World Focus from Brussels: Recent Episodes
Sveinn Helgason
The World Focus Podcast from Brussels covers international politics, security, culture and anything else of global interest. Policy analyst and reporter Sveinn Helgason dives into the latest on the international scene, speaking with experts and all sorts of people. The World Focus gets to the heart of the matter, wherever an interesting story needs to be told and provides the background to understand.
Massive seismic activity has led to the evacuation of close to 4000 inhabitants from the fishing town of Grindavík, on the south coast of the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland. I speak to my fellow Icelander, geophysicist Ari Trausti Guðmundsson, who explains the immense forces at work. Geoscientists still think it is likely that an eruption might start, close to or even in Grindavík itself. Already earthquakes, sink holes and other activity have caused huge damage to houses and infrastructure in the town. Few kilometers away, barriers are being built to protect the geothermal power plant in Svartsengi, next door to the Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination. We also hear from Gregory de Pascale, a geologist who went into Grindavík last Monday to assess the situation and inhabitants who were briefly allowed into their town to collect some of their most precious belongings. Special thanks to Icelandic National Broadcasting Service for providing material for the show. You can follow their coverage in English here:
https://www.ruv.is/english/2023-11-10-liveblog-reykjanes-peninsula-and-grindavik-396249
France plays a major role in Europe as one of the leading nations of the European Union, plus being a founding member of NATO and a key Ally. Nevertheless French governments have often been critical of the Alliance through the years. French President Emmanuel Macron has focused on strengthening the influence and status of France on the global stage, while also emphasizing the importance of Europe's strategic autonomy. For this episode I travelled to Paris and interviewed dr. Élie Tenenbaum, the Director of the Security Studies Center at the French Institute for International Relations - IFRI. We spoke about the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, the threat of terrorism and the role of France in NATO to name few major topics. Before the interview with dr. Tenenbaum we hear President Macron announcing major military support to Ukraine earlier this year.
Major conflicts are raging in different parts of the world. The war in Ukraine continues and since early October, a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, following Hamas terrorist attack on Israel - adding a new chapter to the violent and complicated history of that region. Leaders of the European Union member states met in Brussels late last week to discuss these two conflicts and other pressing matters. In this episode I interview Belgian professor Sven Biscop, an expert at the Egmont Institute, about the role and the influence of the EU on the global stage. In this context we discuss the Middle-East, China, NATO, US politics and the support of the West to Ukraine, in a wide-ranging interview about geopolitics.
Targeting LGBTIQ+ people is one tool that the Kremlin and other foreign threat actors use to manipulate the information space, in order to sow discord and weaken democracy, aiming to achieve their own political and even military objectives. The most prominent anti-LGBTIQ+ disinformation narrative, asserts that the West is trying to destroy everything that is good, normal, and moral by actively pushing ‘the LGBTIQ+ agenda.” The European External Action Service – the diplomatic service of the European Union – launched a landmark report on this issue at a conference in Brussels last Monday, 23 October. The report identifies cases of foreign information manipulation and interference, or FIMI, targeting LGBTIQ+ communities in the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries, the Western Balkans and the Southern neighbourhood. Building on these cases, interviews with stakeholders and other work the report includes recommendations to address this threat, calling for a collaborative response, basically whole-of-society approach. The goal is to protect diversity and human rights. In this episode I speak to three participants in the conference and below is a link to the report.
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/fimi-targeting-lgbtiq-people_en
US President Joe Biden met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 18 October, in a high-stake visit to Israel, trying to break the latest cycle of violence in the region or at least prevent the current conflict from escalating even further. On 7 October the Hamas organization launched a horrific terrorist attack on Israel across the border from it’s bases in Gaza. Israel has retaliated with massive air strikes on the Gaza strip, also cutting fuel, water and other supplies to this densely populated area of around 2.2 million people. My guest in this episode is Erlingur Erlingsson, an Icelandic military historian and former diplomat. We speak about, the Hamas attack, what the Israeli military would face in Gaza as a ground invasion seems imminent, the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza, the possibility of a wider regional war, if there is any path to stability and peace and many other related topics.
NATO ministers of defence meet in Brussels today 11 October and tomorrow to discuss the war in Ukraine as almost 600 days have passed since the full-scale invasion by Russia on 24 February last year. Volodymyr Zelensky President of Ukraine was welcomed to NATO's headquarters this morning by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, In this episode I speak to top Danish defence and miltary expert Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a professor in political science at the University of Copenhagen. He says the geopolitical implications of the war will be felt for generations to come. The use of Artificial Intelligence in warfare and the importance of innovation is another subject we address in this wide-ranging interview. We also discuss how the war in Ukraine has affected the defence strategy of Denmark, a founding member of NATO.
