Inside EU ambassadors' crisis 'bunker'

Summary

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Brussels Playbook Podcast: Inside EU Ambassadors' Crisis 'Bunker'

Date: February 26, 2026
Host: Zoya Shevdolovic (POLITICO's Chief EU Correspondent)
Guest: Sarah Wheaton (POLITICO Policy Editor)
Duration: ~15 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into how the EU’s top diplomats—the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER)—have ramped up their emergency response and crisis management, operating almost like a “bunker” in the face of geopolitical turbulence. Specific focus is given to:

• Evolving EU decision-making processes amid global instability
• Hungary’s energy leverage and pipeline politics
• The US travel ban on Thierry Breton and broader EU-US tech tensions

The tone is brisk and candid, with on-the-ground reporting and inside access from the heart of Brussels.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Changing Role of COREPER: EU's Crisis 'Bunker' (01:23–05:34)

• What is COREPER?

  • Sarah Wheaton decodes the jargon: "It's an unnecessarily jargony name for the top EU ambassadors from each country." (01:35)
  • COREPER II: Main ambassadors, handling political issues (e.g., trade)
  • COREPER I: Deputy ambassadors, managing technical topics (e.g., climate, health)

• Why Are They Meeting More?

  • Meetings increased from weekly to up to three times a week, sometimes daily during crises.
  • The pace has been accelerated due to ongoing global shocks, especially actions from the US under Trump: “Especially under Trump... he's just creating so many more reasons that these top diplomats need to meet.” (03:03)

• Inside the Bunker

  • Atmospheric details from Gabriel Gavin’s reporting: meetings in subterranean rooms beneath the Council building, ambassadors signaling to speak by turning their nameplates (04:52).
  • Decision-making now often happens 'in the room' rather than being pushed to the heads of government.

• Memorable Quote

  • Zoya: “Every single morning they wake up and they’ve got this, like, mountain of stuff that they’ve got to go through on Truth Social, where, you know, one of Trump’s ambassadors has said something or Trump himself has posted something on social media...” (04:29)

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2. Hungary's Pipeline Politics and the Ukraine Loan (05:34–08:46)

• The Druzhba Pipeline Dispute

  • Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban holds up a €90 billion Ukraine loan, claiming an energy crisis due to pipeline damage.
  • January’s Russian missile strike hit the pipeline’s precise junction, halting flows to Slovakia and Hungary.

• Dueling Narratives

  • Orban: “Zelensky and Ukraine are dragging their feet and they're not fixing the pipeline.”
  • Ukraine: Threats to repair crews and low strategic interest mean fixing isn’t a priority (06:15).

• EU and Neighboring Responses

  • EU officials dispute the energy 'crisis': “At this stage, there's no immediate risk to the EU security of supply. ...there are plenty of other viable routes and options.” —Commission spokesperson Anna Kaiser Itkonen (07:17)
  • Croatia’s PM offers to supply oil via the Adriatic pipeline: “Croatia’s oil terminal on the island of Krk and our Adriatic pipeline are there to ensure the security of supply of oil to our neighboring countries...” —Andrei Plenkovic (07:47)

• Underlying Motive: Hungarian Election

  • Orban openly ties opposition to Ukraine aid and energy to his campaign, urging voters: “Hungarians must choose Fidesz in April.” (08:46)
  • Analysis: The energy argument is “pretty roundly debunked by the EU...[but] the real emergency is...for Viktor Orban to once again make another anti-EU argument ahead of his reelection campaign.” —Sarah Wheaton (08:29)

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3. Thierry Breton, US Travel Ban, and Tech Politics (09:42–12:59)

• Background

  • Former Tech Commissioner Thierry Breton testified at the European Parliament about the US travel ban imposed on him by the Trump administration—seen as retaliation for the Digital Services Act (DSA).

