The podcast-series "Voices for Europe" is a series of interviews. It gives researchers from all over Europe a voice. We exchange views from different countries, talk about background specifics, and try to give an honest assessment of the state of the EU. In this episode Maija Setälä from Turku/Finland explains the political situation in Finland such as growing animosity between the right and the left wing parties, geopolitical factors like the proximity to Russia and the effects of climate change. Maija Setälä is a professor of Political Science at the University of Turku/Finland. In her research she specializes in democratic theories, especially theories of deliberative democracy, political trust, as well as various types of democratic innovations such as citizens' initiatives and deliberative mini-publics. She has published widely on these topics. An further focus of her research is future-regarding policy-making, which was the topic of the recent co-edited book Democracy and the Future (Michael MacKenzie, Maija Setälä and Simo Kyllönen (eds), Edinburgh University Press 2023). In the recent and ongoing research projects FACTOR, FLAIRE and SINCRONY, her interests are in the role of citizen deliberation in climate and energy transitions and issues of inclusion in deliberative forums. In the future, Her plans include an increasing focus on the prospects and pitfalls of AI in citizen participation and deliberation.