Eastern Europe’s future is up for grabs. Ukraine is fighting for survival—and for a place in the EU. Georgia’s protest movement faces intensifying government crackdowns, and Moldova continues to fend off relentless Russian interference. Meanwhile, energy shocks linked to the Iran conflict and Hungary’s repeated blockades inside the EU are making the region’s future even harder to predict.
In this episode, Jessica Hendrick welcomes Sophie Gueudet, research fellow at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies working on the RE-ENGAGE project and associate researcher at PeaceRep Ukraine at the London School of Economics and Political Science; and Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Ukrainian member of parliament and chair of the Parliamentary Committee on EU Integration. Sophie uses RE-ENGAGE’s four possible futures for 2035 to ask whether Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are moving closer to the EU—or slipping towards greater isolation and Russian influence. Ivanna argues that Ukraine’s European path remains its only way forward, but warns that war, political paralysis and slowing reform are putting that future under growing pressure.
Drawing on global oil price shocks, Hungarian politics, Georgian protest movements and Ukrainian wartime reforms, Jessica, Sophie and Ivanna discuss whether repeated crises are pushing Eastern Europe towards unity or fragmentation, why delayed EU decisions can weaken trust, and what happens when Brussels’ promises begin to lose credibility.
Will Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia be closer to the EU—or further inside Russia’s orbit—by 2035? Can citizen movements protect democracy when institutions fail? And how long can Europe delay before uncertainty starts changing the region’s future?
Further reading:
RE-ENGAGE research on Eastern Europe
This podcast was recorded on March 30th 2026.
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