• Breton as a Political Lightning Rod

  • Zoya: “Breton is the guy who comes out rowing on the internet. Whenever there’s a Truth Social post...Breton is the guy who comes out and says: we must not let this stand.” (10:02)

• Mixed Reception in Parliament

  • Some MEPs hailed Breton, particularly German lawmakers: “They said that the sanctions were unacceptable.” (10:56)
  • Others, notably from far-right parties, were unsympathetic: “They were like, serves you right. You were promoting this stuff, so it’s no surprise you’re getting sanctioned.” —Sarah Wheaton (11:28)
  • Notable intra-Commission tension: Breton was previously pushed out by Ursula von der Leyen.

• Election Interference Accusations

  • Right-wing MEPs accused Breton of election interference via tech laws, while EU officials level similar charges at Trump’s ambassadors.
  • Sarah notes the irony: “Everybody wants to accuse everybody else of interference.” (12:59)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On COREPER’s hectic new rhythm:
  “Nowadays it’s pretty standard...for the group of ambassadors to meet three times a week. ...They can go all day. Sometimes they’re meeting daily when it’s a really contentious topic.” —Zoya (03:41)

• On Hungary’s political strategy:
  “This is what it all boils down to. So much of the stories now in Brussels boil down to this Hungarian election, which is coming up in April. Viktor Orban is behind in the polls...” —Zoya (08:46)

• On EU-US tech clash:
  “Brussels is a place full of faceless bureaucrats, but you’ve got Thierry Breton and his fabulous hair.” —Sarah Wheaton (10:31)

• On mutual accusations of interference:
  “Everyone wants to accuse everybody else of interference.” —Sarah (12:59)

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Additional Lighthearted Moments

• Listener shoutouts:
  The Swedish EU Affairs Minister, Jessica Rosenkranz, listens to the podcast while brushing her teeth (14:01).

• Behind-the-scenes anecdotes:
  The team shared a birthday cake with the Agriculture Commissioner’s head of cabinet, showing the tight-knit nature of Brussels policy circles (13:29).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:23 — Main theme & the evolving role of EU diplomats
• 03:03 — Why COREPER’s frequency has increased
• 04:52 — Inside the ambassadors' 'bunker'
• 05:34 — Hungary's energy saga and the Druzhba pipeline
• 07:47 — Croatia’s oil supply offer
• 08:46 — Hungarian politics & pipeline leverage
• 09:42 — Thierry Breton and the US travel ban
• 10:56 — European Parliament’s mixed reaction
• 12:59 — Election interference debates
• 14:01 — Listener routines and podcast community highlights

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Summary

This episode reveals how the EU’s crisis management is evolving amid accelerated geopolitical pressures, with diplomats now regularly convening in near-constant session, and old mechanics of slow consensus giving way to urgent, almost war-room style negotiation.

Hungary’s energy maneuvering around the Druzhba pipeline is dissected as less a true crisis than a political lever in Viktor Orban’s reelection toolkit—one largely dismissed by both neighboring countries and the EU itself.

Finally, the episode returns to the personal and political angles behind headline PPE: Thierry Breton’s starring role in the transatlantic digital governance clash and the reciprocal accusations of interference that color current EU-US relations.

The conversational, reporting-driven tone makes even high-stakes geopolitics feel accessible as the hosts banter and bring listeners inside the “bunker”—and the Brussels bubble.

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Transcript

[Amazon Sponsor]

Today's episode is presented by Amazon. Across Europe, businesses are growing with the AWS cloud to build innovative scalable products from Europe's largest enterprises and government agencies to the continent's fastest growing startups. Learn more about how AWS Cloud is helping businesses across Europe grow@AWS EU Good morning.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

It's Thursday, February 26, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Foreign.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

The vibe in Brussels today is caffeinated, quite frankly, because I am just still recovering from my trip to Ukraine. And meanwhile the EU is speeding up its decision making thanks to a group of plugged in and equally caffeinated diplomats. Also in today's podcast, the energy saga continues as Budapest is turning pipeline politics into into leverage. And Thierry Breton, now there's a blast from the past. He is taking some issue with the way the commission is or isn't defending him when it comes to the US travel ban against him. I'm Zoya Shevdolovic, Politico's Chief U correspondent and with me today in the studio is a policy editor, Sarah Wheaton. Hey Sarah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Hi Zoya. Yeah, and I mean, no wonder you're caffeinated because you didn't actually get any sleep since coming back from Kyiv yesterday, did you?

