Yes, the “center” of European politics “held.” But oh dear are things fragile. Neither the German nor French political establishment enjoys much legitimacy these days, and only the far-right seem to have come up with an “alternative” to them. Hey, say what you want, but at least it’s an ethos. While there are still plenty of socialists and center-left folks loafing about the halls of European power, it’s anyone’s guess what the EU looks like when its two biggest members are flirting with neo-fascist takeovers or ungovernable coalitions — if not nationally, at least regionally.

In next-largest Italy, the populist right already has things well in hand. EUO’s Valentina Saini returns to Euroscopic to discuss what’s up in Italy and the government’s push towards the fancy-sounding idea of “differentiated autonomy.” Giorgia Meloni may find herself in the awkward position of trying to boost her European credentials while placating the euroskeptic ones that got her into power in the first place. Oops.

But who needs illiberals to dismantle “European values” from within when liberals are happy to do it themselves? EUO columnist Shada Islam joins us to discuss the role that Israel’s destruction of Gaza is playing in splitting the EU — and if Arab and Muslim voters here can form the kind of potent constituency that their counterparts in the United States have been able to do.

Listen in and stay tuned as we further develop this venture with our partner, EUobserver. We welcome your feedback, so be in touch! You can subscribe hereand get us where your ears go for podcasts:

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Among other things, Martin Gak writes Inconclusive Thoughts; and William Glucroft writes The ‘Schland. We’d love to see you over there, too!

As a tiny operation, we do our best to spellcheck, factcheck, and contextualize all the information presented in the podcast. But pobody’s nerfect. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right — write! We welcome your feedback.