Interview

[Interview] Ivan Krastev: The ‘West’ of the Cold War-era will not return
15 April 2026 by Tomáš Lindner
Bulgarian public intellectual and political scientist Ivan Krastev interviewed on the post-Cold War ‘West’ and the future of Europe. ‘An obsession with European unity will no longer work. I do not believe that the European Union can cope with the challenges of the real world if we insist on having all 27 countries on board. We need a much more flexible structure. The future of the EU – if it is to succeed – is a strange mixture of integration and disintegration’, he warns.
- EU Politics
- Interview
[Interview] If I were Russian, I would attack Europe tomorrow, says German analyst Carlo Masala
14 April 2026 by Tomáš Brolík
German analyst Carlo Masala looks at whether Europe is behaving wisely towards Trump and if the world will actually allow it to arm itself.
[Interview] Political scientist deciphers Magyar’s success: he didn’t have a Plan B, and he didn’t make compromises
14 April 2026 by Mirek Tóda
“He didn’t fall into Viktor Orbán’s culture war trap — like the opposition always did.” Hungarian political scientist Eszter Kováts explains the rise of Péter Magyar. The liberals and the mainstream rightwing European parties expect much more from him than he is ready to give, in her opinion. “But he will not be Orbán,” she says.
[Interview] Hungarian journalist on life in Orbán’s media: ‘The moment they told me what I couldn’t ask, I knew it wouldn’t last’
12 April 2026 by Márk Finta
Hungarian journalist Alinda Veiszer reflects on the dismantling of public media, the pressures placed on reporters under Orbán’s system, and the stubborn forms of creative resistance that emerged.
[Interview] Hungarian scientist László Mérő: ‘The language of Fidesz is unmistakably Nazi speech’
11 April 2026 by Zoltan Szalay
László Mérő, the mathematician and psychologist turned public intellectual, says Fidesz’s rhetoric now echoes the language of the Third Reich and argues that the hatred shaping Hungarian politics has been consciously manufactured. In a wide-ranging interview, he reflects on Orbán’s transformation, the failures of the past 16 years, and why he believes the country could still change course.
Lick up, kick down: A psychiatrist’s view of how Orbán created a sick society
8 April 2026 by Zoltan Szalay
Psychiatrist and writer Péter Hunčík argues that Viktor Orbán has transformed Hungary not only politically but psychologically, replacing civic autonomy with tribal loyalty, diffuse anxiety and a rewritten moral order. In this interview, he traces how power, myth, religion and fear have been used to remake both the state and society.
US soldiers more pro-Nato than Trump, but Europe can deter Putin alone
3 April 2026 by Andrew Rettman
“They [US forces] would obey if an order came to pull back [from Europe], but it’s not something they would concur with,” said retired Italian admiral Gianpaolo di Paola in an interview with EUobserver.
[Interview] Ukraine journalist Vitaliy Sych: When Russians discuss Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, it means ‘they got their asses kicked’
30 March 2026 by Nikolaj Nielsen
Vitaliy Sych, editor of Ukrainian online media NV, talks to EUobserver (in an interview interrupted by 75 Shahed drones bombing Kyiv) about Russian losses and propaganda, the flock of Gulf leaders now wanting to buy Ukrainian military tech, Vladimir Putin’s mindset, the Druzhba pipeline and Viktor Orban.
[Interview] Journalist Szabolcs Panyi: ‘Being accused of espionage after exposing Hungarian foreign minister’s Russian links is a sign of weakness’
27 March 2026 by Zoltan Szalay
In an escalation of Hungary’s campaign against independent media, award-winning journalist Szabolcs Panyi has been accused of “espionage” following his investigations into the Budapest-Moscow hotline. In this exclusive interview, Panyi warns that the Orbán government is officially importing the “Putin model” to criminalise investigative reporting, turning national security into a tool of political theatre.
[Interview] One of Epstein’s youngest survivors: ‘I was 14, and I hoped the money I earned from sex would repair my relationship with my mother’
17 March 2026 by Lukáš Houdek, Karolína Kiripolská, Michaela Barcíková and Gabriela Knížková
Marina Lacerda was born in Brazil. She was eight years old when she moved to the United States with her mother. She was fourteen when she first stepped inside the New York residence of serial sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Iran expert sees alarming abundance of bad scenarios, including civil war
11 March 2026 by Denisa Ballová
Mojtaba Khamenei’s election as Iran’s new supreme leader signals a hardline turn, stronger Revolutionary Guards, and rising risk of civil conflict. Experts warn his ascension marks the dynastisation of the Islamic Republic, exposing contradictions at the heart of the regime. “There is an alarming abundance of negative scenarios,” says Iranist Lenka Hrabalová.
Europe must prepare for the age of nuclear weapons, expert warns
10 March 2026 by Soňa Weissová
Michal Onderčo, a nuclear weapons expert from the University of Rotterdam who recently published the book Europe’s Nuclear Umbrella, warns that due to the threat from Russia and the US pivot away from Europe, the era in which European leaders did not have to worry about the issue of nuclear deterrence has ended.
Far-right prejudice now ‘normalised’ across Europe, warns EU anti-racism chief
27 February 2026 by Elena Sánchez Nicolás
Michaela Moua, the European Commission’s anti-racism coordinator, is anxious. “Independent of what’s happening in the US, we’re seeing the normalisation of hatred and racism, and that is extremely worrying, as it can lead to violence and even death. We have already seen that,” she told EUobserver in an interview.
Rights chief warns EU’s ‘safe country’ move puts asylum protections at risk
23 February 2026 by Nikolaj Nielsen
“The idea that you can send somebody or people to another country without individual assessment is a violation of basic refugee law,” human rights commissioner Michael O’Flaherty told EUobserver.
Four years of war: Don’t buy Putin’s ‘bullshit’, Ukraine ambassador tells EU
23 February 2026 by Elena Sánchez Nicolás
Ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov warned that achieving peace with Russia requires real pressure on Moscow, cautions against normalising the war or engaging in ‘premature’ EU talks with Moscow, and sets the case for full EU membership.
‘Frog toxin’ that killed Navalny was likely lab-made, says expert
18 February 2026 by Andrew Rettman
The ‘frog’ poison that killed Navalny was hard to hide and likely made in a high-end lab, according to a Belgian toxicologist.
More civilians killed in Ukraine last year than any other since Russia’s 2022 invasion
13 February 2026 by Nikolaj Nielsen
“There were more civilians killed and injured in 2025 than in the previous three years,” Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth, who heads the UN refugee agency’s division in Ukraine, told EUobserver
UN chemical expert: ‘There’s pressure on EU from US to weaken regulatory controls’
24 January 2026 by Elena Sánchez Nicolás
Chemical pollution remains one of the world’s most under-recognised crises. Dr Marcos A. Orellana, UN special rapporteur on toxics and human rights since 2020, talks to EUobserver about the wide gap between the science and the political will, the hidden risks of hazardous chemicals.
- Green Economy
- Interview
European peacekeepers ‘won’t scare’ Putin, Ukraine veteran says
14 January 2026 by Andrew Rettman
European plans for a Ukraine peacekeeping force sound as outdated as using cavalry in WWI, says one of Ukraine’s top soldiers, major Oleh Shyriaiev, in a phone interview from the front line in northern Ukraine.
- Interview
- Ukraine
What’s behind US attacks on EU tech rules? National security and AI weapons
9 January 2026 by Owen Carpenter-Zehe
The Trump administration has gone to war against the EU’s tech regulations, deriding them as censorship and free-speech infringements. But Michael Keary, an International relations and EU policy scholar, explains to EUobserver how the US actually sees this conflict as a national security issue.