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“There is a sort of doubt about freedom of expression here or protection of free speech in Europe,” says Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament.
Speaking at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, she addresses Europe’s fractured political landscape. She highlights voter demands for leaders to “act faster and with determination” in defending free speech while admitting that “Europe has not shown enough self-confidence, and these last few days have laid it bare.” As debates on democracy, censorship, and leadership intensify, Metsola reaffirms that European values remain strong. She draws a powerful parallel to Europe’s past struggles under the Iron Curtain, reminding the world that Europeans have fought for and won their freedoms before—and can do so again.
Watch the full conversation: Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?
This conversation is presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft from the 2025 Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical conversations on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
On GZERO Reports, Alex Kliment talks to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tikhanovskaya about the ongoing fight against authoritarian rule in her country. More than four years after leading mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s rigged re-election, Tikhanovskaya remains in exile, but she insists that the struggle for a free Belarus is far from over. “Despite all the brutality of the regime, despite all the difficulties, Belarusian people are not giving up,” she says.
Tikhanovskaya sees Belarus’ fate as deeply tied to Ukraine’s, arguing that the “victory of Ukraine in this war will weaken Putin’s regime and hence weaken Lukashenko’s regime.” She also warns that Lukashenko is steadily selling Belarusian sovereignty to Russia, making the country an extension of Putin’s imperial ambitions. As the world adjusts to the return of Donald Trump to the White House, she calls on the US to continue standing up for democracy, reminding Americans that their country “was always a beacon of freedom and hope for nations fighting dictatorship.”
Watch full episode: Who gets to decide Gaza's future?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
What is Trump's long-term play with apparently treating Putin like a friend rather than an adversary?
His play is to end the war in Ukraine. His play is to be seen as a great deal-maker and also a return to what we call the law of the jungle, where the most powerful countries are the ones that deserve to be at the table, and if you're not at the table you're being served for dinner. That is where I think we're going. I don't think that Secretary of State Marco Rubio wanted to be there, but he's much more... He's going to be loyal, and I think the Republican senators have pushed back hard on Gaza but not so much on this. We'll see. Certainly from Riyadh, from what we've heard from Elon, what we've heard from Trump, they are working very hard to get a full reconciliation between the United States and Russia, between Trump and Putin, irrespective of what the Europeans have to say about it. And the Ukrainians are going to be pressed very, very hard to accept the deal or be left all by themselves. We'll see how the Europeans and the Ukrainians play it, but that is what they're looking at.
How likely would the release of all remaining captives, as proposed by Hamas, actually lead to a permanent truce with Israel?
Well permanent truce with Israel implies you can agree on what governance in Gaza is going to look like. The Israelis, of course, refuse to accept a state for the Palestinians. The Israelis refuse not only for Hamas to participate in any government, not surprisingly. But, of course, also the Palestinian authority participate in government. That's very different from what the Gulf states, what the Egyptians, what the Jordanians, all America's allies, are planning to propose for Gaza. I think we can get an extended ceasefire. That ceasefire might last essentially permanently, but the Israelis would still have a buffer zone, you wouldn't be heading towards statehood, and the Israelis would reserve the right to continue to engage in selected strikes if they see targets of opportunity that they consider to be militants working with for Hamas. So that's where I think we are, but very unlikely at this point that I think you'll see a restart of the war that has been lasting for well over a year at this point. I think full-blown military incursion on the ground is now on the rear-view mirror.
Does Bolsonaro's indictment for an alleged coup plot signal tough times ahead for Brazil?
I think it does. It's very likely that Bolsonaro is going to end up imprisoned. That case is going to take a while to work through the courts. Probably won't be resolved until 2026 with all the appeals that will end up happening, but he won't be able to run again. Now you can still announce you're going to run and then pull out your candidacy at the last minute like Lula did, who served time in jail himself in the past, so this isn't completely new uncharted territory for the Brazilians. But keep in mind that if Bolsonaro is refused to be allowed to run, he is completely supported by Trump. He's completely supported by Elon Musk, and that will get stronger. The Supreme Court in Brazil is politicized and is also seen by Trump and Musk as root of all evil in Brazil, so they'll be going after that. And will that be tied to tougher tariffs on Brazil? I expect it will. So, I think Brazil is going to be in a lot of trouble here, and I think that their economy is probably going to take a hit on the back of what we're going to see politically inside Brazil and the nature of the relations with the United States. Okay, that's it for me, and I'll talk to you all real soon.
“The Taliban’s war is against women,” Fawzia Koofi, former Afghan parliamentarian and women’s rights activist, told GZERO’s Tony Maciulis on the sidelines of the 2025 Munich Security Conference.
Nearly four years since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Koofi described a country in economic collapse, political repression, and worsening humanitarian conditions. With women erased from public life and banned from education and employment, Afghanistan’s economy has suffered a $3 billion loss—all while 90% of Afghans live in poverty.
Despite international condemnations, Koofi argued that diplomatic efforts have failed to bring meaningful change. “It is naïve to believe the Taliban will reverse their edicts. Their survival depends on suppression.” Instead, she sees division within the Taliban’s ranks as a possible opening for change, provided sustained international pressure weakens the group’s control. As global leaders debate their approach, Koofi warned against engaging the Taliban without clear principles. “We don’t need to fix the Taliban. We need to fix Afghanistan.”
