Only a few days ago, President Donald Trump lashed out at Europe in an interview with POLITICO as a “decaying” group of countries with “weak” leaders. In public at least, it didn’t ruffle European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I have always had a very good working relationship with the presidents of the United States, and this is also the case today,” von der Leyen said in an interview at this year’s POLITICO 28 event. “From the bottom of my heart, I’m a convinced transatlanticist.” Now in her second term leading the EU’s lawmaking body, von der Leyen also acknowledged that Europe’s relationship with the United States is in flux, and not just because of Trump. “Of course, our relationship to the United States has changed. Why? Because we are changing,” she said. “And this is so important that we keep in mind: What is our position? What is our strength? Let’s work on these. Let’s take pride in that. Let’s stand up for a unified Europe.” The question of European unity is front of mind as Russia’s war on Ukraine grinds on and Trump pushes harder for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a peace deal. In her interview with POLITICO, von der Leyen emphasized the need for a “just and lasting peace” with real security guarantees. “This peace agreement should be such a solid peace agreement that it does not sow the seeds for the next conflict immediately,” she said. The Russian threat also goes beyond Ukraine, of course. How long until Europe is fully able to defend itself? “That’s a good question,” von der Leyen said. “We have not the luxury of time.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I want to start with a question very much on the minds of the people in this room: Will there be a funding agreement by next week for Ukraine to keep the fight up against Russia? We’re working intensively towards a just and lasting peace. And I emphasize “just and lasting” because this peace agreement should be such a solid peace agreement that it does not sow the seeds for the next conflict immediately. In a new interview, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discusses Russia’s war on Ukraine and Trump’s challenge to Europe. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gestures as she delivers a major state of the union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, earlier this month. Only a few days ago, President Donald Trump lashed out at Europe in an interview with POLITICO as a “decaying” group of countries with “weak” leaders. In public at least, it didn’t ruffle European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “I have always had a very good working relationship with the presidents of the United States, and this is also the case today,” von der Leyen said in an interview at this year’s POLITICO 28 event. “From the bottom of my heart, I’m a convinced transatlanticist.” Now in her second term leading the EU’s lawmaking body, von der Leyen also acknowledged that Europe’s relationship with the United States is in flux, and not just because of Trump. “Of course, our relationship to the United States has changed. Why? Because we are changing,” she said. “And this is so important that we keep in mind: What is our position? What is our strength? Let’s work on these. Let’s take pride in that. Let’s stand up for a unified Europe.” The question of European unity is front of mind as Russia’s war on Ukraine grinds on and Trump pushes harder for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a peace deal. In her interview with POLITICO, von der Leyen emphasized the need for a “just and lasting peace” with real security guarantees. “This peace agreement should be such a solid peace agreement that it does not sow the seeds for the next conflict immediately,” she said. The Russian threat also goes beyond Ukraine, of course. How long until Europe is fully able to defend itself? “That’s a good question,” von der Leyen said. “We have not the luxury of time.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I want to start with a question very much on the minds of the people in this room: Will there be a funding agreement by next week for Ukraine to keep the fight up against Russia? We’re working intensively towards a just and lasting peace. And I emphasize “just and lasting” because this peace agreement should be such a solid peace agreement that it does not sow the seeds for the next conflict immediately.

The exiled widow of Russia’s late opposition leader Alexei Navalny told POLITICO on Thursday that remaining hopeful about her home country is part of her job. “I really have big hopes for Russia,” Yulia Navalnaya said in an interview at this year’s POLITICO 28 event. “I understand that it’s very difficult moment. It’s very difficult, difficult moment for the world. It’s very difficult moment for Europe, and, of course, it’s awful time for Russia.” “But still, as I said, it’s very important for me to continue my husband’s work … He every day showed me, for many years, that never give up.” Navalnaya, who lives in exile, has become a prominent voice for anti-Kremlin Russians since the sudden and mysterious death of her husband in a prison camp north of the Arctic Circle in February 2024.  Even after Navalny’s death, Russian authorities have continued to crack down on associates of the late politician. In November, a Russian court designated Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation a “terrorist organization,” exposing anyone associated with the group to a potential life sentence. Navalnaya said Russians who opposed the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine or the country’s President Vladimir Putin were “living in fear.”  Invoking her husband’s legacy, however, she called on her fellow citizens and people elsewhere to “be resistant, to believe in their beliefs, to believe in their values.”

A minimum tax on the EU’s richest individuals will not discourage innovators and start-up founders from investing in the bloc, prominent economist Gabriel Zucman told POLITICO. “Innovation does not depend on just a tiny number of wealthy individuals paying zero tax,” Zucman said in an interview at this year’s POLITICO 28 event. The young economist has become a household name in France thanks to his proposal to have households worth more than €100 million paying an annual tax of at least 2 percent of the value of all their assets. Critics of the tax warned about the risk of scaring investors out of the EU and that tech entrepreneurs could leave the bloc as they would be forced to pay a tax based on the market value of shares they own in their companies without necessarily having the liquidity to do so. But Zucman rejected “the notion that someone […] would be discouraged to create a start-up, to innovate in AI because of the possibility that once that person is a billionaire, he or she will have to pay a tiny amount of tax” “Who can believe in that?” he scoffed. The “Zucman tax” was one of the key demands by left-wing parties for France’s budget for next year. But the measure has been ignored by all France’s short-lived prime ministers, and rejected by the French parliament during ongoing budget debates. But Zucman is not giving up and still promotes the measure, including at the EU level. “This would generate about €65 billion in tax revenue for the EU as whole,” Zucman insisted.

