D (3:24)

Thank you, Emma. Good morning.

B (3:26)

So just briefly recap the events over the weekend that led Donald Trump to make such a strong threat about what he intends to do.

D (3:35)

There seems to be an understanding that what was hoped to be a short and decisive strike against Iran is turning into something that is much more prolonged and becoming more complicated, with regional and international implications, not only on security, but also on energy. Late last week, we spoke about Netanyahu maybe attacking energy facilities in Iran against the wish of Donald Trump. At least that's the way Trump was presenting it. But now it's Donald Trump who is taking the lead in such threats and aiming to take such actions against Iran in the very short term, which would probably have very clear consequences and prolonging the conflict even further.

B (4:16)

Indeed. I mean, at the end of last week, we were talking about whether the United States and and Israel were in step and there were doubts given the fact that the Israelis launched missile strikes on an Iranian natural gas field and this led to retaliation by Tehran. Do we get the sense that the Israelis and the Americans have now come back together again, or are we now looking at two different wars being led by two different countries?

D (4:49)

I think the sense, at least here in Israel and also by officials in Washington talking with the Israeli media, is that Israel and the US Are very, very closely coordinated regarding this war from much before it and during it and even the strike of last week. It's very difficult to see Israel doing such an action without being well coordinated with Washington. And the fact that later Trump portrayed it in a different manner was kind of a flag for some in Israel about how Trump manages this cooperation and eventually who has the upper hand in framing and publicizing things that are going on. But generally, I do not think that reflects any rupture or major rupture between Israel and Washington on this war. And the two sides are clearly coordinated both on Iran and also on Lebanon, which is like a minor fund for the international community. But here in the region is becoming a major issue.

B (5:39)

Let's look at what the point that you raised a moment ago about how this is now having global consequences. I mean, just following the Financial Times this morning, it says that stocks are absolutely tumbling. We have Asia, Asia Pacific stock market, sliding Brent crude, the Price of oil is going up, up, up, but we also have gold prices falling as well. This global destabilization of the markets is a really serious issue now, isn't

D (6:07)

is not being an economic expert. I think it reflects both the uncertainty within the international community about this war and where it may lead to, but also the practical concerns of countries at stake. And looking at from an Israeli perspective, the natural gas production of Israel has been stopped. And because of the security concerns regarding the infrastructure, that immediately impacts the regional cooperation, regional relations that Israel has with Arab neighbors, because Israel has Gaza export deal with Egypt, with Jordan, and there is indirect flow to other countries in the Middle East. And all of that is kind of jeopardizing. That's only in a very micro level in the region itself. So trying to look at how this impacts, for example, the Gulf countries, the Asian countries, even the European and American markets, I think the repercussions could be very, very large. And that's why those threats made by Trump and the ultimatum that is going to end tonight, whatever happened then, really has a danger of not only more of a military conflict, but something that gets a bit out of control in terms of its implications and therefore may lead us into a much longer problem going on.

B (7:12)

Let's look at this ultimatum that's been made by Donald Trump. Iran has basically said that it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the rest of the world lifts sanctions. It needs freedom of trade for all countries. What is the likelihood to happen? Because Iran's international sanctions have crippled its economy. So Iran is now using both the conflict and previous sanctions as bargaining chips with the United States. One doesn't have to imagine that this will go down well with the White House.

D (7:46)

It's interesting how each of the sides of the conflict, both Iran and the US Are trying to court other countries and other global leaders to kind of take take their side and take action accordingly. Whether it's what you said now about Iran, but also what Trump has been calling for other countries to join naval protection of the Hormuz trades. And so there's kind of a competition between the two sides of who can bring or mobilize some international engagement to their side at a time when diplomacy does not seem to really work. So the question of what is even the mediation mechanism that could help tone down this escalation. We're not even talking about ending the war, but just conveying the message between the sides that could refrain this escalation from going full out. Who are they? We knew who they are before the war erupted. We saw the Omani mediation. It didn't really succeed. Now we see countries like Turkey and Egypt and Qatar trying to play a role, but there's no formal or effective mediation mechanism now at play. And I think that leads all these rhetoric and all those attempts to quote other countries to be more threatening than they could if there was a process of containing these things while they happen.

B (8:59)

There's no outlet, as you say, to cool things down at all or to even construct some sort of framework. Nimrod, let's move to Israel's actions in Lebanon. We have a main bridge over a river that divides much of southern Lebanon, bombed by the Israelis. And the President of Lebanon has warned that what Israel is doing is prelude to a full scale ground invasion. What's actually happening?

E (9:27)

Yeah.

D (9:27)

So there are two parallel tracks happening here. One, the potential diplomatic one and the military one. When Hezbollah joined the Iran attacks against Israel, the Israeli decision was very first to go after Hezbollah and dismantle it as much as it could. It was already in the cards in December, January. Then it was postponed because of the domestic protests in Iran and the Israeli way to see what will happen. But I think the Netanyahu government was very clear on not enabling Hezbollah to rearm and reposition itself within Lebanon. And the fact that the Lebanese government, the Lebanese armed forces, did not take the action Israel wanted him to take in terms of disarming Hezbollah eventually led Netanyahu to order such an attack, which is, yes, it involves ground operation, which is expanding. Israel is trying somehow to balance between going after infrastructure that serves his beloved from going after infrastructure that is of the Lebanese state and that is linked to the other process, which is for the first time a willingness by the Lebanese leadership to engage in direct diplomatic talks with Israel. That's something that the countries did not have in the past. There is an offer put forward by Lebanon. It's unclear what the Israeli position is. I don't think there was any response now, but that's an opportunity. And the fact that Israel and Lebanon share some geopolitical interest now vis a vis his beloved, also vis a vis Iran, if they could be pushed and supported into a diplomatic track, I think for the post war period, that could really be a positive silver lining coming out of this all. But now, again, it's between launching negotiations for diplomatic engagement and containing an escalating reality on the ground. And again, how to balance both is a challenge that is not only we see it regarding the US and Iran, but also between Israel and Lebanon.

