Do we want Europe to be a player — or a playground for other powers? In the 9th episode of The European Republic, our host Nikodem Skrobisz speaks with political scientist Anton Shekhovtsov, Director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity in Vienna and visiting professor at the Central European University, one of the world's leading experts on political warfare and the weaponization of the European far right by autocratic regimes.

We discuss what political warfare actually is and why Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the result of its failure; why the West still lacks a realistic vision for dealing with Russia; how the Kremlin, China, and increasingly the United States exploit Europe's internal crises and populist movements to keep the continent weak; why a "Europe of multiple speeds" may be the path to a sovereign, geopolitically capable united Europe; and why rearmament needs democratic legitimacy — and a vision worth defending.

Anton writes about the European far right, Russia's war on Europe, and the vision of pan-Europa on his Substack "Towers of Europa" — highly recommended:

https://shekhovtsov.substack.com

Centre for Democratic Integrity: ⁠https://democratic-integrity.eu⁠

Anton's books include "Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir" and "Russian Political Warfare."

The European Republic is the podcast for a united, democratic, federal Europe — interviews with pro-European and eurofederalist thinkers, activists, and politicians from across the continent.

Follow and support the podcast on Substack: ⁠https://nikodemskrobisz.substack.com/⁠

Host: Nikodem Skrobisz —⁠ https://nikodem-skrobisz.com⁠

For episode 8 of The European Republic Podcast, our host Nikodem Skrobisz talks with Ivo IJssennagger , the Policy and Program Lead of Astra Europa. They discuss Ivos background as an economist and his past as a professional poker player, as much as his involvement in drafting the manifesto of Astra Europa.

Learn more about Astra Europa EU: https://astraeuropa.eu/

Join Astra Europa Netherlands: https://astraeuropa.nl/

For episode 7 of The European Republic Podcast, our host Nikodem Skrobisz talks with Rolf Strijdhorst, the Vice Chairman of Astra Europa. They discuss Rolfs background as a software developer, liberalism and the vision and roadmap of Astra Europa especially in the Netherlands.

As always, you can also watch this episode on Spotify:

Learn more about Astra Europa EU: https://astraeuropa.eu/

Join Astra Europa Netherlands: https://astraeuropa.nl/

Carlos Zapata-Carratalá | A Spanish Mathematical Researcher heading to Ukraine | Mathematical Research, Democratic Discourse and the War in Ukraine | The European Republic #6

For episode 6 of The European Republic Podcast, our host Nikodem Skrobisz talks with the Physicist and Mathematical Research Carlos Zapata-Carratalá, who is currently preparing to move to Kyiv very soon. The discussion covers his work and background as a mathemtatical researcher in theoretical physics and organiser of the SEMF, how democratic discourse benefits from diversity and how his visit to Kyiv in December 2025 led to his decision to become a european activist and move to Ukraine permanently.

Here you can support Carlos' Fundraiser: https://4fund.com/rr7a3j

SEMF - The Society for Multidisciplinary and Fundamental Research: https://www.semf.org.es/

Carlos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-zapata-carratal%C3%A1-b068b51b4/

In this second episode of the Ramblings Vlog, I, Nikodem Skrobisz, talk about the European Federalist Metagame.

The Ramblings are bonus episodes of The European Republic Podcast, where I will vlog about my thoughts behind the scenes, ramble about personal topics and reflect on ideas for paneuropean politics.

In this first episode of the Ramblings Vlog, I, Nikodem Skrobisz, talk about my other public persona on the more german speaking corner of the internet, namley as a writer ans reflect on the relationship between politics and literature.

The Ramblings are bonus episodes of The European Republic Podcast, where I will vlog about my thoughts behind the scenes, ramble about personal topics and reflect on ideas for paneuropean politics.

Listen to this podcast episode also on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rud4tAKv6r4Se6XR4sArP?si=RFzXCHHGRradSqX5e67ocw

List of my publications: https://nikodem-skrobisz.com/Website/My+Books

Dániel Kovács | Forum Europaeum, Hungary after Orban and European Media

For episode 5 of The European Republic Podcast, our host Nikodem Skrobisz talks with hungarian mediamaker and journalist Dániel Kovács. Dániel Kovács has founded and leads the Forum Europaeum, a paneuropean media project, that tries to built a european media space and was awarded with the Youth Charlemagne Price. They talk about FEU, about Péter Magyar and his victory over Orban changing Hungary, the future of Hungary and its media in Europe, european cultural hegemomy and production. Including a few great stories about producing content for europe and how to connect its people.

FEU Website:https://forum-europaeum.com

Forum Europaeum YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@forum.europaeum/videos

For episode 4 of The European Republic, our host Nikodem Skrobisz met with Arthur Krön in Vienna. Arthur is an Oxford Clarendon Scholar, NZZ Contributing Writer, Austrian Army Reservist and the founder of The Future is Yourope, an Initiative that wants to give Europeans a voice. We talked about building an European discourse, paths to European unification and the future of his project.

Thank you to Jadetee & Keramik for hosting our conversation: https://jadetee.at/

Check out The Future is Yourope now: https://yourope.io/