Can an ex-fighter-jet pilot run Bulgaria?

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.4 • 202 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Viktor Orbán may be out — but his man in Brussels is not. Today on the pod, Ian and Sarah discuss how the Hungarian Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi is expected to stay on in the Berlaymont after his Fidesz party's landslide election loss back home. They explain why neither the Commission nor the new Hungarian government are in a rush to get rid of the Orbán ally. Next, they talk about the frontrunner in Bulgaria's upcoming vote — an ex-fighter jet pilot. It's the eighth election in five years and voters are hoping for the country to regain political stability. Plus, chaos has hit airports around Europe as the EU rolls out its new digital border control system. People are missing their flights and waiting in queues for hours. Has your flight travel been disturbed by this new Entry/Exit system? We want to hear from you! You can contact us on WhatsApp here or on +32 491 05 06 29. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good morning. It's Thursday the 16th of April and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.
0:12.2	The vibe in Brussels today, here we go again. You were fascinated by the hungry election last week.
0:18.8	We'll get ready to be enthralled by Bulgaria's.
0:21.7	We'll have a briefing on all you need to know in a minute or two.
0:26.2	Before that on the podcast, today we look at what the Hungary result means for the country's
0:31.3	European Commissioner Oliver Varhele. Plus travel chaos. The EU's digital entry system at its borders seems to be making
0:40.0	entry quite an ordeal. So get ready to wait and wait and wait. And I'm joined today by a person
0:47.4	you know very well, EU policy editor Sarah Wheaton. Hello, Sarah. Glad to be here with you, Ian.
0:52.5	You're not planning any travels anytime soon, are you?
0:55.0	Not after doing the research for this story. We're going to Cyprus next week for the European Council,
1:00.0	so I think we're going to have to get to the airport pretty early. We'll talk about that shortly.
1:06.6	Firstly, we'll talk about a story that you oversaw, the continuing fallout of the election in Hungary
1:13.5	and Prime Minister Viktor Orban on his way out.
1:17.5	It seems though his close ally in Brussels, the Hungarian Commissioner, the Commission of Health and Animal Welfare,
1:23.7	Oliver Verhele, won't be affected despite the changing government.
1:28.1	There's obviously been a lot of speculation about his position.
1:30.7	That's normal.
1:31.4	Peter Magyar's election changes the dynamics in Brussels.
1:34.5	But the way the EU rules work, as your reporters reported yesterday, say he can't just
1:40.5	decide to defy his country's commissioner, can he?
1:43.2	Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting.
1:44.6	Even though Magyar got up and he was like, hey, I want all of the Orbanites basically to
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