B (11:22)

Nimrod Garin president and founder of the Israeli foreign policy think tank Mitvim in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for joining us on the Globalist. Now, who came out on top in this week's municipal vote in France? In Paris, the left wing Emmanuel Gregoire claimed victory by cycling through the streets of Paris to celebrate his election as Paris's next mayor, easily beating the right winger Rashid de Dati. Out of the big cities, however, the Assemblement Nationale, the far right national rally, said it had made gains in the medium to small sized towns, but in a surprise didn't do so well in the big cities. Well, to bring us up to date with all the big stuff that happened overnight is Alexandre Cushnel, journalist and political analyst, joining us now from Paris. Good morning. Good morning, Alex. How is Paris this morning with a new mayor?

F (12:12)

Well, it hasn't changed that much, to be honest, but it's been a rather long night and it probably won't change that much because its new mayor has been part of the team who's been running the city for the past 25 years. But you can get in the atmosphere and the reaction from Larna that there was a sight of relief coming from the Parisian left after this rather large victory.

B (12:35)

And it is a decent one, isn't it? I mean, you're looking at Le Parisien this morning. He won more than half the votes, Rashid Adati 41%. Was there any doubt that he would lose?

F (12:48)

Well, yes, because in the aftermath of the very first leg, the right kind of all came together with two candidates dropping out of the race in order to help candidate the Rashidadati sort of turn over the city after more than 25 years of socialist rule. So there was this moment where the right thought it could sort of rally and finally win the day. But it turns out actually that the debate that took place between the two legs was critical to show that the Rashidadati was just not ready.

B (13:26)

Let's move. Let's take a broader look at France because it seemed just watching French television last night, no one could agree on who had won. And I'm not quite sure whether it was a rather boisterous television debate that I was watching or whether there was a genuine sense that the expectations that the far right would do really, really well, that the far left, La Francine Humise, would do really, really well. But in actual fact this wasn't the case, was it?

F (13:50)

No, but you're very right that this was all sort of a pre run of the 2027 elections, 14 months ahead of the presidential election. France's municipal elections are sort of a bellwether for the political wind. And the real question was, will the Republican dam, or the barrier as we call it? This refers to an old custom that sees parties and voters rally to oppose the far right from winning in elections. The question was, would it hold? And not only is it holding, but it's also growing now to include opposition to the far left winning major elections. You're very right in saying that both extremes didn't do so well. And in fact, the real learning of last night is that the sort of traditional left, the Socialist Party, does not do well when it holds alliances with the far left. And sumi, the. The real learning from yesterday is that there is a way now for French politics to sort of come back to a more mature and let's say more civil discourse, because the left and the far right are not doing so well.

B (14:59)

Let's have a look at the far left and the far right in individuality, the far right, I mean, we saw Marine Le Pen last night saying things along the lines that she was happy that middle sized towns and smaller towns had fallen to the national rush. But there was this sense, wasn't there generally, that that preamble to the French presidential elections next year was, was not properly grasped by the far right.

F (15:29)

Yeah, no, you're very right. It actually failed to secure any of its of its real targets. It failed to get elected in Toulon, it failed to get elected in Marseille. The only positive outcome for the far right yesterday was the town of Nice, where actually its candidate, a former conservative turn far right, Eric Chi, won the mayoral race. But what was striking yesterday was that if you listen to every party, they all won. You know, everybody's done so great and everybody has great successes to boast. The reality is, looking at the far right, it failed to secure any of the major votes. Besides Perpignan, which is a rather large city, it is getting slightly more into rural France. But that's actually no surprise. And what it was hoping for was that many conservative mayors would turn to the far right hoping to secure a position. And this didn't happen. The dam is still holding.

B (16:31)

And also just looking at the Le Parisienne this morning, the president of the Ile de France region, she's just appeared on RTL and she said that she wants clarifications about ambiguities. Now, I think this is suggesting that Republican candidates that, you know, the center right, who up until now have been really, really struggling, never allied themselves with the far right, but they want this rule to be enshrined in law. I mean, just looking at that, there's a sense that people actually want to solidify what, you know, the uncertainties of last night.

F (17:03)

Well, yes, because they're all gearing up for 2027, and the only question now is which alliances can you make? And also, who will be the frontrunner for the right? Because they have many candidates, none of them has enough clout to sort of become the natural leader of this conservative bloc. So they're all trying to position themselves. To be honest, the conservatives did rather well in these mayoral elections. They're usually sort of well known figures locally, because bear in mind, what happens is, even yesterday and the week before that were actually 34,000 local elections. So everybody's scrambling this morning to try and see national learnings and see what we can sort of forecast for 2027. But the reality is that some of these elections happened on very parochial issues. And it's really hard to sort of set aside everything that happened. What we can say for sure is that last night was a good night for rather traditional parties. It was a bad night for far right and far left parties, but it really also was sort of the kickoff for the 2027 elections. And it's going to be a very long year in France. Political parties.

