Amid what is happening in the Middle East, it is easy to forget that on September 30th, an election took place that could affect the EU's political and military direction in the coming years.

In this episode, researcher Margot Cassiers takes a deep dive into the Slovak election results with Martin Hílek, the Brussels correspondent of the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS. Martin explains the victory of Robert Fico and why the general attitude in Slovakia towards neighbouring country Ukraine seems to have shifted.

Martin also talks about how Slovakia became a test case for AI generated misinformation in election campaigns, why he didn’t actually want to become a Brussels correspondent and how more positive news coverage could benefit us all.

David Boati of the Swedish public broadcaster SVT came to our studio in his final week as Brussels correspondent.

David and Margot talked about his three years in Brussels and how both Sweden and Europe have changed since he started.

David discussed everything from starting out as an actor, to becoming a journalist and which stories have moved him the most.

We are a little less than a year away from the European elections, which will take place from 6 to 9 June 2024.

The European elections have a bit of bad reputation, with a recurring reproach being that they are untransparent or even undemocratic.

Today's fact-check looks into that very question - are the European elections democratic? Headline’s Researchers Liesa Pauwels and Margot Cassiers will discuss what the European elections are actually about and how they work.