Stunning summit — EU's engine room — Ex-Swedish PM Carl Bildt

We unpack last week's extraordinary summit of EU leaders, take stock of the coronavirus situation in Europe and bring you inside the EU's "engine room." Our special guest is former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray is joined by Chief Brussels Correspondent David M. Herszenhorn to unpack last week's remarkable European Council, where emotions ran high over Hungary's new anti-LGBTQ+ measures. Leaders also held a heated discussion on relations with Russia, with Eastern Europeans blasting a last-minute proposal from Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin.

We also take stock of Europe's coronavirus situation with Chief Policy Correspondent Sarah Wheaton, as questions mount about the Delta variant and whether digital passes will allow for normality to resume soon.

Then we lift the lid on the most important EU body most Europeans have never heard of: Coreper. The committee of 27 EU ambassadors is credited with keeping the bloc's political machinery going while much of Europe went into lockdown. POLITICO's Jacopo Barigazzi joins the podcast to break down his article, "How ambassadors took over the EU."

Our special guest is former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt. The veteran statesman spoke to Sarah on the sidelines of the Globesec security conference in Bratislava about his current gig as the World Health Organization's special envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, as well as Europe's relations with Russia, the situation in Belarus and EU enlargement prospects in the Balkan region.

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