London – ESI in “The Rest Is Politics” podcast on Trump's far-right allies in Germany

ESI’s Gerald Knaus gave a keynote talk to the Kommunikationskongress in Berlin. The event was hosted by media firm Quadriga to bring together the German-speaking communications community to discuss trends and tasks for 2026 in PR, communications, media, and politics.

In his speech, Gerald noted that Europe is at a crossroads: war, fear of migration, and the rise of authoritarian forces both within and outside the EU threaten Europe’s hard-earned peace and democracy. The far-right, anti-Europe, pro-Russian AfD now tops polls in Eastern Germany, spreading fear with identitarian narratives on uncontrolled migration.

Gerald spoke about how democratic forces in Europe can regain control of the migration debate and halt the far-right’s momentum: with migration policies based on the rule of law and a vision that inspires hope rather than fear. We already have an outline for such policies, with Gerald citing that after the EU-Turkey deal was agreed in 2016, both illegal crossings and deaths in the Mediterranean fell by up to ninety percent. Today, an agreement between the EU and the UK would be a good such starting point to demonstrate the continued potential of such ethical migration partnerships. Further, as the far-right takes to social media to spread its narratives, democratic forces too must loudly champion the successes of European integration in creating a prosperous, democratic Europe. Today’s Europe leads the world in areas such as life satisfaction and innovation – we have a success-story to tell, a story far more compelling than the nationalism and fear of our far-right opponents.

Taping the Podcast with Rory Stewart. Photo: ESI

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