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Sleep is for the dead, Sarah. All right, folks, let's dive in. Our first story today is about the CO Repair group. Now what is that?

[Sarah Wheaton]

So it's an unnecessarily jargony name for the top EU ambassadors from each countries. The acronym is Committee of Permanent Representatives. And ironically, CO reper two is the main ambassadors to the eu. And they deal with kind of a lot of the really political topics that we think about, such as trade. And then co rep1 are the deputy EU ambassadors. They address things like climate, health, that sort of issue.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

So you graduate from CO pair one into corporate pair two. I guess I get it. So, Sarah, the deal with this group is it's quite an interesting evolving situation. And our colleague Gabriel Gavin has written a story that's out this morning that I think gives folks a really good insight into the extent to which this group has changed and the way in which decision making at the EU level has changed as a result of the changing importance of the group. And you know, it's an interesting situation. So There are these 27 EU Deputy Ambassadors, 27 EU Ambassadors, and previously they used to meet maybe once a week. They would discuss the big EU files of the day and they would have these discussions, get on the same page or not, as the case may be, and and then report back to their capitals. And in the run up to a council meeting, they would then get a sense of, okay, this is the direction of travel, but now there's a pretty significant ramp up in the number of times they're meeting. Yeah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Gabriel actually spoke to Polish EU Ambassador Agnieszka Bartol, who told him that when their presidency started last year, she made the argument, look, we need to be meeting twice a week instead of just once a week, because so much is happening, especially under Trump, whether he's announcing tariffs or threatening to annex Greenland. You know, he's just creating so many more reasons that these top diplomats need to meet. And Zoe, I mean, you know, there's always this knock on the EU that it moves slowly. And especially since the COVID pandemic, we're seeing the sort of increased activity of CO Wrapper 2, especially as a sign that it is moving more quickly.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah. And so nowadays it's pretty standard. It's a pretty standard week for the group of ambassadors to meet three times a week. And these aren't really. They're not short meetings, Sarah. They can go all day. Sometimes they're meeting daily when it's a really contentious topic. So, for instance, in the lead up to that December European Council summit last year, where the EU was trying to come to an agreement on the frozen Russian assets to use as a reparation loan to Ukraine, ambassadors were meeting every single day, going through things line by line, trying to negotiate and come to an agreement. As the case, maybe they didn't end up coming to an agreement in the end, but that's the kind of stuff that they're dealing with. And of course, as you said, you know, you mentioned the Trump situation as well. I was speaking with a diplomatic source recently who told me that the pace with which they have to go through, every single morning they wake up and they've got this, like, mountain of stuff that they've got to go through on Truth Social, where, you know, one of Trump's ambassadors has said something or Trump himself has posted something on social media, and they've got to figure out what their response is going to be, get together and really kind of come up with some sort of reaction. So that's the sort of geopolitical nature of it, Sarah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, And I really enjoyed Gabriel's article because of the details that he got about what it's like in this basically bunker underneath the European Council building. You know, it's not just the ambassador sitting there, but also their technical aides, sometimes their spokespeople people, and he just had these great inside the room details about, you know, the ambassador will get up from their seat to go confer with an aide and then come back. And then when they want to talk, they'll like turn the nameplate of their country to the side to signal that they want to speak. And so even for people who are pretty familiar with Co Repper and can list off all the differences between Co Reper 1 and 2, I feel like that article gave me real insight into how they work.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

All right, Sarah, onto our second story. It's this energy saga that we've been following for the last few days, and it's about the Druzhba pipeline.

