Field trip to Russia, anyone?

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Field trip to Russia, anyone?
Date: May 7, 2026
Host: Zoya Sheftalovich
Guest/Co-host: Sarah Wheaton

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Main Theme

This episode covers three critical issues roiling EU politics:

1. The tense reopening of Brussels’ relationship with Hungary’s new government and Hungary’s still-frozen EU funds
2. Controversial field trips by right-wing MEPs to Russia amidst ongoing sanctions and diplomatic restrictions
3. The collision between Pedro Sanchez’s challenges—both with his “Trump problem” and Spain’s deep parliamentary gridlock

The tone is brisk, conversational, and deeply informed by on-the-ground reporting, bringing out the latest moods and maneuvers in Brussels and Madrid.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Hungary’s Frozen EU Billions and EU Relations

[01:12 – 04:54]

• Background:
  After Viktor Orban’s exit, new PM Péter Magyar promised a “full reset” with Brussels. However, the EU Commission is still playing hardball, proposing Hungary might not receive all €10.4 billion in frozen Covid-recovery funds—a legacy of Orban-era corruption and rule-of-law issues.

  • Breakdown: €6.5bn in grants, €3.9bn in loans.

• Commission’s Calculus:
  Hungary can have the grants, but the loans are problematic given Hungary’s debt (75% of GDP vs. the EU cap of 60%). The Commission insists on actual reforms before releasing funds to avoid repeating the “Poland scenario,” where a pro-EU change in government did not resolve root issues due to competing institutions.

  • Quote:

    "The Commission wants to avoid another situation where the money flows before the reforms happen."
    —Sarah Wheaton [02:00]

• Political Difficulty for Magyar:
  Accepting a partial payout contradicts his campaign’s core promise to restore Hungary’s access to all EU funds.

  • Quote:

    "He campaigned on fully restoring Hungary's access to EU money after Orban. And accepting this proposal... would mean leaving about three and a half billion with a B on the table."
    —Sarah Wheaton [03:22]
    "[Magyar] definitely wants to unlock that money and it's an awkward sell. The Commission says, look, take the win…because otherwise, this is as good as it’s going to get."
    —Zoya Sheftalovich [04:00]

• Reset with Ukraine:
  Magyar’s government signals a shift by returning $80 million in seized Ukrainian assets, a step toward repairing Kyiv-Budapest relations after years of acrimony.

  • Quote:

    "It's a pretty pricey olive branch... Kyiv basically accused Hungary of state terrorism. So it does look like this effort at a rapprochement is working."
    —Sarah Wheaton [04:54]

  • Zelensky thanks Hungary for a “constructive approach and civilized step.” [05:21]

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2. Controversial Russia “Field Trips” by MEPs

[06:14 – 09:42]

• The Trip:
  Right-wing Luxembourgish MEP Fernand Karthizer sends around invitations for a privately funded field trip to Russia’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum—attended by Putin. He aims to bring other MEPs along.

• Political Context:
  Karthizer is already controversial—expelled from the ECR group for a previous Moscow trip. EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation was suspended in 2014; Russian and Belarusian staff have been barred from EU Parliament premises since 2022.

• Karthizer’s Justification:
  He frames these trips as dialogue-building, arguing that "everyone's talking to Russia" except Western Europeans.

  • Quote:

    "He reckons the trip is just all in the spirit of dialogue and peace and good times and talking to one's colleagues elsewhere... the reason he did it was because Western Europe is really the only folks who aren't talking to Russia."
    —Zoya Sheftalovich [07:49]

• Broader Trend:
  Despite bans, some MEPs—including influencer-turned-MEP Phidias Panyatou—have visited Moscow, presenting themselves as “Voices for Peace,” even as the context remains fraught with allegations of EU information leaks to Russia and fears of political naivety or self-promotion.

• Looming Tension:
  These trips highlight deep divisions over the extent and propriety of EU-Russia dialogue by individual politicians, especially with Ukraine’s war ongoing.

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3. Spain’s “Trump Problem” and Parliamentary Gridlock

[09:42 – 13:56]

• Sanchez vs. Trump:
  Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez becomes a leading EU opponent of Donald Trump, refusing US use of Spanish bases for attacks on Iran—prompting (according to a leaked Pentagon email) threats about Spain’s participation in NATO and further Trump warnings about cutting trade ties.

