It is time for Budapest to move to Russia, with Maria Mikaelyan — architect, activist, and co-founder of the Community of Free Russians in Italy, and one of the voices challenging Vladimir Putin's regime from exile.

We start from a straightforward question: can you fight an autocracy from abroad?

For Maria, the answer came at a personal cost. Supporting Alexei Navalny's movement, opposing the war in Ukraine, and refusing to remain silent gradually transformed her from an ordinary citizen into an enemy of the state. As repression intensified, exile became not a choice but a necessity, also to protect her loved ones.

Keeping in mind the price that individuals pay when authoritarianism turns disagreement into betrayal, we discussed the legacy of the Soviet Union and the resurgence of repression which turned the Russian Federation into a regime of police surveillance.

This is the story of nostalgia for the enduring appeal of empire, which normalised the limitation of the basic rights affecting citizens' daily lives, let alone those of the soldiers sent to fight an unfair, useless war in Ukraine.

Exhaustion is spreading, and economic pressures are mounting. As Maria recalls, the consensus that once appeared solid may be less stable than it seems.

And sometimes, resistance begins simply by refusing to forget.

In this episode:
∙ The loneliness of life in exile
∙ Why Navalny became the symbol of a generation
∙ The nostalgia for the Soviet Union and the myth of empire
∙ How Russia became a police state
∙ Pro-Putin narratives beyond Russia's borders
∙ Surveillance, fear, and everyday life inside the Federation
∙ Ukraine's right to sovereignty and self-determination
∙ Why understanding history matters more than ever

With reason, not rage.

Timestamps:
1:45 – Frontiers are flexible
3:50 – The Armenians no longer trust the Kremlin
8:00 – Navalny's legacy
12:00 – Russians did not have their 1968
15:00 – When protests became dangerous
17:45 – They made an enemy of me
21:20 – The nostalgia for the Soviet Union
25:00 – Moving within Russia: what you need to know
30:45 – The beginning of the police regime
35:00 – The solitude of living in exile
39:00 – The Ukrainian land belongs to Ukrainian people
45:00 – Even war supporters are exhausted
48:00 – The economic struggle is affecting consent
51:40 – Pro-Putin Italians can be nasty
56:55 – First of all, study history

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto
Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano
Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo
Visual identity: Martina Santurri
Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

For this episode of Budapest, I am joined by Sandro Gozi, Member of the European Parliament for Renew Europe, Secretary General of the European Democratic Party, and President of the Union of European Federalists — and one of the most convinced and articulate Europeanists I know.

We begin in Belgrade, where students have taken to the streets against Aleksandar Vučić's increasingly authoritarian rule. It shows how the line between liberal democracy and autocratic drift can be easily crossed when institutions are weakened and dissent is treated as a threat. And the reason why we cannot avert our gaze is that the European Union is not an exclusive club.

From Serbia, the conversation moves to France, where political fragmentation, rising extremism and institutional tensions are reshaping the country's future. But the challenge is not only internal. Russia's threat to European security is real. Donald Trump's return has exposed Europe's strategic vulnerabilities. And when democracies allow those who reject democratic rules to exploit democratic institutions, they risk nurturing their own enemies.

But democracy is not an eternal gift. It survives only if citizens are willing to defend it.

With reason, not rage.

In this episode:

• The Serbian student movement and the challenge to Vučić
• The Western Balkans, between European promises and autocratic drift
• Is Paris burning? Le Pen, Mélenchon and the fragmentation of the French Republic
• The boomerang effect: when democracy tolerates the intolerant
• Europe exposed: from Putin's threats to Trump's strategic blackmail
• Liaisons dangereuses: the unstable axis between Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni
• The rights connected to European citizenship
• The importance of digital sovereignty

Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

1:50 – Look at Belgrade

3:20 – Serbia and the Balkans can make the difference for the EU

6:00 – The right as a European citizen that you did not know you had

12:10 – The reasons behind the French instability

20:00 – We already know the outcome of the French elections

27:25 – The Russian threat to our security is a matter of fact

29:30 – The boomerang effect: tolerating the intolerant

36:30 – The EU Commission is not standing up to the Trump administration

40:00 – Money, sovereignty and the need for an EU digital strategy

42:45 – Emmanuel and Giorgia: les liaisons dangereuses

48:25 – Democracy is not an eternal gift

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

For this episode of Budapest, I am joined by Cas Mudde — distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia and one of the world's foremost scholars of the far right and populism, whose work spans European politics, the radical right, and the unexpected connection between soccer and politics.

Budapest, as he reminds us, is not just a city: it is in ourselves. The line between liberal and illiberal democracy is not as sharp as we would like to believe — and that is precisely what makes it so dangerous. For decades, he argues, the Left misdiagnosed the far right, focusing on the actors rather than the policies. Meanwhile the far right radicalised, and the centre shifted to the right.

