The ban threat facing Europe's far right

Summary

Brussels Playbook Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: The ban threat facing Europe's far right
Date: May 28, 2026
Host: Zoya Sheftalovich
Guest: Sarah Wheaton (POLITICO Policy Editor, Host of Brussels Playbook Weekender)
Duration: ~15 minutes

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Overview

This episode delves into three critical issues playing out in EU politics:

• The potential banning of the European far-right umbrella party ESN (Europe of Sovereign Nations) and its implications for free speech and EU values.
• The diplomatic struggle surrounding Turkey’s refusal to recognize Cyprus in preparations for the upcoming UN Climate Summit (COP31).
• Europe’s internal “food fight” over whom to nominate as its candidate to lead the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with concerns about internal divisions causing Europe to lose influence.

The discussion is lively, with both serious analysis and moments of humor, reflecting the podcast’s conversational, reporting-driven approach.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Threat to Ban Europe’s Far-Right ESN Party

[00:27–06:05]

What’s Happening:

• The EU's political party watchdog has triggered a process that could ban the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) Party—the European political party home to Germany’s far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany).
• Potential consequences: ESN’s status as a political party could be revoked and its EU funding removed.

Why the Threat?

• The ESN is accused of breaching core EU values (human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, human rights, rule of law, minorities’ rights).
• Evidence cited includes social media posts, court rulings, and public messaging showing:
  • Anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
  • Anti-Semitism.
  • Depiction of homosexuality as pedophilia.
  • Calls for “remigration”.

Key Clarification:

• The “party” (political campaign umbrella) is being targeted, not the ESN group in the European Parliament. MEPs can still cooperate in parliamentary groups.

Implications:

• Raises a dilemma: Should illiberal parties be allowed to exist under free speech principles, regardless of how offensive their views may be? Or is adherence to EU’s foundational values paramount?
• Noteworthy that far-right parties criticizing the EU are benefitting from EU subsidies.

Notable Quotes:

• Zoya Sheftalovich [03:01]:
  “Under EU rules...they have to comply with a bunch of values...respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, human rights, rights of minorities and so on.”
• Sarah Wheaton [04:10]:
  “As soon as, say, J.D. Vance gets wind of this, he’s going to say, this is exactly what I was talking about—Europe suppressing free speech...This is also coming at a time the German Parliament is discussing whether to ask the Constitutional Court to start the process of banning the Alternative for Germany.”
• Zoya Sheftalovich [05:28]:
  “The irony...a lot of the time these far-right, Eurosceptic parties...are actually suckling upon the EU teat.”

2. Turkey, Cyprus, and the UN Climate Summit

[06:05–09:17]

Issue:

• Turkey, set to host COP31, is blocking Cyprus’ participation since it doesn’t recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
• Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency, expected to represent the bloc at international fora.
• At a recent COP31 briefing in New York, Turkish officials objected to Cypriot representatives.

Diplomatic Tensions:

• The EU is attempting to mediate, but Turkey continues to ignore Cypriot and EU requests.
• Cyprus is being extremely diplomatic, but internal sources highlight real frustration.
• Ireland will take over Council presidency soon, partially sidestepping this issue, but the tension highlights how entrenched disputes persistently affect EU and international processes.

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Wheaton [06:51]:
  “Turkey is hosting the next COP climate summit...and they’ve basically said Cyprus can’t be part of it because Turkey...does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.”
• Zoya Sheftalovich [07:06]:
  “This all comes back to the division of the island of Cyprus back in 1974...Since then the island has been divided and the two are at odds and Turkey doesn’t recognize...the Republic of Cyprus.”

3. Europe’s “Food Fight” Over UN’s Food and Agriculture Top Job

[09:17–13:01]

What’s at Stake:

• The EU is struggling to unify behind a single nominee to lead the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• Candidates:
  • Spain: Luis Planas (current Agriculture Minister, steady hand)
  • Italy: Maurizio Martina (current FAO Deputy Director General, the “insider”)
  • Ireland: Phil Hogan (former EU Trade Commissioner—“Big Phil”—the center-right favorite)

Broader Context:

• Last time (2019), fragmentation led to the Chinese candidate winning.
• The EU hasn’t held the FAO post in 50 years, yet consensus remains elusive.
• Non-EU candidates, especially from Morocco and Turkey, are seen as strong outsiders, potentially benefiting from EU division.

Notable Quotes:

• Zoya Sheftalovich [10:23]:
  “Would you call it a food fight, Sarah?”
• Sarah Wheaton [11:35]:
  “But the person who seems to be emerging as having the best chance at this point is former EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan.”
• Sarah Wheaton [12:00]:
  “Not only physically big, but also powerful. But then he ended up kind of resigning in disgrace because he went to this big golf dinner at the height of COVID restrictions...”
• Sarah Wheaton [13:01]:
  “It looks like this might be yet another area where the EU fails to exert its influence because it can’t get on the same page.”