B (18:16)

Yes, and I think we'll be following every twist and turn on it, Alex. But finally, just if we just cast our minds back to where all this sort of exploded was the creation of Emmanuel Macron's party, which ended up being called Renaissance. Where did stand now? Because they were the ones that wanted to reinvent French politics and ended up exploding it.

F (18:38)

Yes, you're very right, in a sense, they did reinvent politics. They managed to sort of fuel the rise of both the far right and the far left, and especially the far left France and Sumise, who've seen a spectacular rise in number and clout over the last four years. Yesterday, the Renaissance Party was nowhere. And what they're showing is that Macronism without Macron is actually pretty much dead. And they were boasting two wins, one in Bordeaux, one in Annecy. But bear in mind, again, there are about 34,000 elections that took place last night. If you won in only two places, you're not doing so well. And they are part of this sort of big maneuvers trying to gearing up to 2027. But the reality is, how can you survive not only just, you know, the name, but also the man who created the party? And yesterday's news for them was that it seems that you Can't.

B (19:37)

Alexandre Kushner, journalist and political analyst, joining me on the line from Paris. Thank you so much. Still to come on today's Globalist, There was rather a lot of BTs swilling around the world this weekend as they made their comeback appearance in Seoul. Great triumph it was as well. We'll hear more about the effect on South Korean tourism a little later on today's program.

A (20:11)

Craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office House View, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft.

B (20:47)

Let's continue today's newspapers. Joining me in the studio is Latika Burke, writer at large for the Australian news publication the Nightly. Welcome back, Leti.

G (20:55)

Oh hi Emma.

B (20:56)

We are happy.

G (20:57)

Broad daylight at 6:00am yes, this is, I think that's the determining factor.

B (21:01)

It actually restores the soul. It really does, quite phenomenally. Not much use to you if you're listening as a podcast, but let's talk a little bit about the joys of European travel because we're looking, I mean everybody at the moment has been saying don't travel, don't travel, don't travel. Not much use if you want to do any business. But you were just mentioning the fact that you're just about to do a few European trips and boy, obo, you can work, you can move for work, you can move for fun and it's incredibly civilized. Well done Europe.

G (21:29)

Well, well done Eurostar. I just love the Eurostar. I mean the train concept generally. I'm not brand promoting anything particular here, but it is so relaxing to travel just by train in this world of chaos and madness and flight delays. Have you seen the queues at the tsa? TSA calls queues at US airports, they're stretching for hours. Not to mention all the terrible chaos going on with the Middle East. And actually I'm going to surprise you, Emma, because we're here to talk about things in the papers and because we've started with this just as chit chat. I'm going to tell you about a story that's in the ft. Have you seen this? It's Qatar Airways putting into long term sleep or storage in Spain some of their big jumbos. Now does that ring a bell? Do you remember this happening during COVID

B (22:18)

it did it's moved. I'm just looking up now. I'm looking at the aviation. Aviation, exactly.

G (22:24)

Qatar Airways, according to the journalist Peter Campbell just published in the FT this morning, has sent 20 of its largest aircraft to a site in Spain that's used for long term storage. Now they are transferring aircraft to Tyrell Airport in Spain and that's an airport that specializes in heavy mainten long term storage. So according to the data which they've Cleverly gathered from Flightradar24, it is astonishing how much you can get from the open source web these days. The Qataris have sent. Qatar airways has sent five more planes just on Sunday in addition to the 15. They are a 380s, a 350s and seven 8 7s. And so that's quite important, particularly as an Australian, because that means they're the long haul planes indeed for the long haul flights. And also what would that suggest, Emma? Long term storage. That means the Gulf thinks this crisis is going on for a long time despite whatever is coming out via Truth Social from the President.

B (23:30)

And as someone who does travel regularly using the Middle east as a hub, when you hear that the A380 and the A350 and the Boeing and the Dreamline are all going to be put into sort of long storage, that suggests, as you say, that this is going to last a long time. But the sense that the Middle east becomes the great aviation connection point comes under question, doesn't it?

G (23:52)

Oh absolutely. I think this threatens the entire model that the Gulf states have had with their aviation. And a couple of things. I'm getting a bit of PTSD Covid from all of this. Is anybody else? Because I remember when we had airlines, particularly Australia's Qantas doing this, they put in to long term storage their big planes in la, I think it was. It actually takes a long, long time to get those planes back out of storage. It's not as simple as okay, we're back on, we're back up in the air, the airspace is good, let's go. Actually the process of sending these big jumbos off to sleep for a while means the wake up is also long. So just factoring in that very timescale itself suggests this year could be a bit of a write off for aviation long haul. And as an Australian I've. I mean we are all freaking because the prospect of getting home, even booking something, thinking that it might come through and that if you book it it's going to be good for what it says, I. E. That it will be ensured that you'll get your money back. I mean, this is 2020 all over again.

B (25:00)

But it doesn't stop us from moving. So off we go.

G (25:03)

Not to Europe.

B (25:04)

Not to Europe. At least.

G (25:05)

That's why Europe is so good.

B (25:06)

Exactly. Right. Let's find out what's being talked about in the papers you wanted to mention. Let's stay with the Iran war, but the more military side of things.