  • Quote:

    "Sanchez has positioned himself as sort of one of Donald Trump's key critics in the EU... In response... [Trump] threatened to cut trade ties with Spain. There was a leaked Pentagon email... threatening to suspend Spain from NATO."
    —Zoya Sheftalovich [10:33]

• Spanish Public Perception:
  Locals see Trump’s actions as bluster, but there’s pride in Sánchez as a “voice that speaks out... where others are not.” [11:00–11:39]

• Political Gridlock:
  Sánchez’s government struggles to pass legislation or transpose EU laws due to a weak coalition (152 out of 350 seats) reliant on Catalan and Basque support.

  • Quote:

    "They basically have the most pending single market infringements of any country—48 of them. And that’s more than Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece. Like, they are really kind of on struggle street when it comes to making that sort of change, pushing through changes into that parliament."
    —Zoya Sheftalovich [12:05–12:50]

• Concrete issues stuck in Parliament:

  • VAT reforms for small businesses and digital services
  • Wastewater treatment compliance—now public health concerns
    Both have led the Commission to refer Spain to the EU Court of Justice. [13:10–13:50]

• 2027 Elections:
  Polls reveal a competitive, unclear landscape; Sánchez’s party leads in some polls, while the centre-right Popular Party leads in others.

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4. Preview: EU Identity & Upcoming Announcements

[14:27 – 14:59]

• EU Confidential Preview:
  Sarah will interview Teresa Kuhn (University of Amsterdam) about the evolution of European identity, based on 50 years of data.

  • Quote:

    "We talked about this topic that can seem a bit abstract of European identity, but she basically used 50 years worth of data and found that what it means to be European to people has been changing."
    —Sarah Wheaton [14:27]

• Listener engagement:
  The show encourages WhatsApp listener feedback on “What is a European identity to you?” [14:46]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Hungary and the EU Commission:
  “The Commission wants to avoid another situation where the money flows before the reforms happen.”
  —Sarah Wheaton [02:00]

• On Hungary’s awkward diplomacy:
  “He campaigned on fully restoring Hungary's access to EU money after Orban... accepting this proposal... would mean leaving about three and a half billion with a B on the table.”
  —Sarah Wheaton [03:22]

• On Hungary-Ukraine rapprochement:
  “Kyiv basically accused Hungary of state terrorism. So it does look like this effort at a rapprochement is working.”
  —Sarah Wheaton [04:54]

• On MEP field trips to Russia:
  “He reckons the trip is just all in the spirit of dialogue and peace and good times and talking to one's colleagues elsewhere.”
  —Zoya Sheftalovich [07:49]

• On Spanish political gridlock:
  “They basically have the most pending single market infringements of any country—48 of them. And that’s more than Hungary, Italy, Poland, Greece.”
  —Zoya Sheftalovich [12:50]

• On Sanchez facing off Trump:
  “There was actually a leaked Pentagon email that was doing the rounds, which basically was threatening to suspend Spain from NATO.”
  —Zoya Sheftalovich [10:33]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Hungary’s EU funds & reforms: 01:12–04:54
• Hungary-Ukraine tension and diplomatic olive branch: 04:54–06:14
• MEP trips to Russia & EU-Russia dialogue debate: 06:14–09:42
• Spain: Sanchez, Trump, and government gridlock: 09:42–13:56
• Preview: EU identity and upcoming show announcements: 14:27–14:59

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Summary

This episode deftly spotlights how Europe is grappling with internal resets (Hungary), external diplomatic disputes (MEP trips to Russia and EU embargoes), and the headaches of parliamentary gridlock (Spain), all while navigating complex relationships with international heavyweights like the US. The hosts’ on-the-ground reporting and sharp political context make the podcast an indispensable snapshot of what moves Brussels—and why it matters.