Check out the POLITICO 28: Class of 2026

Check out the POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, with Donald Trump as the most powerful person in Europe.

Daniel Ek’s departure as CEO of Spotify marked the end of an era for the music-streaming industry. His investment in Helsing, one of Europe’s most promising AI startups, could mark the beginning of another — this time for the continent’s defense sector.  The 42-year-old Swedish billionaire’s major injection of capital this summer into the German firm signaled both a personal pivot after two decades running Spotify and a broader shift in how Europe’s technology ambitions — and its military security — might be financed.  Founded in Munich in 2021 by former DeepMind and NATO engineers, Helsing develops battlefield simulation and reconnaissance software powered by AI. It is aiming to become a cornerstone of Europe’s effort to build homegrown defense tech after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the bloc’s dependence on U.S. weapons and surveillance systems.  In an interview with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Axel Springer (POLITICO’s parent company), Ek called venture capital a force Europe must harness to bridge the gap with the world’s superpowers and “create amazing technology and businesses in Europe.”   He’s backing that belief with serious money. In June 2025, Ek’s investment vehicle Prima Materia led a €600 million funding round in Helsing, valuing the company at roughly €12 billion. The deal — one of Europe’s largest ever in defense tech — made Helsing a symbol of the continent’s new willingness to merge private innovation with national security.  The move drew criticism from parts of the music world, alarmed by the Spotify founder’s move into the military-industrial complex. But the deal made Helsing — which Ek had already helped propel shortly after its launch in 2021 — one of Europe’s most valuable private tech firms. Now chairing Helsing’s board, Ek is overseeing its expansion into the design of drones and submarines, and its poaching of talent from legacy pan-European defense firms.   Ek frames his bet on Helsing as an investment in Europe’s technological sovereignty. “I don’t know … how the world will unfold,” he said in his interview with Döpfner. “But what we can say with great certainty … it’s very important … that we shouldn’t have to rely on anyone else to defend ourselves.”  A self-described optimist, Ek has also become a cheerleader for Europe itself. He credits the Swedish welfare state with giving him the safety net to take entrepreneurial risks and says he wants to prove that the continent can compete globally. “I’ve realized more and more … how amazing Europe is,” he said.    Check out the full POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.  

Vladimir Putin is shaping Europe from its fringes, one act of aggression at a time. Nearly four years into his full-scale assault on Ukraine, the 73-year-old Russian president has widened the battlefield — testing NATO’s defenses with hybrid assaults, drone incursions and old-fashioned fighter jets.  With U.S. President Donald Trump eager to wash his hands of the conflict, Putin has pushed deep into Western Europe, testing the nerves of governments and voters unaccustomed to military threats. Drones, suspected to be of Russian origin, have shut down airports in Copenhagen and Oslo and buzzed over military facilities in Germany. France has accused Moscow of orchestrating political destabilization campaigns inside its borders.  Putin has been Europe’s chief disruptor for more than a decade. A former KGB officer who rose to power amid the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, he has defined his rule through confrontation with the West — from the invasion of parts of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 to his full-scale assault on Ukraine in 2022. Each step has pushed Europe to rethink its security, economy and political unity, and each crisis has left Putin more deeply entrenched in power at home.  Today, Putin is under unaccustomed pressure. Sanctions and the cost of war are weighing on the country’s finances and Ukraine has proved itself capable of striking deep into Russian territory. But his incursions have nonetheless sent shivers down the spines of European leaders, who are scrambling to find their way in a world in which they may no longer be able to count on Washington to come to their defense.  Concerns about Russian aggression have driven Europe to rearm, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz breaking decades-old taboos about military spending. Even the continent’s military powerhouses, like France and the United Kingdom, are scrambling to rethink billions of euros in industrial and military investment as they realize that fighter jets and nuclear arsenals are ill-suited for countering Moscow’s low-grade asymmetric attacks and acts of hybrid warfare.   The question for NATO and the European Union is: Will Putin’s pressure ultimately make these alliances stronger? Or will the Russian president succeed in shattering the foundations on which they were built? Either way, Putin has already achieved part of his aim: throwing Europe off balance and making it clear he’s the one person nobody on the continent can ignore.    Check out the full POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.  