G (25:15)

Yeah, I think this is quite an interesting story. I know you've been covering it already here on the Globalist this morning, but this is just a little bit of a side angle. And we've got Al Khans, who is the UK's veterans minister, but he's really become a bit of a de facto defence minister these days, doing a lot of the talking and briefing around this Iran war. And, and he thinks that all of this in Iran precipitates British war with Russia within three years. Brace, brace, brace.

B (25:47)

Explain that for us.

G (25:48)

Well, Al Khanz is a guy to listen to. I sit on a lot of briefings with him and he's a serious chap. He's a former colonel in the Royal Marines. And now what he is saying is that all this easing of sanctions that the Trump administration is doing, most recently on Iranian oil, but before that, you'll remember the sanctions have been eased on Russian oil. Mr. Cairnes reckons this gives Russia such a good economic boost that they could be ready to now turn around to the UK and NATO and say, okay, in three years we could maybe chew off something more than just Ukraine, even though it's a stalemate there and they still can't defeat Ukraine, which is a tiny country compared to theirs, that they could be ready to have a go at us. So this, I think is, is really someone who's looking at the longer, longer, longer term implications. And of course that raises a bigger question about readiness, of which we certainly know the British and probably most of Europe are definitely not ready.

B (26:49)

Let's move on to another article. It's also in the Financial Times. They're sort of relying quite heavily on them today. They're doing pretty. There's some great stories in the paper. Danish Prime Minister rides Trump Greenland Row into election resurgence. Doesn't it seem a long time since Donald Trump decided that he wanted Greenland? That's all seems to have gone away. But clearly for those, if you are in Denmark and the Greenlanders, this is not.

G (27:11)

And that was only two months ago. Emma, please, let's have a check on 2026 being the most bonkers year already, even though we say that every year. But Mette Fredriksen is quite savvy. She's called a snap election after what Donald Trump threatened in January. It's really revitalised, you know, so it's a flag rallying, a flag waving event when somebody decides quite madly that they will maybe take a piece of your administered territory in Greenland. So she is going for an election on Tuesday and she's looking for a third term. Now, incumbency is hard these days. It's really. You are pressed to find leaders who can survive one term in this climate. But Mette Fredrickson could just about do it thanks to Donald Trump. And doesn't this, Emma, have echoes of what Trump has been doing worldwide? There's this huge election phenomena he has where he's able to rally huge sections of society behind perhaps once unpopular leaders. Canada, we saw this. Australia, we saw this. And now probably Denmark will see a big anti Trump surge behind the incumbent.

B (28:19)

Now let's talk a little bit more about your country, Australia, and an article from the Nightly.

G (28:24)

Yes, this is my article, Emma, and I've chosen this. Not as if it would be about anybody else. Oh, no, no, it's not because. Because it's not because I wrote it necessarily. But I just think that the theme is absolutely bang on compared to what we're talking about and that is that they have had a huge populist surge in the state of South Australia. So this is not a federal election, but it's the first real test about whether this party, this populist party, one nation led by Pauline Hanson, which has been around since I was a kid. At first she came out saying she was fearing Australia was being swapped, swamped by Asians. Then it turned into a fear about Muslims. But funnily enough, in the she did have a big kind of renaissance or a big peak in the day and then fell apart. She actually went to jail. She's made a huge comeback and it seems the times are finally aligning with her because she's out polling, similar case to what's happening in the uk, she's out polling the traditional Liberal Party or the centre right party and in the state election has managed to win more votes than the existing Liberal opposition. It doesn't transform into seats necessarily because of Australia's system, but this to me is an absolute mirror of what's happening in the US and UK just 10 years after Brexit and Trump.

B (29:46)

And you write in your article about the fact that there are connections with other countries. Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, the UK's reform leader. But I wonder whether this is a sort of a genuine populist movement that's happening or whether it is just their ability to rabble rows with excellent appearances, with powerful appearances on social media and reality television.

G (30:11)

Well, I've written in this piece and I don't think it's just a protest vote. And this is what all the traditional parties in Australia are trying to dismiss this rise as. And I think it's not a protest vote for two reasons. One, it's not a protest vote and hasn't been in the UK for some time, nor was it when they elected Mr. Trump a second time round. If you look at some of the structural underlying forces about why people say they're looking at populists in every one of those countries and including most recently in Australia, it's that they think the system is broken and needs burning down. And that's a very, very different space to occupy. As opposed to do you think taxes should come down or not? Do you think that the level of spending on welfare is a bit too high or not? Would you like one party to deal with when voters start saying, I think the entire system is cooked and I want someone to blow the show up? Well, that's when you get people taking a look at populace. And in Australia, I think that's an effect of the pandemic and the very harsh lockdowns they imposed. In the US I think it was an effect of the financial crisis and the subprime mortgage collapse. And here I think much the same, it was an economic situation. And in Australia, because the economy got through that financial crisis very well because of our min, I think it's now catching up because of the pandemic and a global shock there.