China’s military – the People’s Liberation Army – aims to be world class by mid century, equal to the United States military. The PLA has already added massive capabilities, such as enlarging the navy and is also preparing for intelligentized warfare through developing and analyzing AI – Artificial Intelligence. Brigadier General Ole Kværnø, was a contributor to a conference on 2 October organized by the Centre for Military Studies at the University of Copenhagen, about the Chinese military. General Kværnø returned home late summer from Beijing where he had been the Danish military attaché for the past four years. He says that major changes have occurred in the posture and strategy of the PLA which is now focused on global reach while also being able to fight and win potential wars in the region, for example over Taiwan. That of course adds to an already tense China-US relationship. For information on the conference see here: https://cms.polsci.ku.dk/events/cms-conference-chinas-military---present-and-future-/
The Global Organized Crime Index 2023 reveals a widening gap between organized crime and our collective resilience efforts. A new edition of the index has been launched by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and the results highlight the urgent need for informed, practical strategies to combat organized crime globally. The index profiles all 193 member states of the United Nations, by providing a criminality and resilience score for each of them. In this episode I speak with two analysts from the GI index team, Kosyo Ivanov and Chiara Gentili about the main findings and the methodology behind the index. For full disclosure, I was one of more than 400 experts worldwide who contributed to the index. You can find it here: https://ocindex.net/
Brussels has a very lively art gallery scene and a thriving market for art that is internationally recognized. This week, from 21 to 24 September, 70 galleries and jewellers take part in the annual Brussels Art Square in the Sablon neighbourhood. World Focus from Brussels visits one of art dealers taking part, Jonathan Kugel, in his gallery in the heart of Sablon. We discuss the importance of Brussels Art Square, the market for art in general, how to be aware of forgeries and how the business of art is evolving – becoming more digital but at the same time holding on to personal face to face relationships.
Slovaks go to the polls on 30 September to select a new parliament. The election campaign takes place in a volatile political environment where disinformation has been rampant and rivals fight bitterly. The elections are also closely watched because the results might decide whether Slovakia changes course in it’s support for Ukraine, which until now has been robust. On the other hand, Former Prime Minister and front-runner in the elections, Robert Fico, says Slovakia will stop sending arms and ammunition to Ukraine if voters return him to power. That must be a cause of concern for Slovakia’s Allies in NATO and also within the European Union. In this episode I interview Katarina Klingova, an expert at the GLOBESEC think tank in Bratislava, about politics in her home country, how disinformation is affecting the society and what can be done to counter malign actors in the information space.
See also GLOBSEC - including GLOBSEC trends report
https://www.globsec.org/
Ukraine is united in fending off the full-scale invasion by Russia and liberate all occupied territories. In this episode I interview Oleksiy Goncharenko a member of the Ukrainian parliament who took up arms along with his colleagues following the invasion on 24. February 2022. He represents Odesa, the biggest city in the south of Ukraine, on the coast of the Black Sea and a key hub for exports. We met at the NATO Public Forum on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Vilnius on 11 and 12 July.
Sports is a huge global business, one example is English football where billionaires and oil-rich countries have been making big investments. In this episode I speak with Kaspars Gorkšs, former professional footballer from Latvia, In addition to playing for domestic clubs and his national team, Kaspars had a successful 10 years career in England, joining clubs such as Queens Park Rangers and Reading. We spoke about sports and business, a subject of a panel where he was one of the participants at the Lampa conversation festival in the Latvian town of CēsisI also asked Kaspars about the ice-hockey fever hitting Latvians during the recent World Cup and how the national basketball men’s team will do in the upcoming World Cup finals in Indonesia this August.
Reporters and journalists in Ukraine face a challenging task in reporting on the horrific war brought on by the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Russia into the country on 24 February 2022. In this episode I speak to Latvian TV-reporter Gints Amoliņš who has been reporting from the frontlines and telling other stories related to war to his domestic audience. I met Gints on the 10 of June, at the Lampa conversation festival in the town of Cēsīs,few days after he returned home for a break. We discussed what it is like working in a war-zone and the importance of keeping the world informed about the war to sustain support for Ukraine in this existential fight.
