World Focus from Brussels

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...

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.  Like millions of his fellow citizens Dmytro decided to help his government in the war effort, contributing his professional skills and knowle...

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 r...

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...

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-Terro...

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 unspeakable human 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...

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 Kanderov...

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, wh...

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 ep...

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...

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 a...

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...

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 R...

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....

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 th...

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...

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 bigge...