B (31:32)

Atika, book writer at large for the Australian news publication the Nightly thank you so much for joining me in the studio. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now here's a look at some of the other stories we're keeping an eye on today. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he believes Hungary has been regularly briefing Russia on EU summits, leading him to self censor during meetings. His comments follow a report by the Washington Post which claimed that Hungary's foreign affairs minister had been leaking details of European Council meetings to the Kremlin. There's been no comment from Moscow or Budapest. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has been reappointed as President of State affairs following the country's first session of the Supreme People's Assembly. The meeting in PYONGYANG serves to rubber stamp North Korea's party decisions into law. An Air Canada Express regional jet has collided with a ground vehicle upon landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport. The airport was closed after the plane, which was coming in from Montreal, struck the vehicle at a speed of about 24 miles an hour. That's 39 kilometers an hour. The jet was operated by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada's regional partner. And a statue of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus has been installed in the grounds of the White House. It's the latest bid by President Donald Trump's administration to reshape depictions of US history and culture. This is the Globe List. Stay tuned. It's 8:32 in Ljubljana, 7:32 here in London. Now, votes are still being counted in Slovenia following parliamentary elections. Partial results show a tie between the right wing opposition led by the populist Janis Jansa, and the ruling Freedom Movement. For an update now, we're joined by Guy Delaunay, Monicle's Balkans correspondent. Good morning, Guy.

E (33:20)

Good morning, Emma, and good morning, everybody.

B (33:21)

Now, what I've just said is incorrect. It's just this second change, hasn't it?

E (33:25)

Oh, it keeps changing, but it's, I mean, I was up very late last night sort of following this and it has been swinging around quite a lot. And it's all because of the way in which votes are counted. Of course, if you're going to count votes from constituencies which are, say, in rural areas, they're going to favor Yanis Jancha and his right wing sds. If you're going to go to the urban areas, they're going to favor the centre left and left wing parties, including Robert Gollob and the Freedom Movement. So I'll tell you where we are at the moment, 99.85% of votes have been counted. The governing centre left Freedom Movement of Prime Minister Robert Gollob is very, very, very narrowly ahead of the right wing SDS of the former Prime Minister Yanis Jancha. When I say narrowly ahead, we're talking 28.6% versus 27.95%. And that equates to the difference of one parliamentary seat, 29 for Golub, 28 for Jansha. You need 46 to form a government. Guess what? We're going to have very, very tense coalition negotiations coming up.

B (34:29)

And indeed, one wonders, is the result going to be declared today given the fact that it is so close?

E (34:36)

No, it will not be declared today. And the reasons for that are, firstly, we've got the postal votes that are going to be counted today and then in a week's time, we're going to have the diaspora votes. And in the previous election, the diaspora votes came to about 14,000 ballots and the current difference between the two leading parties is 8,000 ballots. So, yeah, this is right in the too close to call territory we've got here.

B (35:02)

Emma, were we ever expecting it to be this close?

E (35:05)

Yes, I was. I'm going to pat myself on the back here and say, yes, I did expect. Expect it to be this close. And I can literally back myself here because my son was doing a little bit of a polymarket wager on the results of the election and about a week ago, I told him to pull out. It's too tight, it's too close to call, you're not going to make any money on this. And he did. So I've saved him a few quid.

B (35:27)

Wonderful. Good parenting and journalism at the same time. Right, so where does this leave Slovenia, given the fact that if we have have such tight races being run here, the difficulty remains is that, A, you've mentioned there's only one seat in Parliament, but B, the, the gap between the sds, the, the right wingers and the freedom movement is enormous politically in terms of what they want to do with the country.

E (35:53)

Yeah. And I think this is worth. You know, people aren't generally paying attention to Slovenian politics, Emma. So just to. So people know, there is a huge contrast between. Now, if we look in terms of international outlook. Robert Golub and his freedom movement have been the most outspoken critics of Israel and their actions in Gaza and Iran, of any country in the European Union, with the exception of Spain. So it's the equivalent of Spain in terms of being outspoken about Israel, Gaza, Iran. They're no fans of President Donald Trump. Slovenia has pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest, for example, example as well. They're very cooperative when it comes to the European Union and matters to do with Ukraine and funding. If we look at Yanis Jancia, he is an ally of Viktor Orban. There are friendly media towards Yanis Jancia in Slovenia which are funded by allies. Viktor Orban. And Mr. Jancha is also on the record as being a big fan of President Donald Trump. So you can imagine what his attitude is towards what's happening in Gaza and what's happening in Iran. Very different indeed. That's just on the international front locally. Everybody here was going to be braced for what happened if Jancha got in and what his attitude would be towards the media, because the last time he was in between 2020 and 2022, he went on the attack against public service media, in particular, defunded the state news agency sta, attacked the national broadcaster RTV Slovenia. And it made for a very uncomfortable couple of years. If you were a journalist, never mind if he was somebody else in society Guy.

B (37:26)

Let's briefly touch on some other stories that are making the news in the Balkans. What's caught your eye?

E (37:31)

So we've got some other things that are going on, as you said, Emma. So, for starters, we've got fuel rationing here in Slovenia. So everybody's been looking around at what's been going on with fuel prices, what's been going on with the fuel supplies. After mentioning what's been going on in Iran. Well, Slovenia has had to start rationing fuel and it's the first European Union country to have to start doing this. And the reason for this is fuel tourism, because we've got a border with Austria. Austria doesn't regulate fuel prices. Slovenia does. Suddenly, if you're living in the border region of Austria and you think, gosh, I could just nip over the border into Slovenia and fill up there and save myself. I mean, it's not vast amounts of money, let's be honest, is it? But people think, oh, yes, I can save 15 or €20 on a tank of fuel, I'll do it. And they presumably blow that by having lunch in the nearest Gostylna? But that's what they've been doing. And Slovenia's decided, we've got a problem here because we are literally running out of fuel. The main retailer, petrol, has been running dry. I love the fact that they're called petrol. And yes, the government has stepped in to limit it to 50 litres per day per motorist.