Ukrainians are united in fighting the Russian invading forces on the battlefield but also in the information space. In this episode I speak to Dmytro Pleshakov, a young Ukrainian tech entrepreneur who was a speaker at the Riga StratCom dialogue on 7-8 June. Likemillionsof his fellow citizens Dmytro decided to help his government in the war effort, contributing his professional skills and knowledge. We discuss how to tell the story of Ukraine to the world and effectively counter theflood of disinformation from the enemy.
Finland has joined NATO becoming the thirty first member of the Alliance. This is a historic change for a country that for a long time was militarily non-aligned, charting a tricky path as a next door neighbor to Russia. However the full-scale invasion by Russia into Ukraine on 24. February 2022 has totally changed the security landscape in Europe, eventually leading to the Finnish flag to be raised at NATO HQ in Brussels on 4. April , the founding day of the Alliance. I speak to Dr. Iro Särkkä an expert on defence and security, including Finnish foreign policy and NATO, at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. We discuss how joining NATO is a major step, what Finland brings to the Alliance, the shared security interests of the Nordic and Baltic countries and much more.
The war in Ukraine rages on, more than one year after the full-scale invasion of Russia into the country on 24 February 2022. The invaders were met with fierce resistance by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that have demonstrated war fighting skills and bravery. Ukraine has also received massive military and humanitarian support from the West. The scale of death and destruction is unspeakable and there seems no end in sight. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, said in a speech on 24 February this year that the invaders would be held accountable for their crimes and he was sure that Ukraine would win the war. I speak at length with Toms Rostoks, a Latvian expert on defence and security. We dive into the situation on the battlefield, the geopolitical context of the war and also what is at stake for Latvia and its neighbours in the Baltic region.
Ten men are now on trial in Brussels, for their involvement in the terrorist attacks in the capital of Belgium on 22 March 2016. 32 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when the perpetrators detonated their bombs in the Maalbeek metro station and at Zaventem airport. In this episode I speak with Dr. Thomas Renard, a Belgian who is the Director of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in the Hague https://icct.nl/ Dr. Renard, a leading expert on counter-terrorism, talks about the massive trial underway in Brussels but also how the threat of terrorism has evolved in the broader context and the need for authorities to stay vigilant.
Elvar Már Friðriksson landsliðsmaður í körfuknattleik telur að Ísland eigi enn ágæta möguleika á að komast í lokakeppni Heimsmeistaramótsins. Elvar Már átti stórleik um helgina þegar lið hans Rytas Vilnius lagði Siauliai (Síólæ), 107:101 í framlengdum leik í litháísku úrvalsdeildinni. Elvar var að mæta sínum gömlu félögunum en hann spilaði með Siauliai fyrir tveimur árum.
Russia’s unprovoked, illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to unspeakablehuman suffering and widespread destruction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have courageously fought the invaders and backed by weapons supplied by Western Allies gained the momentum on the battlefield. In late September I spoke with Nataliya Gumenyuk, a well known journalist from Ukraine, on documenting the atrocities committed by Russian forces, how this war is about values and is in fact existential for Ukraine.
Aleksandrs Karpovs, US born graphic artist of Latvian descent, led a remarkable life. An exhibition, presenting his powerful and provocative printmaking was opened in The Global Center for Latvian Art in the town of Cēsis on 25 March. On that day Latvians commemorate every year the mass deportations of over 40.000 people to Siberia in 1949, carried out by the Soviets. I speak with Kārlis Kanderovskis, the director of the Center, about the life and art of Aleksandrs Karpovs and the importance of preserving the strong bond with your home country. Art and politics in the past and the present.
German voters go to the polls on the 26th of September to choose a new Bundestag, the federal parliament in Berlin. The two current government partners – the CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democratic Party are almost in a dead-heat in the polls and the Greens are not far behind. Some of the latest polling actually indicates that the Social Democrats are slightly ahead of Angela’s Merkel party, who after sixteen years is stepping down as chancellor. In this episode I speak with Hardy Ostry, an expert on German and European Politics, about the state-of-play in the election campaign and Germany after Merkel.
The Jewish community in Belgium has a remarkable history and culture. In this episode I speak with Frieda van Kamp from the Jewish Museum of Belgium about the diversity of this vibrant community, the importance of education and how to promote mutual understanding. We also discuss the horrors of the Holocaust and how to counter Anti-Semitism in the modern day.
