader (EYL40) - Mary Fitzgerald - and our Senior Fellow and expert in disinformation and cybersecurity - Chris Kremidas-Courtney.

5 May 2022: Episode 11 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast special on the war in Ukraine focuses on developments on the southern and eastern fronts; Russia’s military issues; Finland’s interest in becoming a NATO member; the Sixth Sanctions Package and what it means for diplomacy should the Pope step in to mediate. Tune in this week to find out what our Senior Fellow Jamie Shea says on all these points.

21 April 2022: After a short break we are back with Episode 10 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine. Our host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

7 April 2022: In Episode 9 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO. This week we also welcome our special guest Gordana Čomić, Serbian Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue

31 March 2022: In Episode 8 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO.

24 March 2022: In Episode 7 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Chris Kremidas-Courtney and guest speaker, Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary General at UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

17 March 2022: Ukraine, Senior Fellow Jamie Shea is joined by guest speaker Dr Stefanie Babst, former deputy assistant secretary general of NATO and now a senior associate fellow of the European Leadership Network. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

10 March 2022: In this fifth episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Jamie Shea are joined by guest speaker and Fellow for Health, Tamsin Rose. Since 1990, Tamsin has had a successful career working internationally. Following her role in media relations for the EU Delegation in Moscow, she has since specialised in public health and public participation issues, serving as Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA). Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

1 March 2022: In this fourth episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Chris Kremidas-Courtney are joined by guest speaker Merle Maigre. Merle is Senior Cyber Security Expert at Estonia’s e-Governance Academy, a non-profit that helps governments go digital, former Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn and member of the Executive Board of the Cyber Peace Institute in Geneva.

22 FEBRUARY 2022: In this third episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Jamie Shea and Paul Taylor are joined by guest speaker Colonel Michael Ryan, Former deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense. Russian tanks rolled into the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk to the east of the country on Monday night. On Tuesday evening Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the upper house of his parliament to approve "the use of force outside Russian territory". Is this the beginning of a full-scale invasion? What will stop Putin now? Are the sanctions likely to have an impact?

17 FEBRUARY 2022: In this episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Chris Kremidas-Courtney, Paul Taylor and Jamie Shea discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Will he, won’t he invade? In a week which saw US President Joe Biden warn of imminent war and German Chancellor Olaf Sholz fly to Moscow aiming to keep diplomacy alive, the whole world tried to second guess Vladimir Putin’s next moves regarding the ongoing crisis with Ukraine.. If an attack were to take place, how would it unfold? Is there more military significance to the troops that NATO allies have deployed than mere political signalling? And what further NATO reinforcement can we expect in the coming weeks? Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

8 FEBRUARY 2022: Friends of Europe Senior Fellows Jamie Shea and Paul Taylor unpick the latest movements in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. In a week that has seen diplomatic efforts with French President Macron in Moscow and Kiev, and the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, speaking with President Joe Biden we ask them: Can this new wave of diplomacy avert war? Is President Macron going on behalf of France or is he going on behalf of Europe? Is this unilateral approach playing into the hands of President Putin who seems to want to adopt a divide and rule strategy when it comes to the EU?

Is the EU executing the decisive gear-shift that is needed to not only meet its own ambitious climate targets and agree on its vision for climate neutrality by 2050, but to successfully lead the way globally? Experts gathered at the Friends of Europe debate ‘Shifting gears: achieving climate neutrality by 2050’ – held in Brussels on 19 February – to assess where Europe is at, what it needs to do, where it’s going and whether it will arrive on time. Moderator and Director of Insights at Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani said that with a new Commission in place and its ambitions stated via the European Green Deal, the imminent unveiling of the new European Climate Law, the assessment of member states’ National Energy and Climate Plans, and the COP26 coming up in Glasgow in November, it’s an interesting time for the climate agenda that has a “last chance saloon” feeling about it. “Everyone is really thinking of Glasgow as the tipping point that we should look forward to – but should it be, can it be, given

The world energy market continues to experience major transformations: the rapidly falling cost of renewables and breakthrough innovations in energy use give reason to think that change is on the horizon. Organised at a time of critical leadership change in Europe, the presentation of the 2019 edition of the International Energy Agency’s flagship World Energy Outlook takes into account all the latest market and technology information, policy developments, as well as pathways to meet global climate and other sustainable development goals. This year’s outlook will provide the perfect opportunity to examine the potential way forward for achieving a climate neutral economy by 2050 and an ambitous European Green Deal, including the role of offshore wind as well as the importance of electricity and gas networks in a low-emissions future. Join IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol and key European leaders to hear how the outlook for global and European energy markets is set to evolve. What will tomorrow’s power se

As required by the EU Governance Regulation, every EU country must submit its final plans for achieving the 2030 targets on energy efficiency, renewables and greenhouse gas emissions. The plans – which cover the period of 2021-2030 – must be bold, comprehensive and inclusive, while considering Europe’s global competitiveness and trade interests. Not only will countries have to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they also have to propose alternative pathways that are in line with the EU 2050 long-term climate strategy. The financial sector will have to play a central role if we are to achieve bold transformation. Putting the financial sector at the service of the climate must become a priority, and standards of investment must be developed and implemented across all sectors. The private sector needs these incentives to make the right investments and support member states and the EU to achieve a net zero emissions economy. How can member states and industries better cooperate to develop

The urgency of the climate crisis is impossible to brush off. Even if we wanted to ignore the extreme weather events that have plagued the planet recently, Greta Thunberg, along with hundreds of thousands of students from across Europe, have been making sure that we don’t. While the momentum for action is increasing across the board, civil society is clearly leading the charge, showing more enthusiasm than governments and industries combined. To effectively fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, everyone must however be on board and give it their all. Nevertheless, too few EU countries are considering revising their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to comply with science-based targets. When will the leaders of our world stop acting ‘like children’ and take the radical decisions needed to avoid environmental collapse? How can we further mobilise political and economic actors to comply with the Paris Agreement and 2030 SDGs? Will the private sector pa

Previous years have seen tremendous advancements in the rollout of new socially-driven technologies aimed at empowering citizens to become prosumers. As the ‘yellow vests’ movement highlights, citizens are asking for more social justice and argue that industry remains the privileged player. At the same time, some EU industries protest that current energy and climate policies may hinder their competitiveness and investment attractiveness. Europe’s Energy Union has left a legacy for the next mandate – a legacy which has the potential to allow for Europe’s full decarbonisation. For this to happen, it is time to close the policy book and start implementing measures that are socially just and inclusive while maintaining the competitiveness of Europe’s industry sector. What can be done to ensure that industry remains competitive while avoiding a social backlash? Are current policies effective in supporting the integration of citizens within energy systems or do we have to move in another direction? How can we ensu