[Sarah Wheaton]

This is the core issue in, at least officially for Hungary, holding up this 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine. Prime Minister Viktor Orban is basically saying that because this pipeline that ships Russian oil to Hungary is damaged and isn't being fixed, that his country is having an energy crisis. So, I mean, from that perspective, I can understand why he's really going to bat for his country to get their heating oil. But the commission's like, we don't really think you're dealing with the facts.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

That's right. Basically what happened was that at the end of January, a Russian missile hit a pretty key point of the Druzhba pipeline. It's the point where oil flows go to Slovakia and Hungary. There's like a junction. So it's like a pretty precise strike. Everyone is acknowledging, except for the Russians, that this was a Russian strike. Even Viktor Orban himself acknowledges that it was a Russian strike on that part of the pipeline. And Viktor Orban said, well, Zelensky and Ukraine are dragging their feet and they're not fixing the pipeline. Zelensky says, well, we fixed this pipeline before when it's been bombed and at the time when it was being fixed and the rescuers were on the ground, that was when Russia did another strike and killed the rescuers. So you know what, what the Ukrainians are saying is like, well, firstly, this is a low priority for us to fix because, you know, getting Russian oil flowing through Ukraine again isn't exactly a number one task for Ukraine. But also they're saying, well, last time we went and did the repairs, while we were doing them, Russian missiles were once again targeting that same spot.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. And I know you were following this debate closely while you were in Ukraine. Meanwhile, here in Brussels just yesterday, commission spokesperson Anna Kaiser Itkonen also basically threw cold water on Hungary's claim that it really needed the oil from this pipeline because she said, and I Quote, at this stage, there's no immediate risk to the EU security of supply. And they say that there are plenty of other viable routes and options, especially for even getting non Russian oil. And you actually learned more about this.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, exactly, Sarah. So on the train, actually, when I was in Ukraine, I spoke with Andrei Plenkovic, who was the Croatian Prime Minister, and he told me, hey, we are ready to supply all the oil that Hungary and Slovakia needs. Croatia's oil terminal on the island of Krk and our Adriatic pipeline are there to ensure the security of supply of oil to our neighboring countries, one physically and the other one as a wider neighbor, which is Hungary and Slovakia. So, yeah, I think there is a general sense that this idea that Hungary and Slovakia are in an energy crisis has been pretty roundly debunked by the eu, particularly because, you know, we're pretty much at the end of winter ness era.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. So even though the Hungarians are opening up their kind of emergency oil supply, they're not going to need it for that much longer. It seems the real emergency is for, you know, Viktor Orban to once again make another anti EU argument ahead of his, his reelection campaign.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, that's right. And this is what it all boils down to. You know, so much of the stories now in Brussels boil down to this Hungarian election, which is coming up in April. Viktor Ban is behind in the polls. And so it's actually, it's quite interesting the extent to which it's now clear what sort of game Viktor Ban is playing, because just the other day he ended up posting a social media message saying, we, Hungary, are not going to support Ukraine, we're not going to give up affordable Russian energy. And that's why Hungarians must choose Fadesh in April. And that is really quite blatant because that links these two issues that are quite separate into one. And I think it really gives an insight into what it is that he's trying to do when he comes out against anything to do with Ukraine. All right, Sarah, our third and final story today. It's about a former tech commissioner, a blast from the past, Thierry Breton.