“How Iceland Changed the World” is the title of a new book written by my fellow Icelander, journalist Egill Bjarnason and published by Penguin. Egill tells the history of those who have lived on this volcanic island in the middle of the North-Atlantic for 1200 years, featuring various historical figures, from Vikings to the first elected female president plus chess player Bobby Fisher. In this episode I speak with Egill about the book and how Iceland and Icelanders have changed the course of world history.
More about How Iceland Changed the World and reviews:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645812/how-iceland-changed-the-world-by-egill-bjarnason/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/books/review/how-iceland-changed-the-world-egill-bjarnason.html
https://apnews.com/article/reviews-europe-iceland-business-entertainment-478bbe17584ec8857f1af60ab2e5f495
The President of Haiti Jovenel Moïse was assassinated during a night time attack on July 7 by a group of assailants. The murder has shocked the nation, adding to political turmoil in a country already hammered by COVID-19 on top of a struggling economy, In this episode I speak to Robin Morais, an experienced journalist from Trinidad and Tobago, another state in the Caribbean. He has been closely following events in Haiti and how they are affecting this poor nation which also takes pride in it’s independence, more than two centuries ago.
Leaders of NATO Allies meet at a Summit in Brussels on Monday 14 of June to discuss a wide range of issues, including the vision for NATO 2030, how to deal with Russia, the rise of China, and the security implications of climate change. I speak with Kristine Berzina, a NATO-expert, on the future of the Alliance and how to deal with the multiple security and political challenges at hand. This is also the first NATO Summit of Joe Biden as US President.
Transnational repression is on the rise as multiple states deploy a broad spectrum of tactics against their perceived enemies, from spyware and family intimidation to renditions or assassinations. In this episode I speak to Nate Schenkkan from Freedom House, co-author of a recent report on transnational repression "Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach." Find it here: https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/Complete_FH_TransnationalRepressionReport2021_rev020221.pdf
Russia under the rule of Vladimir Putin and the complicated history of this vast country. This is the subject of my conversation with Mark Galeotti, the author of A Short History of Russia, We Need to Talk about Putin and several other books. Mark closely follows Russian politics and society and also has his own podcast: In Moscow's Shadows. We talk about challenging several myths about Russia and Putin and a range of other subjects.
The war in Syria has been going on for more than ten years, tearing the nation and the country apart. I speak with Bassel Abou Fakher, a musician in Belgium, one of the millions of refugees that have fled Syria because of the war. This is a story about courage and building a new life in a new country. Bassel also tells me how he rescued his beloved dog, Stella, with the help of some good people. You can read that beautiful story in the children's book "Saving Stella."
Russia’s massive military build-up close to the Eastern border of Ukraine and in occupied Crimea has alarmed NATO and prompted Allies to declare their unwavering support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says a path toward NATO membership is the only way to end the war in the Donbass region where Russia has backed separatist forces since 2014. Russia on the other hand claims the military build-up is a response to so called “ threats” from NATO. I spoke with Liubov Tsybulska in Kiev, an expert on hybrid warfare and strategic communications about Russia’s tactics, including disinformation, and how Ukraine and Western Allies need to stand firm when faced with aggression from Russia.
China faces increasing international pressure over its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uighur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang. More than one million Uighurs and other Muslims, including ethnic Kazakhs and Uzbeks, are in government run detention camps, according to reports by human rights groups, international media and many others. Outside of the camps the eleven million Uighurs living in Xinjiang have continued to suffer from a decades-long crackdown by Chinese authorities Parliamentarians sitting in Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives have now submitted a resolution calling for the Belgian government to declare the persecution of the Uighurs a ‘genocide’ On Monday 29 of March I spoke with Samuel Cogolati, an MP from the Ecolo-Green Party and a co-sponsor of the resolution. He has been sanctioned by the Chinese government which rejects that a genocide is being committed against the Uighurs, calling that and other accusations “the lies of the century.” Samuel Cogolati thinks otherwise and wants the international community to take a real stand against China on the issue of human rights.
Five years ago on the morning of 22 March 2016, terrorists attacked Brussels, killing 32 people, at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek metro station, in the heart of Brussels. I speak to Thomas Renard, an expert on terrorism at the Egmont Royal Institute of International Relations, on how the threat of terrorism has evolved in Belgium and in Europe since the attacks, how the EU is taking on a bigger role in countering terrorism and what to expect when ten defendants stand trial in Brussels later this year for their roles in the 22 March attacks.