B (38:38)

How do they think they're going to resolve this, given the fact that the rest of the world is incredibly worried about fuel prices right now, and Slovenia,

E (38:44)

of course, doesn't have any fuel sources of its own. It really is a bit big question. I mean, I don't think we haven't got a refinery in this country. The nearest refinery is in Croatia. So it is going to be difficult and Slovenia's got to compete on the open market with everybody else. They've been. The government has said they want to bring in the army to help with fuel deliveries. Again, I don't know how that's going to help. If you've got people just siphoning it off because it's cheaper than neighboring Austria, maybe you just have to bite the bullet and say the fuel price Regulation isn't going to work in this country if you're able to arbitrage it so easily. Coming in from Austria, say Guy Delaunay,

B (39:23)

Monocles Balkans correspondent, thank you for that update. You're listening to the Globalist on Monocle Radio. Now let's talk a little bit about the 15 minutes minute city. It was something that the Parisme Anne Hidalgo championed a few years ago as she departs. Paris considers the continuation of the 15 Minute City. But it's had a large influence across the world and we'll head to Singapore now where we can hear from Monocle's Thomas Pinero. He takes us to the Tiong Bahru estate to see how Singapore is able to succeed at implementing the 15 minute city model with just one urban development.

H (40:13)

The first hint you've arrived in Tiong Bahru comes from the curved semi open stairwells projecting from the white low rise art Deco flats. Then the bustle of modern Singapore seems to ebb into a gentler pace. Built in the 30s, when the city was still a British commercial outpost, the estate was one of Singapore's earliest public housing developments. It introduced or reinforced planning principles later replicated across the island. Among them are the HDB flats, the public units under the Housing Development Board in which the largest share of the population lives. There's also the community center and one of the best hawker centres in town. All three are Singaporean staples. Thiamborough's buildings are products, products of an era when speed and optimism were central to the zeitgeist. They display streamlined modern features such as speed lines, curved corners and porthole windows that nod to the aerodynamics of ships, trains, airplanes and automobiles. At ground level, though, they carry a more local trade, the so called five foot walkways. These are covered pavements that shelter pedestrians from the region's harsh weather. Here they connect shop houses with apartments, many of which are also located directly at ground level. The neighborhood has grown more desirable over time, attracting a growing number of affluent newcomers. However, it's tough to compete for an apartment here. Longtime residents seem resolute in their decision to stay, even as home prices now often hover around a million Singapore dollars. The social mix becomes clear as you move through the five foot ways and catch glimpses inside the homes. Design led apartments with nogushi paper lamps sit right next door to cluttered, frozen in time homes with original fixtures. Still, in this quiet neighborhood, the impression is of a community well lived in and generously shared. Common areas are lined with potted plants, incense burns on wall mounted trees, shrines and there's the occasional bicycle tucked beneath the stairs. Across Jeong Baru, architectural generations can be read as pre and post war, with the earlier blocks built to a more robust standard. Block 78, known as the Horseshoe block, was even equipped with a bomb shelter to accommodate up to 1600 people. The post war blocks, those with the curved stairwells I mentioned earlier, follow a more open principle and are interspersed with green spaces with beautiful and tall palm trees. Also established in the post war period, Thiong Bahru's community center is regarded as the earliest in Singapore. Dating back to 1948, it offered amenities such as basketball courts, barber services and evening classes. From its early days, its importance is such that at one stage it even assisted residents with funeral funeral arrangements. Like other community centers across Singapore, it serves more than practical functions. It reinforces civic sentiment and mutual respect and this within a city defined by major differences in race and faith. In Tiong Bahru, street level commerce runs mostly through the pre war blocks. Design led cafes, bakeries, bookshops and art galleries sit alongside family run restaurants, provision shops and Jews Syrian stalls. The latter cluster mostly around the Monkey God Temple itself. Housed in a shop house, it doesn't get a lot more straights than this. At the center of it all sits Tiang Bahru market and hawker center. What begun as a small wet market became a magnet for itinerant hawkers who gathered in an open space with only basic shelter and limited hygiene. In the 50s the town cleansing department stepped in and a new struck rose. Though it still proved hot and stuffy beneath a tired zinc roof. In the early 2000s, the building we see today was constructed. The exterior echoes the smooth character of its surroundings, while inside comfort and hygiene take priority. Circulation and open dining areas wrap around a landscaped courtyard and multiple ceiling fans drive airflow. Rows of fixed tables bring orders and stainless steel furniture across the stalls. Cleanliness. The ground floor houses the fresh produce market with fishmongers, butchers and vegetable vendors upstairs. It's all about eating and socializing. Options abound. There are over 80 stalls with many longtime hawkers remaining in business carrying their recipes intact. You might start with the Co Brothers pig organ soup, a fixture here for for close to 60 years. Then pick up a drink at the multi generational 33 Cafe run by a family whose members grew up and went to school in Cheong Bahru. There are also Wuton noodles, Hokkien prawn mee, fried oysters, Cantonese roasts and my personal constant copy with kaya butter toast. Stopping by this hawker center has become a small ritual of mine. Whenever I visit Chonbaru, I pause just long enough to grab a bite and notice the community's convivial interplay before heading out into the city where everything speeds up once again.

