Politico's Eu Confidential

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging Europe to find a way around Hungary. In an interview with POLITICO’s Gordon Repinski, Zelenskyy called on EU leaders to come up with a “Plan B” to secure Ukraine’s long-term funding — and to work around what he described as the “blackmail” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is holding up a promised €90 billion EU loan (listen to full interview here). Host Zoya Sheftalovich and policy editor Sarah Wheaton break down the tensions inside the EU and what options Europe may have if Hungary continues to block support for Kyiv, as Orbán has repeatedly complicated EU decisions on Ukraine. Also on the podcast: The EU is moving toward banning AI “nudification” tools after a scandal involving Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot showed how easily AI can generate sexualized deepfakes of real people. Plus: Eurovision politics. Belgian artists and activists are planning an alternative music event during Eurovision week to protest Israel’s participation in the contest. I