The Debate

A black swan moment. The assassination attempt of populist Slovak leader Robert Fico has shocked both Slovaks and Europeans. But in hindsight it is easy to point to security lapses and a climate of verbal violence in a country that finds itself increasingly polarised. Our guests take a look.

When British member of parliament Jo Cox was assassinated by a deranged constituent during the 2016 Brexit campaign, that too seemed like a black swan moment. Are these isolated cases or part of a broader trend?

And who stands to benefit from these heinous crimes?

Slovakia’s government has asked senior leaders in its own ranks to tone down accusations that the opposition and the media are to blame. More broadly, as the whole continent gets set to vote in the EU elections, how much fear and loathing can we expect to see on this campaign trail?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

Another showdown in the country that launched the so-called coloured revolutions. Georgia’s parliament has shrugged off some of the biggest protests in its post-Soviet history by approving a “foreign agents” bill that mirrors legislation in neighbouring Russia. The opposition argues it is the way for the government to curb media freedom and dissent in a country which only recently graduated to EU candidate status.

Is Tbilisi returning to Russia’s orbit? Or did that already happen when oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgia Dream party won a supermajority back in 2020? That supermajority is now slated to override a presidential veto on what the opposition calls the “Russian law”. Then what? 

Ahead of elections later this year, we take a look at what lessons other former Soviet states, like Armenia, Kazakhstan and of course Ukraine - which just 10 years ago was still evenly split between pro-Moscow and pro-EU citizens – can draw from the developments.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz. 

It’s that place where once a year, high art and hustlers rub elbows, a place for icon worshipers and insurgents, old legends and young upstarts…

Welcome to the French Riviera resort of Cannes and the 77th film festival that bears its name… the first one since French actress and director Judith Godrèche went back on her personal story – her filmmaker's mistress at age 14 – and sparked a MeToo reckoning in French cinema.
 

Cannes’ not always been ahead of the curve. This year though, it’s premiering Godrèche’s short film about sexual violence and organizers picked as jury president Greta Gerwig, director of the smash feminist hit Barbie. How in synch with the times can a festival… and an industry be?

We’ll raise the curtain on a Cannes that’s always in search of the right balance between the socially relevant and good old fashion star power… a festival that will showcase the new film by Mohammad Rasoulof who had to flee Iran to present his new feature and what may be the last hurrah at 85 for two-time Golden Palm winner Francis Ford Coppola. What will this year’s festival say about the state of movies and the state of our world?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz. 

Moscow has opened a new front with Ukraine after taking several villages near Kharkiv. Russia’s spring offensive takes form as President Vladimir Putin replaces defence minister Sergei Shoigu with another Kremlin loyalist – Andrei Belousov, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.

In a nation that has fully embraced the transition to a war economy, what does this reshuffle mean as Putin embarks on his fifth term?

And what are the prospects for an outmanned and outgunned Ukraine that can neither afford to keep fighting nor to embrace peace on Putin’s terms for the sake of its own survival.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

After the massive party in Marseille to welcome the arrival of the Olympic flame, it's time to turn our gaze north for what's also billed as another "it's a small world after all" feelgood celebration. Malmö, Sweden is host of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, that heart-shaped ode to kitsch where pop contestants do battle with tremolos, glitter and kicks. But just as politics bleeds into sports, it bleeds into music. 

Security is tight around the venue in southern Sweden, amid calls by some to bar Israel's contestant. And while the ban on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine two years ago was for the most part consensual, this call is tearing apart aficionados.

It’s not just controversial when the voting is done by country. When do rock anthems become national anthems? Just how important is music for propaganda and resistance? And are today's artists any more or less voices for activism than their predecessors?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown. 

Paris hosts the Olympic Games this summer, but it's in a city founded by the ancient Greeks that it all begins. The Olympic flame has arrived in the Mediterranean port of Marseille, the start of a long journey to the July 26 opening ceremony. What's it all about? After all, the torch relay hasn't always been part of the pageantry. Organisers insist it's not political, but also boast of the values they purvey. 

What are those values? Does it resonate, for instance, when the leader of the last host nation China and the next host nation France call for an Olympic truce during the Games?