B (45:27)

And that was Thomas Puneiro there, taking us to the Cheong Bahru estate in Singapore. You're listening to the globalist

A (45:36)

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B (46:12)

Now. The hospitality group Experimental is celebrated for bringing the cocktail renaissance to Paris and other cities, including the ecc, the Experimental Cocktail Club cocktail bar in London's Chinatown, which has recently reopened. The group is almost 20 years old and it operates bars, restaurants and hotels across many cities from Venice to Menorca. A new property in Rome is coming up this summer on Monocle Radio's senior correspondent Fernando Agosta Basheco met Xavier Padovani, partner and director of the experimental group, who started talking about the reopening of their now famous ECC bar in Chinatown.

C (46:49)

You can't be complaisant. You have to be, you know, like not revamping the wheel because the bar works. It works well, but we had to do it just because at some stage, you know, you're gonna move on to the slightly, not different level, but to keep it as it is. A small jewel, you know, a small townhouse hidden away. It's funny because we opened 15 years ago, like from the mom. We opened the door. It was a killing, you know, people were like, what? JR Street 15 years ago? I remember some of the guests we had to manage not to let in because there was a bit rock and roll at the time in that street. If you were there 15 years ago, you probably remember. But now it's how do we make it relevant to a younger generation of drinkers? You know, like, I was at the bar last week on Tuesday. Now on Thursday, we have a big night, French Touch night.

I (47:33)

Love French Touch.

C (47:34)

Yeah, exactly that. It's La touche francaise in French. And I spoke to kids who were 20, 25 years old next to me and they were like, whoa. I never knew that bar was there. For me, that's with a tree of something. If I can draw like a younger generation of drinker to the bar that was open 15 years ago, yes, I had to do refurbishment. Yes. I had to make sure that for 15 years it's intemporelle. It's like if you were there 15 years ago and you come tomorrow and the quality of the drink is the same, the music is maybe not the same because things have evolved, but experience has to be amazing. It's what we aim to reach and that's what we still thrive on trying to achieve every day, I think.

I (48:13)

Well, I was there last weekend and Timothy, of course, in charge of the drinks, I had the Sundowner Society. Amazing cocktail with tequila. Very good choice. And after some champagne as well.

J (48:24)

Right.

C (48:24)

Presumably.

I (48:25)

What's your drink of choice? I'm curious if you go to the experimental cocktail club today.

C (48:30)

Depending the time of the day. Last Thursday, I may have had a few. Tommy's Margarita, which is a cocktail that was created in San Francisco by Julio Bemero in Tommy's, which is like a simple version of the margarita with agave instead of Cointreau. But I also start usually the night if Olivier is in town, one of my business partner. We start with dirty martini, gin, and then depending where we're going, I drink quite a bit of champagne as well. Little bit of a sparkling wine from France is not going to hurt anyone. But it depends. Martini early evening, then something a little bit more, you know, long and a bit more, you know, Paloma, you know, is very fashionable at the moment. It doesn't hurt either. I must say that tequila. Jean, Tequila is something of interest at the moment.

I (49:14)

You mentioned, of course, we're talking about the revamp, but, you know, we have to be careful the word, because as I said, the place didn't change that much. The ethos of it. What makes a property experimental. Part of the experimental group. Because I have to say, although there's been a lot of growth, new properties, there is something about it that makes experimental for me is the lighting as well, this kind of discretion. It's not flashy, but it's cool.

C (49:38)

It's a nice way to describe it.

I (49:40)

Personal take you've been there.

C (49:42)

First off, every single location we have means something to us, historically speaking, be it Chinatown. We visited a million of different places to find this bar. Pierre Charles, Romeo, Olivier and I, we found that place again a few years back. It was like a really dodgy bar, kind of like where you probably wouldn't want to go, but to find the place, to find a surrounding location and to get a vision that says, you know what, whatever it is now, but you see what you can do with it. In terms of potential and in terms of attraction and what you're doing. So I would say there's like a special things in the air in some location. You were talking about Menorca. In Menorca, the light is great. I remember flying there with my business partner, Pierre Charles, to meet Jean that was showing us a property to potentially the hotel. We land 10 minutes later, we knew that that's it. We haven't seen the property yet, we're driving to. We know we gotta do something there. Same thing with, you know, maybe Portugal or Switzerland. I think location is very important and very often it's relevant to any one of us. Like Romaille used to ski in Verbier as a kid, for example. Boom, we ended up in Verbier. Olivier grew up skiing in Val d'. Iser. Boom, we opened in Val d'. Azer. But then, as you said, the lighting for example, and the sound. You should be able to walk like from 6 to 9:10pm and the lighting should be super discreet. It should be something really like cozy and really like low on a level not low enough that you can't see the menu, but discreet and nice and cozy. That's the atmosphere, the sound. You should be able to talk to your boyfriend, girlfriend, your friend, your cousin, everyone. And then yes, of course, like past 10:30, 11:00 clock in ECC Chinatown. Yes, the music on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday goes up a little bit. And look, if you want to dance, you dance. But there's nothing that is like, there's no scenario. Like what we try to create is a moment where wherever you are, anywhere in the world, in experimental cocktail club, for example, or in our hotels as well, that you there it, it's a spot. And then you know what, you had a few cocktail, but hey wanted a bit of champagne because you want to push the moment forward. I think it's the surrounding creating the perfect surrounding. Like no pretension, good drinks, good lights and good music.

