Jourová’s secrets and Putin’s drone tests

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From rule of law battles to inside stories, Věra Jourová looks back on a decade in the Berlaymont. The former European Commission vice president recalls her clashes and alliances in Brussels — from sparring with Frans Timmermans to discovering that Thierry Breton never laughed at her jokes. Now back in Prague as vice rector of Charles University and adviser to President Petr Pavel, she reflects on Czech politics, Europe’s future, and life after stepping back from frontline politics. She has also published a book with Viktor Daněk: “Bohové, mlíkař a já.” Plus: Vladimir Putin’s drone incursions over Poland and Romania — cheap plywood craft with costly consequences. Host Sarah Wheaton asks what they revealed about NATO’s readiness, Europe’s unity, and Donald Trump’s hesitation, with Oana Lungescu, distinguished fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and former NATO spokesperson; Jan Cienski, POLITICO’s defense editor; and Eva Hartog, POLITICO’s Russia expert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:45.5	When I wake up in the morning, I open Politico.
0:48.9	And the reaction is, what, I am not there?
0:51.9	Half a minute of frustration.
0:54.0	Then, oh my God, that's great, I am not there? Half a minute of frustration. Then, oh my God, that's great, I am not there.
0:59.0	That's former Commission Vice President Vera Yirova, describing her mornings without the daily
1:04.2	grind of politics. As with kicking any addiction, it's part withdrawal symptoms, part relief.
1:13.5	We'll hear more from her later in the show.
1:21.8	First, though, to someone who isn't giving up his habit of testing the West. Vladimir Putin.
1:30.0	A handful of cheap Russian drones crossed into NATO skies, first over Poland, then Romania.
1:36.5	Airports shut down, fighter jets scrambled, and emergency meetings were called in Warsaw, Brussels, and even New York. Headlines warned it was the gravest escalation that EU countries have
1:42.2	faced since World War II.
1:50.0	It was just a little taste of what Putin has been serving Ukrainians almost daily.
	...

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