What does a global spectacle like this one mean post-pandemic and in the midst of so many conflicts and fractures across the planet? To what extent will Paris 2024 mirror the triumphs and challenges of our present day?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

They say it's darkest before the dawn. Let's hope that's true, because Gaza's definitely in the dark this Tuesday. Israeli tanks are cutting off the Egyptian border crossing in the southernmost city of Rafah as the coalition war cabinet rejects what Hamas brands as acceptance of a truce deal, instead reading it as an underwhelming counteroffer. Is this the start of the all-out ground offensive that US mediators, among others, fear will lead to a new level of humanitarian disaster?

It’s been an up-and-down 24 hours for Gaza residents, who initially thought a first ceasefire since November was finally at hand, thus sparing Rafah. But perhaps it's when it all comes to a head that the real bargaining begins. 

What do Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar really want? What's in their interest at this point? And how much pressure can the outside world bring to end a nightmare that’s exactly seven months old and counting?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

Can you still send strong messages when you've rolled out the red carpet and chilled the champagne for a state dinner? China's Xi Jinping is being feted in the French capital for his first visit to Europe since 2019, despite trade tensions, spy scandals and insistence that he isolate Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How much has changed since one year ago, when Emmanuel Macron was accused of lax messaging on human rights and Taiwan when he travelled to Beijing?

The last time that Macron hosted Xi, he invited then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel to join the talks alongside the European Commission president. This time, Ursula von der Leyen is in Paris, but not Olaf Scholz. We ask why and whether that strengthens or weakens the bargaining position of France and the EU.

There are also the messages that Xi wants to convey, particularly with his itinerary: after France, the Chinese president travels to Hungary, whose lenient stance towards Beijing is being rewarded with an electric vehicle factory; and Serbia, for the 25th anniversary of NATO's mistaken bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the war in Kosovo. Is it all part of the hard bargaining or a signal that China is ready to take on all comers?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

How did an argument in Khartoum between two rival generals drag Sudan into civil war and push it to the brink of a repeat of the Darfur genocide of two decades ago? It has not happened yet, but the stage is certainly set in El Fasher, the west's only city still in the hands of junta leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan but besieged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – aka Hemedti.

Hemedti's RSF is the offshoot of the Arab Janjaweed militias that two decades ago slaughtered upwards of 200,000 Masalit, Fur and Zaghawa civilians. After 2005, there were mea culpas and pledges to never again to allow a repeat of the 21st century’s first genocide.

Fast forward to 2024 and the international community has a chance to do just that. And yet, its gaze is elsewhere.

Why? And why, after a year of fighting, is there no end in sight for the people of Sudan?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown. 

Watch moreSudan, a forgotten crisis the world must pay attention to

Concerns over "too much screen time" for youngsters are nothing new. In pre-internet days, young people sometimes saw their TV viewing curtailed as a punishment. But it's now been three decades since mobile phones went mainstream, and nearly two since the advent of the tablet and the smartphone. Many teachers and psychiatrists link long hours of scrolling and exposure to violent and pornographic images, as well as cyberbullying, anxiety and sleep deprivation among a generation whose attention span has shrunk.

We ask about a panel that has just submitted recommendations to France's president, starting with a ban on smartphonesfor under-13s. What's the right measure in our connected world? What responsibility for parents, teachers and the tech giants whose entire business model rests on keeping us on our screens as long as possible? Can curbs really be enforced? 

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown. 

For the first time since November, could there finally be a respite in Gaza? As warring parties and negotatiors shuttle through Cairo, we try to see through the smokescreens and the mixed messages if the stars are truly aligning. Beyond a swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, it's tough at face value to comprehend indirect talks between two sides whose official line is the elimination of the other. The US Secretary of State has hinted at a grand bargain from which a truce graduates into a full-blown rewrite of 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

The first step would be a ceasefire. And as interested third parties like the US and Egypt feel the pressure over a war that's in its seventh month, what do they need to do to help get a deal over the line?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

The expression went viral in the 1960s: generation gap. Those in power had fought in World War II and were shocked to see college students in the US rebel against the call to serve their country and go to war. How much has the current movement on college campuses exposed a new generation gap? Will the consequences be as far-reaching? For the first time since the Vietnam War, Columbia University brought in police to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment, sparking further sit-in protests across the US.