Transcript

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[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Buenas dias. It's Thursday, May 7, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. The vibe in Brussels today is, well, it's cautiously reconciliatory as Brussels opens the door to Hungary again, but keeps its options open. Also on the pod, a right wing MEP is planning a field trip to Russia. And we check in on Spain, where Pedro Sanchez's Trump problem is colliding with Spain's own parliamentary gridlock. I'm Zoya Shevdolovic and with me today is one of our policy editors, Sarah Wheaton. Hey, Sarah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Hey. Zoya Ketal. I am here alone in the studio. Where are you?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, I am in Madrid. More on that a little later. It's very exciting. But first, let's get into today's main stories. Sarah, the first thing we're going to talk about today is Hungary's frozen EU billions. Now, we all know that when Peter Magyar came to power, that's the new prime minister who succeeded Viktor Orban. He promised a full reset with Brussels. But the commission has a proposal right now that's suggesting Budapest may not get all of the money that the EU has frozen for it after all. Now, we're talking specifically about that 10.4 billion in EU Covid recovery money that was frozen during those Orban years and that was frozen of corruption and rule of law concerns. But now Hungary risks losing that money if it doesn't get its act together by the end of August.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, I mean, what we're seeing play out is Brussels trying to avoid repeating its mistakes. It knows from Poland that a change of government doesn't necessarily mean eliminating the problems that occurred. So Poland had also lost a lot of money over judicial and rule of law issues when the Tusk government came in, a more pro EU government, he had promised to make all these changes, but they ended up getting vetoed by the president, who's loyal to the opposition Law and Justice Party. And so a lot of those things didn't actually go through. The commission wants to avoid another situation where the money flows before the reforms happen.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, that's right. And so our Brussels playbook colleagues they're reporting this morning that there's this new proposal, a new plan that the Commission has which involves basically that 10 billion in Covid recovery money being split between the 6.5 billion in grants and the 3.9 billion in loans and Hungary taking the grants. So Gregorius Sorghi, he is reporting today that the thinking is well Hungary can have those grants, but those loans, they're more controversial because Hungary's debt is around 75% of GDP with deficit around about 7%. And the Commission doesn't want Budapest to take on more debt because the EU limit is 60% or of GDP and that was established under the Stability and Growth Pact. So really the EU wants Hungary to be bringing down its debt, not increasing it.

[Sarah Wheaton]

But this is going to be like super awkward for Magyar, you know, coming home without the full amount. He campaigned on fully restoring Hungary's access to EU money after Orban. And accepting this proposal from the Commission would, would mean leaving about three and a half billion with a B on the table. Even just last week in Brussels he was like, and I quote, I'm confident that the European institutions and other member states will recognize their responsibility and be sufficiently flexible to allow Hungary to draw every euro cent of the funds they are entitled to. So looks like we're already on track for some early tensions between Brussels and post Orban Hungary.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

The thing that makes it awkward is that Magyar campaigned on this platform of I'm going to reset relations with the eu, I'm going to get Hungarians the money they need. So he definitely wants to unlock that money and it's an awkward sell. The Commission says, look, take the win, take what you can get because otherwise, you know, this is as good as it's going to get. So we'll see what happens. But this isn't the only kind of relationship that Magyar is resetting. We've also seen a pretty interesting change of tack when it comes to Kiev because after years of obstructionism, blocking funds, blocking sanctions, Magyar is starting to kind of get the ball rolling and allow Kiev to get some of those things that it wants. And just yesterday he, he actually, well, I mean he didn't do it personally, but Hungary returned some money and gold that was seized earlier this year from Ukraine's state owned or Shard bank. And that was around about $80 million worth. So it's a pretty significant thing to have happened.

[Sarah Wheaton]