I (51:48)

Yeah, and a good crowd. I I can tell you it's interesting going back to the topic of drinks because sometimes we read articles, oh, the young generation, they're not drinking anymore. Maybe there's a little exaggeration on that. Actually I have to say there was a little bit of a youngish crowd actually on Saturday evening when I was there.

C (52:06)

You know, it's very funny you say that because I'm all in for like, you know, non alcoholic kind of like things, you know, I have my favorite non alcoholic brands. But I see like the last few 15 months or 24 months everywhere kids are not drinking anymore and all that. I don't want to swear, you know, on radio or whatever, I'll be very honest. Lot of BS When I'm at the last Thursday we do a night called the French Touch with Pablo Padoni from Muduid Band. So he's playing, he's getting like a lot of like people to come mix like French artists. One may be well known, maybe a little, one less known. But like we had Leticia from Stereo Lab months ago last month was Lewis Hoffman. You know, a few people come in, the crowd was between, let's say 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. And they drink like there's no tomatoes. So yes, they're not caning shots, you know, and not drinking pint of beer because we may not serve pint of beers, but I saw kids holding cocktails from like a moment ago, 9:30pm until like 2, 3 o' clock in the morning. So that you may say kids or generation drinks less but better quality.

B (53:10)

That's Xavier Padovani from the experimental group talking to Fernando Augusto Pacheco. You can listen to the full interview on the Monocle Weekly. And you're listening to the Global Tribalist. Finally, South Korea is experiencing a great shift in its tourism industry thanks in part to the wild popularity of K Pop. How many of us were dreaming of cramming ourselves into Gwanghwamun Square on Saturday night to hear this? That was a snapshot of the reunion concert of BTS heard from the audience there. Because what seems to be happening in South Korea is becoming one of the world's key cultural tourist destinations, especially for younger travelers. Well, in the audience. Well in the square on Saturday night was Nemo Kim, journalist specializing in Asian issues. Nema, welcome back. What was BTS like?

J (54:22)

They were amazing. I wouldn't, I'm not sure if I can say this, but I wouldn't call myself a die hard fan, but even I was shouting out their names. It was excitement throughout the whole square.

B (54:39)

Did you scream?

J (54:40)

Yeah, I think I found myself screaming at times. Yeah. Yes, yes. It was pretty amazing. They were impeccable performers. They hadn't lost anything despite the hiatus.

B (54:53)

It was an amazing evening. I mean, I was watching it from the comfort of a sofa somewhere else on the television. But there was a sense that they were really connecting with their audience as well. I mean, I think there were only two songs in and then there was an enormous amount of chat.

J (55:06)

Yes, that's right. And the first two songs were from their new album, but their fans Army. They knew all the lyrics already, and I think they'd already sorted out which bits they would chant and sync together and which bits they're going to leave it to their favorite artists.

B (55:25)

Right, let's have a look at the explosive effect that the likes of BTS have had. Because when we looked across Gwanghwamun Square, there was a real sense that Seoul was placing itself on the international map. Instantly recognizable location in South Korean capital what's been the effect on tourism numbers?

J (55:45)

Yes, you're right. And I would say that South Korea's tourism industry is currently being reshaped. And as you mentioned, K pop is one of the main reasons why. And the weekend's BTS concert at Gwanghwamun was a prime example. It was the kind of event fans around the world would have loved to pack into. And I would say more broadly, the countries increasingly being seen as one of the world's key destinations for cultural tourism, especially among younger travelers who are into K Pop. But industry watchers here are saying more and more older travelers are coming to South Korea for cultural tourism. For example, due to the increasing popularity of K literature. For example, we had novelist Han Gang, who won the Nobel Award for literature just two years ago, and many other Korean writers are gaining popularity abroad in the field of translated literature. So international visitors, more and more of them are picking South Korea not just for sightseeing, but to experience the music, fashion and food and different lifestyles associated with K pop culture and other areas of Korean culture, with Seoul, the capital, being at the center of the appeal. And what's also interesting is that the BTS effect, as well as the more broader K Pop effect, I would say it's driving tourism revenue, with hotels, airlines and local businesses benefiting off from the higher visitor numbers. And I would say that the impact is no longer just limited to Seoul, the capital, because we have places like Busan, the second biggest city here, as well as Incheon and Jeju, the tropical island, attracting more and more interesting because people are branching out, visitors are branching out beyond Seoul, the capital. So in that sense, we're seeing here not just fandom travel, but like a broader move in which the country is positioning itself as one of the leading cultural tourism destinations.

B (58:11)

NemaMA, we have 10 seconds to say if you were deciding whether to go to where are you going to that part of the world, where would you stop? Start?

J (58:19)

Start in Seoul and then maybe go to Busan, the second biggest city, because it has a lovely seaside, and then pop onto the plane for like 30 minutes and visit Jeju island and back to Seoul. That's. That would be my itinerary.

B (58:35)

Oh, with BTS in your ears. Nemo Kim, thank you so much for joining us on the line from Seoul. And that's all the time we have for today's program. The warmest of thanks to all my guests guests and to the producers, Angelica Dropson, Tom Webb, and Anita Riota. Our researcher was Anneliese Maynard and our studio manager was Mariella Bevan. After the headlines, more music on the way. The briefing's live at midday here in London. And the Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow. But for now, from me, Emma Nelson, goodbye. Thank you very much for listening. Have a great week. Sam.

A (59:39)

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