We ask about the students' calls for a ceasefire and for some, a boycott of Israel along the lines of the 1980s movement to divest from apartheid-era South Africa. Will a seemingly endless war in Gaza tear the American left apart, the way the Vietnam War did?

And what about this side of the Atlantic? Students here, too, are divided. Many also perceive Israel not as David but as Goliath. How should the legitimate fears felt by both Jews and Muslims that the eruption in the Middle East will lead to unbridled intolerance going mainstream be addressed? 

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

In 2017, France’s new president went to Paris's Sorbonne University to defend Europe’s strategic autonomy. Since then, there's been Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now, ahead of June's EU elections, Emmanuel Macron was back with an update. 

"Everything that is strategic in our world, we have delegated. Our energy, to Russia; Our security – for several of our partners; not France, but several others – to the United States. And other critical interests, also, to China. We must take them back. This is what strategic autonomy is about," he declared.

So how has Europe met those challenges so far? What to make of Macron's call for an acceleration of a common defence and industrial policy and his claim that energy transition is compatible with growth and the polls? After all, this was a campaign speech, what with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally ahead with nearly one-third of voter intentions, double those of Macron’s centrists.

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

Is it a spiraling superpower showdown or a glorified trade negotiation? The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is kicking off a three-day visit in China’s economic capital, Shanghai. Unlike during the Cold War, when exchanges between the blocs were anecdotal, today it's the world's two biggest powers at the table – powers whose biggest trading partners happen to be each other. 

When Washington and Beijing face off over China flooding world markets with subsidised solar panels and electric car batteries, it certainly sounds like bartering over big bucks. But there's also competing political models at stake.

Blinken's visit comes hours after the US Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation to possibly force the sale of TikTok by China. The addictive video-sharing site's business model – like that of its competitors – relies on vacuuming up its users' personal habits, beliefs and tastes. Beyond the more conventional standoff over fresh military aid to semiconductor-producing Taiwan, how to define this battle over who controls the digital age? How far should the West go?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

Ecuador's new president is on a winning streak, with the recapture of the alleged leader of the Los Lobos gang coming hot on the heels of a referendum giving Daniel Noboa a mandate to get tougher on drug cartels. 

Back in January, the world was shocked to see a once-peaceful Andean nation overrun by massive prison breaks in several cities, with the escape of "Capitan Pico" and the brief overtaking of a television station by gang members. Is Ecuador in danger of becoming a failed state like Haiti? Will it go for mass incarceration like El Salvador?

We connect the dots between the turmoil an ocean away from our Paris studios and a drug trade that's in flux, with demand for cocaine falling in the US and traffickers in the Americas eyeing Europe as a choice destination. What's the best way to tackle this global problem?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Imen Mellaz.

Will it be enough to dissipate doubt over Ukraine's ability to hold out in a war of attrition with Russia? After months of delay, the US House of Representatives has finally approved a $60 billion military aid package for Kyiv. Overruling the objections of Republican hardliners, Speaker Mike Johnson praised lawmakers who came together to "answer history's call". That said, he also conferred first with Donald Trump.

So with US elections ahead, did the momentum just swing against Russia? Or did we witness a one-off compromise that only pushes back the day when the Western-backed war effort runs out of steam? If US support is so vital, it's because Europe has also been slow to boost promised deliveries of ammunition and air defence systems.

Last year, Europe's share of NATO spending rose to its highest level in a decade. What will 2024 have in store? Beyond just Ukraine, what will the arms race sparked by Vladimir Putin's bid for Kyiv have on the planet as a whole?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

A world record of 969 million citizens are called to the polls for what some see as a referendum on one man. India is about to embark on the world's biggest election, staggered over seven weeks, with Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP expected to extend its solid lead in parliament. Modi has been pointing to a decade of unprecedented growth and power for a nation courted by the West and beyond.