From Germany's "militant democracy" to the health of US democracy, we trace the return of ideology within the three-dimensional politics of today. Because politics, as Mudde insists, is not just about solving problems — it is about deciding what counts as a problem in the first place.

In this episode:

• How the left misdiagnosed the far right
• The surveillance state
• Germany's militant democracy
• The Biden lesson on accountability
• Rural provinces and the geography of US politics
• Plutocracy and the far right: a relationship we need to address
• The return of ideology in three-dimensional politics
• Mamdani, Sanders, and the class argument

With reason, not rage.

Timestamps

1:21 – Georgia is like Budapest

2:40 – We live in a surveillance state

4:45 – The example of the German "militant" democracy

8:40 – The left has misdiagnosed the far right

13:03 – Is the EU a happy island?

17:00 – Hungary is a unique case — and the Meloni model is spreading

19:15 – The far right doesn't moderate: it's the mainstream that radicalises

23:00 – There is always someone to your right

26:30 – Orbán accepted defeat. Trump did not.

35:00 – You need to be in the rural provinces to win US elections

38:50 – There is no single way out of the far right backlash

43:40 – Plutocracy and the far right: the relationship we need to address

47:00 – The class argument

50:00 – What is the centre in today's three-dimensional politics?

54:00 – We should not fear ideology

58:00 – Biden's lesson on accountability

1:05:00 – Have awkward conversations with people who are close to you

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

Catherine Fieschi has spent years studying one of the defining political forces of our time: populism. Founder of Counterpoint, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, and fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, she is among the sharpest observers of how democracies are challenged from within.

In this episode, we explore why populism should not be dismissed as anger, protest, or political style, but understood as a serious ideology built around majoritarianism, anti-elitism, and distrust of institutions. From the judiciary to the press, from elections to parliaments, Fieschi explains how populists reshape democratic systems while claiming to speak directly for "the people."

At the centre of the conversation is what she calls "ju-jitsu politics": populists win because they turn democratic tools against democracy itself. They use freedom of the press and social media to sell compelling stories — and that is what we ought to learn to do too.

The deeper challenge is a cultural one. And we can save democracy even by joining a choir.

With reason, not rage.

In this episode:

Why populism is an ideology, not just a style

The populist playbook and ju-jitsu politics

Why populists tell better stories

The limits of popular sovereignty

What citizens — not just "the people" — can do

Timestamps

1:15 Watch the French elections in 2027

2:45 Populism is an ideology, so take it seriously

5:45 Illiberal populists are nostalgic

8:00 The three steps in the populist playbook

9:50 What is ju-jitsu politics

12:15 The Parliament is not a TV show

15:45 The populists tell good stories

17:20 Mamdani's authenticity took it all

18:50 The limits of popular sovereignty

23:10 We are citizens, not just people

26:00 What is the way of life you really want?

29:30 The Netherlands as a laboratory

35:45 Populism is a self-fulfilling prophecy

38:00 The Conte 1 Government

41:00 Meloni has delivered nothing beyond stability

43:55 Trump is the ju-jitsu champion

47:00 "They stole my election"

49:20 Use your social media as a citizen

51:15 Build ties with those who are different from you / Join that choir!

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

Greg Hands has been involved in British politics and public life for over 30 years. He served as Member of Parliament for Chelsea and Fulham from 2005 to 2024 and held several key government roles, including Minister for the Budget, Energy, and Trade, as well as Chairman of the Conservative Party.

Brexit, he argues, definitively broke a taboo: a country as deeply tied to the European Union as the United Kingdom — in its legal frameworks, its trade, its daily life — chose to leave. And that choice came with a price.

In this episode, Hands explains how the British people experienced the referendum, the real role played by Nigel Farage in the Leave campaign, and the consequences of that decision — not only economic, but above all political. And he leaves us with an uncomfortable question: even if we disagree with Brexit, would we be ready to rejoin the EU under today's circumstances?

With reason, not rage.

In this episode:

• Eastern Europe and the legacy of the Wall
• Between Conservatives and Labour: an overview of the British electoral system
• Brexit and its legacy
• UK and EU: a future of cooperation?
• The Green Party and an overly broad coalition

Timestamps

1:50 1986–2026: the Hungarian parable

4:30 Nationalism in Eastern Europe

7:30 Margaret Thatcher would have liked Brexit?

12:00 Brexit broke a taboo

15:30 Nigel Farage is superficially popular

19:00 Would the UK rejoin the EU?