This interview, conducted by Tony Maciulis, is part of the Global Stage series at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft.
The growing cyber threat: Ransomware, China, and state-sponsored attacks
"Ransomware attacks surged 252% last year—hospitals, schools, and local governments are paying the price," said Brad Smith, Microsoft vice chair and president, during a Global Stage discussion at the 2025 Munich Security Conference.
Smith highlighted the evolving cybersecurity threats in 2025. While defenses have improved, China’s recent Salt Typhoon attack exposed vulnerabilities in US telecom networks, and ransomware has exploded—with over half of payments flowing to Russia and Iran. Smith warns that some of these attacks are state-sponsored or state-tolerated, calling for greater international collaboration to counter them.
Watch the full conversation here: Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?
This conversation is presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft from the 2025 Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. The Global Stage series convenes global leaders for critical conversations on the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world.
President Trump recently shocked the world by proposing that the United States take over Gaza and that displaced Gazans should be resettled elsewhere. On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour pushes back, arguing that Palestinians are deeply tied to their land and will not abandon it—even in ruins. Mansour highlights the 450,000 Palestinians who marched back to North Gaza despite the destruction, illustrating their unwavering commitment to their homeland. “We have very, very strong attachment to the land, whether it is you have a palace on it or whether it is destroyed,” he says.
Mansour also warns that efforts to encourage Palestinian relocation—whether voluntary or forced—are part of a broader strategy to erase Palestinian identity. “The Zionist movement has been working all along to push the idea that Palestine is a land without a people,” he asserts, rejecting any large-scale displacement plans. Instead, he advocates for temporary housing solutions within Gaza as reconstruction begins. This exchange is part of a larger interview that Ian Bremmer filmed with Ambassador Mansour for the latest episode of GZERO World.
Watch full episode: Who gets to decide Gaza's future?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: So much going on around the major confrontation between Russia and Ukraine. The Americans now meeting with the Russians in Riyadh while the Europeans have had an immediate emergency summit, many of them. Not all of the EU, but rather if you will, a coalition of the capable and willing in Paris yesterday.
Where is all of this going? Well, the Europeans clearly now understand that they need to come up with a deal that includes Ukraine before the Americans and Russians create some kind of grand bargain, or a deal will be made over their heads, and probably one that they are not going to be very happy with. President Zelensky of Ukraine is looking much more desperate in this environment, understanding that he is in trouble, not only because his forces are having a hard time maintaining the front lines, that's been true for a while now, but also because he is in danger of losing the United States.
The deal that was offered by Secretary of Treasury Bessent to Zelensky in Kyiv in the past days was exploitative. It was referred to by Zelensky as colonial. It would have meant 50% of development rights, exploitation rights of European resources, Ukrainian resources would go to the United States in a privately held company that the Americans would own. And that this was going to pay primarily for aid that had already been given to the Ukrainians. In other words, under the Biden administration, which is kind of unprecedented and staggering, but nonetheless was the offer. He immediately rejected it, but of course, that has led to a big rift all of a sudden between the United States and Ukraine at a time where Zelensky had been doing everything possible to say, "Yes, we know we need peace. Yes, we know we need to work with Trump. Trump is a peacemaker. We're going to engage." That is a very different position right now.
So, he is counting more on the Europeans, but can the Europeans give him anything? Well, coming out of the meeting in Paris, the answer is not so much. First of all, because Olaf Scholz, who is still chancellor for another week before the Germans have elections, said that it was premature to talk about peacekeepers. Premature? When the Americans are about to cut a deal with the Russians, it's not premature. It's way too late. So Olaf looked weak, he looked bitter, and he undermined any possible consensus. So, this meeting was a real problem.
Still, you had Macron, who was talking about the need to commit peacekeepers. You had the Brits, who wavered. They were saying they're definitely going to commit, but only if there's American backstop, which the United States wouldn't support. Poland had said, "No," because they need all of their troops in Poland, which is a sign of great weakness there and deep concern. The Baltics, the Nordics, they would certainly provide something. It is going to take time, though, and time is one thing they do not have.
We will see what comes out of the Marco Rubio meeting that he is leading his delegation in Riyadh together with a super team of major negotiators from Russia. I say super team because that's the way it's been presented on Russian state media. They have been, for the last 24 hours, extolling Trump, extolling the importance of the special presidential plane they are bringing down to Riyadh for these meetings, talking about the potential of recreating an order between the United States and Russia that is not just about Ukraine, but is about NATO containment. Is about engaging in, essentially carving up the world a sphere of influence orientation, where the Russians get a piece of the Arctic, and the Americans get a piece of the Arctic. And the Russians have their territorial ambitions codified, and the Americans have their own territorial ambitions codified. It is absolutely the antithesis of the world that the Europeans want and that frankly, the Americans had been standing for post-World War II.
Increasingly, the Europeans feel like they are fighting a two-front war, from the Russians on one side who are a direct national security threat, and the Americans who are saying that the Europeans' threat is from inside the house and that the EU is a problem, and you want people who are going to make Europe great again, like the AfD in Germany, who 80% of the Germans consider to be a neo-Nazi party. This is a crisis for the transatlantic relationship. It is a crisis for NATO. The secretary general, indeed, attending those meetings in Paris, what he has to say between the Europeans and the Americans, I'd hate to be in his position right now.
Anyway, lots happening every day. That's where we are right now, and I'll talk to you all real soon.