It's a pretty pricey olive branch because it had triggered a major diplomatic row between Budapest and Kyiv. Budapest had justified the seizure by saying that this is a money laundering investigation. But Kyiv basically accused Hungary of state terrorism. So it does look like this effort at a rapprochement is working. Zelensky has now thanked Hungary, saying that he's grateful to Hungary for its, quote, unquote, constructive approach and civilized step.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, and just as a reminder to people, this was, this money was being transported to Ukraine via Hungary and basically the authorities just kind of seized it and took it. And the Ukrainians were shocked by that. That was money they needed for the war effort and that was what kicked all of this off. So anyway, look, I think Magyar has done this as a kind of real evidence of the fact that he wants a different relationship with Kyiv, he wants a different relationship with the eu. Whether he's going to continue making those steps forward, if there are these sorts of issues, like with the EU not giving him all of that cash, that remains to be seen. It's a wait and see. Hey, Sarah, you know, this comes up every once in a while. A European politician decides they want to go to Moscow, see the sights, check out the Kremlin, the Red Square, meet with some Dumas politicians. We've got another one.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, this one is by right wing Luxembourgish lawmaker Fernand Karthizer. He's planning a little bit of a field trip to Russia in the coming weeks. And he doesn't wanna go by himself. He wants to bring some others along.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, our Brussels playbook colleagues have seen a letter that he sent to other MEPs saying, hey guys, come join. It's nice this time of year. He's making the point that this trip, it's a privately funded trip and he's come meet some Russian Dumas peers. Let's chat, let's hang out. This is happening on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. That's that big annual shindig that Putin attends. And I think he's expected to go as well this year.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. And Karthizer, look, he is a little bit of a controversial figure in the European Parliament, and this isn't the first time he's created this particular type of controversy. He was actually kicked out of the hard right European conservatives and reformist group over a previous trip to Moscow. He was, he was a double agent for the CIA during the Cold War.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Oh, that. I mean, leopard, stripes. Spots. Wait, they have spots? Who has stripes? Zebras and stripes and leopards and spots, Sarah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

I mean, at least voters, I guess, knew who they were choosing when they, when they voted for him. And the reason that this is an issue is because there are restrictions on cooperation between the European Parliament and the Russian legislature, the Duma. And way back in 2014, the parliament actually suspended official dialogue with Russian parliamentary bodies. And Russian and Belarusian staff have been barred from accessing the EU parliament since 2022.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, since the invasion. Now, Karthizer, he reckons the trip is just all in the spirit of dialogue and peace and good times and talking to one's colleagues elsewhere. He said previously in defense of that last trip that he took, that the reason he did it was because Western Europe is really the only folks who aren't talking to Russia. He was saying, look, everyone's talking to Russia, the Americans are talking to Russia. We should be talking to Russia.

[Sarah Wheaton]

As I mean, we do hear this every once in a while, especially in the last couple of years, as European economies have really felt the bite of Russia's full scale invasion on Ukraine. And amid signs that the US Isn't really going to help, we have heard more mainstream figures, including from Austria and Slovenia, saying, hey, maybe we should at least start up a dialogue. And look, he's also not the only one in the European Parliament. In May of last year, the Cypriot influencer turned mep, Phidias Panyatou, went to Moscow along with other lawmakers, and it was the same day as Vladimir Putin's Victory Day celebration.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Though he didn't go to, they didn't go to Victory Day, I don't think.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Exactly. So they avoided kind of being, you know, in this propaganda picture of, of being at the celebration. But, you know, Phidias as, as he's known by his first name, posted a video of himself and other MEPs claiming to be Voices for Peace.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, that's pretty interesting. It comes at a time when there has been some controversy around the sorts of conversations that European politicians are having with Russian politicians. We saw Budapest being accused of passing information about confidential discussions at the EU level to Moscow. So it's kind of part of this broader picture of how much dialogue is the EU having or are individual EU politicians having with individual Russian politicians? And is this appropriate and certainly something that is quite controversial.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Well, Zoya, I mean, I want to get back to this point of like, why I'm here all by myself in the studio. You're in Madrid, of course. I'm going to want to ask you about Spanish politics, but what is the specific reason that you're, you're down in Spain today?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, it's not for the weather, Sarah, because it's 17 degrees and raining today. So I feel like I've switched Brussels weather with Madrid weather. So I hope you guys are having a nicer day than the.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, well, after several days of rain, it is forecast to finally be sunny today. So poorly played, Zoya.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, that's just my luck, isn't it? Well, I'm here for a conference, but I've also been catching up with lots of Spanish politicians and officials. You know, we're launching this Madrid playbook later this year. So it's all part of the plan.