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Listener Mail & Teasers

[13:13–14:31]

• Comment from Martina (Italy) on previous EV story: her main pain-point is the plethora of charging apps for EV stations; calls for a universal EU system.
• Upcoming Weekender episode will focus on the EV industry, China’s competition with the EU, and the Commission’s response—with a panel discussion.
• Memorable Moment: The hosts note with amusement that they discussed Cyprus without mentioning “Halloumi Gate”—an ongoing Brussels in-joke.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:27–06:05] The ESN ban threat: EU values vs. far-right parties
• [06:05–09:17] Turkey-Cyprus dispute at COP31 and EU diplomacy
• [09:17–13:01] The intra-EU competition for FAO leadership (“food fight”)
• [13:13–14:31] Listener feedback & preview of next episode

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Zoya Sheftalovich on Brussels politics [02:28]:
  “...founded after the EU election back in 2024 when the Alternative for Germany picked up a bunch of seats...includes members of Bulgaria’s Revival Party, France’s Reconquest, and a few others as well.”

• Sarah Wheaton on EU political ironies [05:19]:
  “The EU is subsidizing these political parties with public money. And so that’s the other kind of lever that, that the mainstream has here.”

• Sarah Wheaton on climate summit tension [06:51]:
  “Turkey is hosting the next COP climate summit...and they’ve basically said Cyprus can’t be part of it...only country in the world that does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.”

• On the FAO "food fight" [10:23 & 12:00]:
  Zoya: “Would you call it a food fight, Sarah?”
  Sarah: “Absolutely, absolutely. That has been in many a headline.”
  Sarah: “Not only physically big, but also powerful. But then he ended up kind of resigning in disgrace because he went to this big golf dinner at the height of COVID restrictions...”

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Podcast’s Tone

• Insightful, clear explanations with a touch of Brussels insider humor.
• Conversational, accessible for both EU policy veterans and newcomers.
• Shaped by on-the-ground reporting and the lived experience of the EU political scene.

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Final Note

This compact episode spotlights the friction between democratic pluralism and the protection of EU values, the perennial trouble Cyprus faces on the world stage, and the internal competition weakening Europe’s influence at the UN. All delivered with sharp, witty dialogue and deep policy context.

Transcript

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[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Good morning. It's Thursday, May 28, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast. The vibe in Brussels today is turbulent as a European Parliament watchdog moves to ban the alternative for Germany's EU party. Also on the pod, Brussels, Ankara and Nicosia are clashing over climate summit preparations. And Europe is locked in an increasingly fierce diplomatic fight over the UN's top food job. I'm Zoya Sheftalovic and with me today is one of our policy editors and the host of our sister Brussels Playbook Weekender podcast, Sarah Wheaton. Hey, Sarah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Hey, Zoya.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

I'm glad I've got you on the show today to talk food. You're an expert in this area in eating, Basically, yes. No, not just eating, but also agriculture. Yes, that's what I was getting at.

[Sarah Wheaton]

I mean, that was generous of you. But mostly I'm just here to eat.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Listen, we're all just here to eat. Live to eat, not eat to live, right? Oh, well, Sarah, our first story today, it's about the far right Europe of Sovereign Nations Party. That's the European level party. That's the home of the alternative for Germany, the AfD in Germany. And yesterday, the watchdog that oversees the European political parties here in Brussels triggered a process that could result in the ESN Party being stripped of its right to be a political party and it could lose its funding. Yeah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

And so before we get deep into this, we should clarify. And this is one of those things about Brussels that took me years to really pin down. But we have an ESN party, which is like an umbrella organization of different national political parties. They kind of coordinate on messaging and stuff. And then we have an ESN group in the European Parliament, and those are MEPs who have the same views and all kind of work together. The parliament group is not being banned. We're not saying that these guys can't work together in the parliament, but the party which coordinates on messaging and helps run campaigns for those MEPs in the European Parliament elections, they are the ones who are facing some scrutiny here.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. So the ESN, it was founded after the EU election back in 2024. When the Alternative for Germany picked up a bunch of seats, and it was formed by the AfD at that time and includes members of Bulgaria's Revival Party from France's Reconquest, and there are a few others in there as well. Yeah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

And so these are some really very far right groups. And the watchdog, the authority for the European political parties and foundations, is coming after them because they're saying they found evidence that the ESN party doesn't comply with European values.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. And so under EU rules governing political parties and foundations, they have to comply with a bunch of values. So that's like respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, human rights, rights of minorities and so on. And this watchdog has investigated the ESN and they've got a 300 page letter which has been obtained by our colleague Max Guerra, where they say they found evidence that the members of the ESN have been breaching those values.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, I mean, they say they have found social media posts and screenshots, court rulings that show things like anti immigration views, anti Semitism, anti LGBT rhetoric, calls for remigration, and the depiction of homosexuality as pedophilia.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. So that's pretty intense stuff there. And basically, so Max has written this story that's out today and he requested a comment from the esn. They did not respond to that request. But the party president, Stanislav Stoyanov, he spoke with the watchdog, with the appf, and he said that the ESN has no mandate to intervene directly in the affairs of its member parties. However, we remain committed to upholding the core values of the eu.