The opposition warns of growing inequality and democratic backsliding. Court cases that are deemed political dog its leader Rahul Gandhi, as well the popular chief minister of Delhi, who's currently in jail for alleged ties to a corruption case.

So as India moves from the country to the city, as the literacy rate rises, what kind of a democracy is it? And what do the majority of its 1.4 billion people want?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

Ukrainians wonder if there's a double standard. An international community that comes together to fend off Iran's attack on Israel can't increase its air defence commitments in time to defend against Russian air strikes, such as the one that took out the Trypilska thermal power station last week. We ask if Volodymyr Zelensky is right, and whether EU leaders gathered at a summit in Brussels need to treat Iran and Russia as one common foe, particularly given how close the pair have drawn in the past two years.

On that score, how seriously should we take talk of new sanctions against regimes that have long mastered the art of avoiding them?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

Did it finish with Saturday night, or will it spiral further out of control? Iran's first-ever direct attack against Israel has already sent the whole region into uncharted territory. We ask about the measure of its response to Israel's targeting of Tehran's embassy compound in Syria. We also ask whether the proportionality shows Iran's strength or weakness, and whether Israel's prime minister will heed the call of G7 allies to leave it there and move towards an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Israelis say the common challenge posed by Iran offers an opportunity to shore up strained ties with an Arab world that's frozen all rapprochement since the war in Gaza. The problem is that the ball's in the court of a Benjamin Netanyahu whose political survival – for now – hinges on a long war. 

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.

Roll out the red carpet for Japan. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is being feted with a speech before a joint session of Congress and a White House state dinner. Key to the courtship is Tokyo's ramped-up role in policing the Pacific. Like the Germans in Europe, the Japanese have had to shed the post-war pacifism that's even embedded in their constitution. It’s with an eye to China, North Korea and Russia that they’ve drawn closer to South Korea and supported Ukraine. 

Enter another former World War II foe of the Japanese: the Philippines, whose new president is invited for an unprecedented three-way summit. Their common cause is territorial disputes in the South China Sea and a rivalry with Beijing that continues to intensify. What do Ferdinand Marcos Junior and the nationalist Kishida have in common? How strong an alliance will this be?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

Watch moreChina seas: A new Cold War brewing?

It's not only in the US and UK that border protection is on the ballot. The European Parliament's vote on a migration pact was always going to be a nail-biter, especially two months out from EU elections. We ask about the close result and about burden sharing, this as the numbers of those crossing the Mediterranean hit their highest level since 2015. 

Is there too much or too little in this overhaul? What goes for migration policy goes for the EU as a whole: after all, protecting "Fortress Europe" is Brussels' prerogative while immigration policy – deciding what foreign labour is needed for an ageing continent – is up to member states. So what is the way forward?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.

"To choose not to choose is still to act," as French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once said. Judges at Europe's highest jurisdiction agree. Their non-binding ruling against Switzerland over its failure to formulate a concrete climate action plan resonates as scientists confirm that the planet is coming off the hottest month of March on record. 

We ask about the case, the two others thrown out on technicalities, and that pressing choice that governments must make between the urgent and the important.

The urgent is saving livelihoods – like those of farmers and small homeowners if they have to front the cost of new environmental norms. The important is reducing carbon emissions that are accelerating global warming. 

In the run-up to European elections, politicians have prioritised pocketbooks, backtracking on previous pledges in what some see as a populist backlash against the EU's Green Deal. Beyond electoral cycles and symbolic rulings, where is the path to consensus and the safeguarding of our children's future?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Guillaume Gougeon.

After six months, are we seeing proof that Israel's longest war since the 1980s is winding down? Or is the weekend announcement of troops withdrawing from southern Gaza the calm before a whole new storm?

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists his forces will make a move for the southernmost city of Rafah, despite strong objections from the United States, which is now pressing for a ceasefire and a ramping-up of desperately needed humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians.

Last week's killing of seven aid workers gave the international community a startling insight into all that's gone wrong with Israel's Gaza strategy. And while indirect truce negotiations continue at a low simmer, Netanyahu continues to promise the total eradication of Hamas.

So what is to stop there being another six months of war?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Guillaume Gougeon.