[Sarah Wheaton]

He's back. He was invited back into the European Parliament to speak to the internal market committee via video link to lament the US travel ban that he's facing. Basically, the White House sees him as the poster child for the Digital Services act, which Trump and his team see as an overreach, particularly in how it affects American platforms. Yeah.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

But I also think this is also personal, Sarah, because Breton is the guy who comes out rowing on The Internet. Whenever there's a true social post, whenever there's something that Elon Musk says or Trump says or some member of his administration, Breton is the guy who comes out and says, like, we must not let this stand. Let's go to war with this platform or that platform. So I think he has been very active on social media, which is where the Trump administration, you know, like to do their policy.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Indeed. I mean, I think this is one of those kind of personal beefs that serves both sides. I mean, you need sort of a face of the dsa. Brussels is a place full of faceless bureaucrats, but you've got Thierry Breton and his fabulous hair. So I think he and his fabulous hair were expecting kind of a pep rally during his testimony in Parliament yesterday, but it just didn't. It didn't quite play out as expected.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah, I think there was the hope that maybe he'd come in, get a hero's welcome, a pat on the back. Well done for taking on Trump on various social networks. What he got was a bit mixed because he did have some support. Certainly there were some German lawmakers who said that the sanctions were unacceptable. I mean, it's pretty, pretty, pretty out there to essentially say about a policy maker from the EU that you can't enter this country because you've created tech legislation. But that was the kind of line, and they were on board with his arguments. But he also had some haters.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, MEPs from parties on the hard and far right who are more aligned with the kind of MAGA movement. They were like, look, serves you right. You were promoting this stuff, and so it's no surprise that. That you're getting sanctioned.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yeah. And where Terry Breton finds himself now is kind of an uncomfortable position because he's gone out to bat for the commission's tech legislation. But let's not forget that Thierry Breton actually has beef with Ursula von der Leyen as well. He was famously pushed out of her second College of Commissioners because she was sick of him taking potshots at her. Now he's asking for her and the commission to come out and support him and fight back against this ban.

[Sarah Wheaton]

It's a good position for him to be in because, again, he can kind of present himself as a martyr. But I'm also really genuinely fascinated by some of the complaints from the more right wing MEPs. They see some of Europe's tech regs as indeed sort of being censorious. They basically accused Breton of election interference. Meanwhile, the other story that we're running in Politico to today and that we'll be discussing in much more detail on EU Confidential are complaints by European countries that Trump's ambassadors are engaging politically in ways that essentially could be seen as election interference or just in general interference into the national politics. And so it seems like everybody wants to accuse everybody else of interference.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Listen, I love a little bit of dispute on the podcast, so I'm really looking forward to hearing that. Sarah. Okay, folks, before we go, we've got an interesting birthday today. It's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president. He's turning 72 today. Do you know how long he's been the president of turkey?

[Sarah Wheaton]

I don't.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

12 years, Sarah. But you've probably heard of him for longer because before that he was the prime minister for 11. Just a little swapsy. A swapsy daisy.

[Sarah Wheaton]

At least he has some job security. But on that note, I actually wanted to revisit a more local birthday. So last week we celebrated the birthday of Esther Delight, the head of cabinet to Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen. And I propose that the agriculture team and I bring her a birthday cake. And, well, she took us up on it yesterday, so we had a nice little background chat over some some frosting.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Well, that's some podcast magic, Sarah. Meanwhile, I do you know, I heard something interesting. One of our colleagues, Nick Vinicourt, who's a fellow podcaster extraordinaire, he told us that Sweden's EU Affairs Minister, Jessica Rosenkranz listens to the Brussels Playbook podcast while brushing her teeth in the morning.

[Sarah Wheaton]

So I guess this is apparently kind of an intimate question, but you know, we're curious where you listener listen to the podcast.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

Yes. Send us a voice note or a message on WhatsApp, our numbers in the show notes. And please do subscribe Rate us Follow us Leave a comment it really does help get people out there knowing that this thing exists. And we couldn't do it without listeners. Well, we could, but we wouldn't. All right, that's it from me today. Sarah, thank you so much. You're going to be back with us tomorrow with EU Confidential.

[Sarah Wheaton]

I will. So stay tuned.

[Zoya Shevdolovic]

What kind of cake was it, Sarah? I want to know about the cake.

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