[Sarah Wheaton]

And so what are people saying about the very public tensions between Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister, and Donald Trump? Are people talking about that there as much as we. We've been thinking about it here?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, that's right, Sarah. You know, Sanchez has positioned himself as sort of one of Donald Trump's key critics in the eu and he's really getting at it over the war in Iran. He refused to let US airplanes, sorry, US Warplanes, not airplanes, use Spanish bases for attacks on Iran. And Trump, in response to that, threatened to cut trade ties with Spain. And there was actually a leaked Pentagon email that was doing the rounds, which basically was threatening to suspend Spain from NATO. That's quite significant, obviously. And Sanchez's response was, well, we're in NATO. We meet our obligations. We are acting within international law. When I asked a few folks around town, you know, how's this landing here? Are you concerned? They are sort of a bit sanguine about it. They say, look, this is a Trump thing. He's going to say this stuff anyway. And we are really interested in what he does, not what he says. And so far, we haven't seen any concrete actions. But I think there is a sense of pride that Sanchez is kind of being that voice of opposition, the voice that speaks out and says no to Trump where others are not doing so. So I think that's kind of the vibe on the transatlantic stuff.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Well, I mean, this is really interesting that we have these kind of different perspectives here in Brussels versus at home. You know, he's also seen here as kind of the last important socialist leader standing. But at the same time, I do know that the center right European People's Party really is targeting Spain as the next place that they want to get a conservative leader in. So, you know, domestically, how is Sanchez doing?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, so this is interesting because there is the Spanish general election that's due in 2027. So it is a live issue here, and already people are talking about it. And in terms of how Sanchez's party is doing on that national level at the moment, in the Parliament, his party only has 121 seats and its coalition partner, Suma has 31 seats. That's 152 seats in a 350 seat parliament, well short of a majority. And as a result of that, they really struggle to push legislation through. They need support from Catalan and Basque parties. Every major law becomes a negotiation. So actually Spain has a lot of trouble. Even just like transposing EU law, international law, they basically have the most pending single market infringements of any country, 48 of them. And that's more than Hungary, more than Italy, more than Poland, more than Greece. Like, they are really kind of on struggle street when it comes to making that sort of change, pushing through changes into that parliament.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Really? Yeah, I think that's probably not on a lot of people's radar. Can you give us a concrete example of what kind of EU rules are getting stuck?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

VAT is one. So the Commission has actually referred Spain to the EU's top court for failing to transpose two VAT directives, including rules for small businesses and digital services. And people who I've been speaking to on the ground here, that's a big one for them because they really want some of those concessions. The SMEs want help. They are concerned about the fact that they are not as competitive as some of their counterparts elsewhere. But that is stuck and they can't get that through. There's also another really big one, which is the wastewater treatment rules. So the Commission has referred Spain to the court again over failures to comply. And that's worrying people from like a health, public health perspective. So there's heaps of things. It really is gridlock.

[Sarah Wheaton]

So what are we learning from the polls at this point? Do we have a sense of which way the election is going to?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

It's pretty messy for the moment and it's pretty far out from that election. So I think it's hard for us to say where things stand. In some polling, Sanchez's party is ahead. In others, the Popular Party is narrowly in the lead. That's the centre right party. So Sanchez's vote hasn't collapsed over this stuff, but certainly it's competitive. We don't know. Hey, Sarah, before we go, what's on EU Confidential tomorrow?

[Sarah Wheaton]

I had a really interesting conversation with Teresa Kuhn. She's a professor in European Studies at the University of Amsterdam. And we talked about this topic that can seem a bit abstract of European identity, but she basically used 50 years worth of data and found that what it means to be European to people has been changing.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Oh, that's super interesting. Actually. I'd love to hear from our listeners. What is a European identity to you? Let us know. WhatsApp link is in the show notes, as always. And Sarah, I hear you also have something else coming up.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yep. As we've been teasing, we'll have a big announcement related to the show itself. So you want to turn in to get the latest?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, I'm looking forward to that, folks. That's it from US today. Please do rate us, review us. Tell your friends, tell your mom, tell your dad. We'll see you next week.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Adios, amiga. With my amazing Spanish, you've just heard 100% of my Spanish vocabulary.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Mine is hola and gratias and tortilla.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Those are good ones.

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