[Sarah Wheaton]

But looking at this from a bigger perspective, you know, I can just imagine, as soon as, say, J.D. vance gets wind of this, he's going to say, this is exactly what I was talking about of Europe suppressing free speech of the elite, trying to block views that they don't like. And, you know, this is also coming at a time that the German Parliament is discussing whether to ask the Constitutional Court to start the process of banning the Alternative for Germany.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. So this is really quite an interesting dilemma that Europe faces, because on the one hand, do political parties with these sorts of views have a right to exist, no matter how illiberal they might be, how offensive some of their posts might be? Or is there something more important than that, which is this adherence to EU values that the EU and that national watchdogs can impose as well? And it's been an interesting tension, particularly because of the wave of far right support that has been sweeping Europe and That has found some of these parties which have long been locked out of power by the so called cordon sanitaire, which keeps the far right from cooperating and forming coalitions that has sort of been swept away and they've increasingly found themselves in power now.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. And also the EU is subsidizing these political parties with public money. And so that's the other kind of lever that, that the mainstream has here.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. And this is the irony of it all that a lot of the time, you know, even when you look at Nigel Farage and the many years that he spent in the European Parliament, a lot of the time these for far right parties, Eurosceptic parties that are arguing for destroying the European project are actually suckling upon the EU teach. So that is the irony here as well.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. So the next step is that the European Parliament or the Commissioner, the Council can tell the watchdog to start the formal process that would lead to their banning. And the European Sovereign Nations Party also has time to put in measures to say, hey, we are, we are complying with EU values.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Let's see which one of those things happen first. Hey, Sarah, Our second story is a super interesting one. It's about climate diplomacy and how one of the EU's oldest geopolitical disputes is actually spilling out into preparations for this year's UN climate summit, the COP summit, which I think is just a great time to talk about this COP summit. Because I'm hot, Sarah. Are you hot? We're both hot hot. But in the worst possible way. I'm melting.

[Sarah Wheaton]

We're like muggy hot.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Like muggy hot. It's, it's not the good hot. Not the good hot at all. Well, in any case, other things that aren't good hot, relations between Turkey and Cyprus, that was quite the segue. Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, I mean look, Turkey is hosting the next COP climate summit in November in Antalya and they've basically said Cyprus can't be part of it because Turkey, only country in the world that does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah, this is a super interesting thing and it's actually quite serious, so we should dial back our mirth, basically. You know, this all comes back to the division of the island of Cyprus back in 1974. Basically there was a Turkish invasion of the north of the island in response to a Greek backed coup. And since then the island has been divided and the two are at odds and Turkey doesn't recognize, as you say, the Republic of Cyprus. And so these sorts of things where there's an international fora, particularly when Turkey is the host, it really kind of comes out into the open and it's affecting the EU as a whole because Cyprus holds the rotating presidency of the Council at the moment. It lasts until the end of this half of the year. Yeah.

[Sarah Wheaton]

And so basically, Cyprus, as the holder of the Council presidency, has been trying to set up meetings. They represent the whole of the EU in some of these meetings. And diplomats say Turkish officials objected when a Cypriot representative showed up at a COP31 briefing in New York in March.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

And that's super awkward because, you know, this is an important role that Cyprus is playing. And actually, so our colleague Zia Weissa has written this story and she's spoken with several diplomats on background. And I have to say, this is actually a really unusual scoop because Cyprus holds the rotating presidency of the Council. They are trying to be very diplomatic about this. And I know, I've been reporting on Cyprus since the beginning of the year, going to their briefings. They're very careful in their messaging, very careful in what they say about this issue. They're very keen to show that they are honest brokers and that despite this dispute existing with Turkey, that they are there to kind of run this EU calendar as honest brokers without any prejudice towards Turkey. So it's quite unusual that Zia has spoken to people who are saying that this is a problem. That really shows the extent to which this is a problem for Cyprus.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. And the commission has been trying to intervene. Brussels raised concern with Ankara after the March incident. You, climate chief Wapki Hoekstra also brought up the issue with Turkish officials, but diplomats just say Turkey keeps rejecting or ignoring bilateral requests coming from Cyprus.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. And again, I've heard when you speak with folks out there in, in Brussels, and I've got to be careful here because of course I need to protect my sources. But you do hear some examples from various officials of things that happen, and they say, look, this is a very difficult relationship to manage when you're Cyprus. In any case, Look, Ireland is taking over the council presidency on the 1st of July, so this issue is kind of going to resolve itself then. But it's still a very interesting one that shows you the way these sorts of geopolitical battles can actually come to the fore in something like the COP climate conference. Sarah, our third story, it's got an interesting food angle to it. We talked about it earlier. You are Politico's food and Agriculture editor, and you've been watching this fight over a really significant top Job that's up for grabs pretty soon.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. My colleague Bartosz Brzezinski has been doing some great reporting on this. Basically, there's a fight within the EU to nominate Europe's next candidate to lead the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Would you call it a food fight, Sarah?

