‘Europe has to Give Up Its Freudian Denial About What’s Happening in the United States and Mobilise’

Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an award-winning journalist who left the United States after the re-election of Donald Trump last November, speaks to European intellectual historian Marci Shore on where Europe finds itself amid the aggression of Vladimir Putin

HSC: As I travel through Europe, there seems to be a disconcerting lack of awareness about Russia’s war in Ukraine, even though its outcome will directly impact Europe’s future. How do you see this?

MS: Heidi, you’re traveling mostly in western Europe. I’m traveling mostly in east-central Europe, and am currently in Lithuania, where the war does feel very present. Lithuanians, while not panicked per se, are preparing for war. This is true in Poland as well, and from what my colleagues there tell me, I sense also in Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

Are European leaders finally moving in a more united direction to combat Russian aggression? Are they doing enough?