# Is Europe winning the ‘fight’? Von der Leyen’s SOTEU, one year on

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/is-europe-winning-the-fight-von-der-leyen-s-soteu-one-year-on
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/is-europe-winning-the-fight-von-der-leyen-s-soteu-one-year-on.md
Podcast: [Brussels Playbook Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322)
Published: 2026-09-11T02:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.politico.eu/podcast/brussels-playbook-podcast/
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL8802052700.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/brussels-playbook-podcast-730322/episodes/is-europe-winning-the-fight-von-der-leyen-s-soteu-one-year-on
Duration seconds: 1627

## Resource

When Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her State of the European Union speech last year, the backdrop was chaotic. Russian drones had just crossed into Polish airspace, Donald Trump was casting doubt on America’s commitment to NATO, and the Commission president herself was facing votes of no confidence. Her answer to this disarray? Europe, she said, was in a fight — and this was its “independence moment.” A year later, can we say that Europe met that moment? And is it winning the fight or losing it? To take stock of what the EU has achieved — and where it has fallen short — host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Senior EU policy editor Joanna Roberts, deputy tech editor Laurens Cerulus and Nick Vinocur, our chief foreign affairs correspondent. Plus, we want to hear from you! We have a survey out and would love to know what you like about the podcast and what we could do differently. The survey will take max five minutes — you can access it here. Otherwise, you can contact us as always via WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. This episode was produced by Dionis Sturis and Saga Ringmar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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## Transcript

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