[Sarah Wheaton]

Absolutely, absolutely. That has been in many a headline. And basically Ireland, Spain and Italy all want the bloc to back their candidate and as sort of a primary for this post. And EU governments still can't agree on a single name.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. This is interesting because I remember the last time this job was up for grabs and it ended up being taken by the Chinese candidate, Chi Dong you. And at that time, this was a problem for Europe as well, because Europe wanted that job, but they just couldn't unify around a single candidate, and so they kind of lost it. And this is happening again.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah, I mean, it happened in 2019. And the bottom line is that Europe hasn't run the agency in 50 years. So this time they're really determined, but they don't actually seem to be making much progress.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

And who are the candidates who are v for this role?

[Sarah Wheaton]

So Spain wants their current Agriculture minister, Luis Planas, to do it, and he's kind of making the pitch that he's the steady hand. Italy has nominated Maurizio Martina, and he's already the Deputy Director General of the fao, so he's kind of the insider. But the person who seems to be emerging as having the best chance at this point is former EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Ding, ding, ding. Now, there's a name from the X Files I remember. Big Phil. Big Phil back when he was a trade commissioner. So, okay, why, like, why does. Why is this such a problem? Why won't we just unite over Phil?

[Sarah Wheaton]

Well, I mean, look, it's political like everything else. And the irony of Big Phil's sort of ascension here, to be clear, he's

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

big because he's tall. He's a very tall man.

[Sarah Wheaton]

I mean, not only physically big, but also powerful. But then he ended up kind of resigning in disgrace because he went to this big golf dinner at the height of COVID restrictions, and it was just a bad look, so he had to step down.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. But now he's kind of back in the good graces of European politics. So he's okay now, basically.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Basically his advantage is that he is the center right European People's Party guy in the race. So the Italian candidate and the Spanish candidate are both socialists. And so, yeah, on top of that, Phil Hogan part of the same political family as Ursula Fonder, Lyon. It's looking pretty good for him.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

It is. And that being said, Europe is not the only player in this job race because there's a candidate from Morocco who's seen as one of the strongest non EU contenders. And by the way, Turkey also has a candidate in the race.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Right, Exactly. And they're really seen as a possible dark horse if the European vote fragments.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Yeah. Actually the fear is that this is just all going to end with the EU not getting any candidate in the role and it going to somewhere else.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Yeah. It looks like this might be yet another area where the EU fails to exert itself influence because it can't get on the same page.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Before we go, folks, we have some more messages from our listeners that I'm going to read out. So we had Martina from Italy who wrote in about the EV story we covered yesterday, and she says that she travels to Strasbourg from Brussels with her boss all the time in an ev. But her biggest problem, it's not having to stop to recharge, it's actually that every charging station you can stop at has a different app. And she reckons the EU needs to do something to make the system system universal.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Sounds pretty infuriating.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

I reckon it is. Before we really wrap up, Sarah, what have you got coming up for Weekender tomorrow?

[Sarah Wheaton]

Well, we're actually a bit sticking with the EV theme, but in a very geopolitical sense, because EVs are one of the areas where China is really competing with the eu. And on Friday, the commission will be putting out its plan to kind of stand up to China, flooding the European market with many cheap products. And so we have a panel of experts, including our own politico reporter, Jordan Dahl, kind of walking us through, through the issues here. Jordan compares the the EU's relationship with China to an abusive relationship that we know we need to end but just can't break out of. So people should tune in and get more details.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Oh, I can't wait to listen to that one. Well, thank you, Sarah, for joining me today. Folks out there, please do rate us, review us, tell your friends, tell people who are driving long distances in their evs and need a podcast to listen to. I reckon this one's a pretty good one.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Definitely.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

See you, folks.

[Sarah Wheaton]

Can I just note that we got through an entire segment about Cyprus without Halloumi reference.

[Zoya Sheftalovic]

Someone asked me about Halloumi Gate again. You know it hasn't died. Halloumi Gate lives on, even if we've tried to bury it.