Alexander Stubb has worked hard to be Donald Trump’s best pal in Europe. A seasoned expert in foreign policy and EU affairs, the Finnish president, 57, has drawn on his diplomatic experience to carve out an informal role as Europe’s envoy to Mar-a-Lago — and Trump’s interpreter to the continent. A former triathlete and tireless political schmoozer, Stubb has even taken to the links to bond with the U.S. president over their shared pastime: golf.  His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Stubb personally over the summer for helping “build a connection” with Trump. And when Europe’s top leaders rushed to Washington last summer after a Trump-Vladimir Putin summit in Alaska largely seen as a win for the Russian leader, Stubb was there too — seated alongside the heads of the EU’s biggest countries and NATO’s secretary-general.  Stubb’s outreach comes at a pivotal moment for his country. Elected president in early 2024, he took office just as Finland joined NATO and found itself on the alliance’s front line with Russia. That frontline reality sets him apart from other self-styled Trump whisperers. As president, Stubb is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces as well as its head of foreign policy. Finland’s president has also traditionally played the role of intermediary between East and West, with his predecessor Sauli Niinistö speaking to Putin. Stubb has taken a different path, however, not publicly engaging with the Russians.   A former prime minister and veteran of Brussels politics, Stubb blends Eurocratic polish with Nordic pragmatism — and he knows that, for Finland, keeping Trump engaged in Europe’s defense is a matter of survival. Stubb has an existential stake in keeping the American president engaged: Finland shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia. He’s also played advocate for Trump in Europe, reassuring skeptical leaders that the U.S. president is prepared to wield the “stick” against Putin.  His interactions with Trump are lower on theatrics and higher on substance than those of the U.S. president’s other European “friends” who have often failed to secure anything of tangible value. Stubb’s mediation hasn’t spared Kyiv from disappointment: Ukraine still hasn’t secured Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Trump’s new promises to swiftly end the war have again proven hollow. And yet there’s no denying that Stubb has secured an outsized influence for his country in Washington and Europe, even getting a deal to supply the U.S. government with 11 Finnish-built icebreaker ships.    Check out the full POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.  

At a moment when Europe is scrambling to regain control over the technologies shaping the 21st century, Alexandra Geese has emerged as one of the European Parliament’s most influential digital voices. The German-born, Italy-steeped lawmaker sits at the heart of the institution’s tech engine room, serving on the industry and internal market committees and on the delegation handling relations with the United States. She is also one of the original architects of EuroStack, the EU’s emerging bid to reduce reliance on foreign platforms.  She couldn’t be better positioned. Brussels is pushing a strategic detox from U.S. tech it now sees as a security and stability risk — a shift Geese, 57, has long championed. A former interpreter, she flies the Greens’ flag on tech and helped shape the EU’s recent wave of digital regulation, including the Digital Services Act, which drew the ire of Washington’s MAGA movement and tech moguls like Elon Musk.  Geese is now pressing the European Commission to hold the line, fighting efforts to scale back the current digital rulebook and weaken enforcement. With a reputation for unflinching advocacy — she was writing protest letters to the German chancellor at age 7 — Europe’s tech giants, and America’s, will struggle to ignore her.    Check out the full 10 to Watch list, the POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

As Europe grapples with Donald Trump’s turbocharged return to the world stage, Kaja Kallas, 48, has emerged as the continent’s unofficial truth-teller. Where others hedge or equivocate, the European Union’s top foreign policy official is unafraid — to a fault, her critics say — to puncture diplomatic platitudes and call things as she sees them.  For the former Estonian prime minister, who was born under Soviet rule to a family that had suffered deportations to Siberia, Europe’s alliance with the United States is vital, but only as long as it remains reliable. Overdependence, she has warned, is a vulnerability. “We are trying to have more friends around the world,” she told a journalist in September. “I must say that considering the big picture and the behavior of the world’s superpowers, we are increasingly more popular.”  When Trump accused Europe of lagging on Ukraine aid in the early days of his second term, Kallas pushed back, pointing out that the EU has outspent the U.S. in support for Kyiv. Rather than wilt under the U.S. president’s glare as other leaders have done, she accused him of “appeasement” toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.   Before arriving in Brussels, Kallas spent three years as Estonia’s prime minister, steering her small Baltic country through the shocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In European summits, she built a reputation as one the continent’s clearest voices on Russia — uncompromising, impatient and often right. While her approach ruffled feathers, including those of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it raised her profile enough to convince her fellow leaders to make her the face of Europe’s collective foreign policy.  These days, Kallas’ straight talk isn’t always appreciated by her 28 bosses. As the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, she is meant to speak for the bloc’s 27 national governments, including Putin-friendly leaders like Viktor Orbán and others who’d prefer she adopt a softer tone. She has also knocked heads with her immediate superior, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Her bid to recruit the controversial EU affairs veteran Martin Selmayr as her right-hand man was knocked down after objections from von der Leyen’s inner circle.  Kallas, for her part, has indicated she has no intention of being reined in. As the first former head of government to hold the position, she brushed back criticism from her predecessor Josep Borrell after the former Spanish foreign minister criticized the EU for doing too little about Gaza. “Nothing happened with Borrell,” she told journalists. “We managed to get humanitarian aid to Gaza.” Whether her bluntness proves a liability or a new model for European diplomacy will define her tenure — and perhaps the EU’s voice in a harsher world.    Check out the full POLITICO 28: Class of 2026, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.