23:00 How far Brexit can go

26:40 The legacy of Brexit on trade agreements

31:30 The political impact of the referendum

35:00 An insight into the British electoral system

41:20 The UK Green Party's coalition is perhaps too broad

47:00 Risks of polarization in the UK political spectrum

49:30 You may not like the alternative to liberal democracy

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

For the sixth episode of Budapest, I was joined by Thomas Carothers — senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and one of the world's leading scholars of democratic backsliding and democracy promotion.

From the United States to Poland, autocracies don't rise by chance — they follow a playbook. Together with Thomas, we explore how that playbook deploys, how to recognise it before it's too late, and why a solid system of checks and balances remains democracy's most reliable defence.

European democracies are under pressure too: from the economic fragility of the middle class, and from a failure to make the case for what immigration actually brings.

Yet Carothers reminds us that democracy is an ongoing process — and there is always time to challenge our own way of thinking.

In this episode:

∙ The pressures on Western democracies

∙ The legacy of Donald Trump's presidency on the US system

∙ Immigration and diversity: challenges or resources for democracies?

∙ How the autocratic playbook works

With reason, not rage.

Timestamps

1:05 – Elections in Hungary matter for the EU

4:40 – The turning point in American politics

10:00 – The legacy of Trump's presidency

16:00 – Building democracy is a cultural process

18:50 – Why the autocratic playbook spread

22:20 – The anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda

25:40 – Weaknesses in Western Europe

30:50 – All the reasons why we need immigration

33:40 – The Polish case and the role of the judiciary

37:30 – Democracy can always get back

41:00 – Get out of your bubble

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Catherine De Vries is Vice Dean and Professor of Political Science at IE University, where she specialises in far-right politics, populism, and European public opinion.

De Vries brings a scholar's rigour and a rare gift for connecting theory to everyday life. The far right succeeds not by solving problems, but by being seen to take them seriously. Politics, she argues, is not only about facts — it is about emotion. If liberal democracy fails to recognise this, it will keep losing ground to forces that offer recognition over solutions.

The conversation moves from the Netherlands — a country at the heart of the European Union — to the broader crisis of European legitimacy. De Vries argues that the EU has the potential to navigate the current international chaos, but only if it learns to reconnect with the citizens it has lost.

In this episode:

- The Dutch case and a very personal story

- Why the far right wins

- Immigration as a false problem

- How the EU can survive in a hostile environment

With reason, not rage.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:32 Budapest is everywhere — even in small cities

03:00 A personal story of resistance and anger

05:22 JD Vance sees the symptoms, not the cause

07:45 How the far right rose in the Netherlands

11:30 The state is not delivering for people — and it's not just about money

16:00 Is immigration really a far-right issue?

22:00 Politics is emotion, not just fact

24:00 What is the perception of the EU right now?

29:00 What effective sovereignty for member states means

32:35 How Europe can survive Euroscepticism

35:00 Donald Trump is hostile to the EU — and he is not the only one

42:30 The Green Deal's real impact

44:20 Healthy political debate can save democracy

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua

For the fourth episode of Budapest, I was joined by Marika Mikiashvili — lecturer at Alte University in Tbilisi, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Droa, part of the Coalition for Change, Georgia's largest democratic alliance.

Georgia sits at a strategic crossroads in the South Caucasus — and its ruling party, Georgian Dream, has been steadily opening the door to Russian influence. How does a government build legitimacy on electoral fraud and war propaganda? Together with Marika, we explore the Georgian crisis: a hypercentralized state where the billionaire oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is pulling his country away from Europe — and toward the Kremlin.

If you want to support the struggle for democracy and freedom of the Georgian people, donate at georgiaprotest.com

In this episode:

∙ The South Caucasus in the international chessboard

∙ The true face of Georgian Dream

∙ The 2024 electoral fraud

∙ Political prisoners and chemical weapons

∙ The Russian Trojan horse

∙ What the European Union can do for the Georgian people

With reason, not rage.

Timestamps

1:03 – What is your Budapest? The Caucasus dilemma

4:30 – The true face of Georgian Dream and the power of false narratives

9:10 – Elections in 2024: the fraud

17:30 – A year of protest: the regime versus the population in a limbo

22:30 – Too many political prisoners in Georgia

28:40 – Chemical weapons on the population

29:30 – Who is the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili

32:00 – How a hypercentralized, feudal State controls your life

35:00 – Georgia: the Russian Trojan horse

39:00 – The global power of narrative on war and morality

44:45 – A call for European leaders

52:00 – Four actions to support democracy in Georgia

Author and host: Ivan Scalfarotto

Editor and social media: Ludovica Taurisano

Graphic designer: Paola De Bartolo

Visual identity: Martina Santurri

Sound designer: Enrico Cabua