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The EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, despite earlier efforts from Hungary to block th...
05/07/2024

The EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, despite earlier efforts from Hungary to block the move. “Ukraine is and will always be part of a united Europe,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Reading Time: 3 minutes The EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine on 25 June. The agreement of the EU’s 27 members was secured the previous week, despite efforts from Hungary to block the move. “These are truly historic moments. Ukraine is and will always be part of ...

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, ex-Czech PM Andrej Babis and Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl unveiled their “Patr...
05/07/2024

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, ex-Czech PM Andrej Babis and Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl unveiled their “Patriots’ Manifesto for Europe” and invited other right-wing parties to join their new European political grouping.

Reading Time: 4 minutes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Austria’s Freedom Party FPO leader Herbert Kickl and ANO party leader and former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis declared a “new era” as they announced a European Parliament political alliance named Patriots for Europe at a joint...

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been nominated to succeed Spain’s Josep Borrell as the EU’s foreign policy chief...
05/07/2024

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been nominated to succeed Spain’s Josep Borrell as the EU’s foreign policy chief.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was nominated on Friday, 28 June as the EU’s foreign policy chief (High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy), subject to agreement from the European Commission (EC) president.  Kallas will succeed Spain’...

CEE is increasingly key to manufacturing in the EU, according to a new report. State aid rules have been relaxed, enabli...
05/07/2024

CEE is increasingly key to manufacturing in the EU, according to a new report. State aid rules have been relaxed, enabling EU governments to incentivise investment more easily, the report notes.

Reading Time: 4 minutes Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is becoming increasingly vital to the EU’s manufacturing landscape, the German Marshall Fund of the United States writes in a new report entitled “Rethinking Industrial Policy for Central and Eastern Europe”.  Current industrial policie...

Serbia is mulling a u-turn on global mining group Rio Tinto’s controversial plans to create Europe’s largest lithium min...
05/07/2024

Serbia is mulling a u-turn on global mining group Rio Tinto’s controversial plans to create Europe’s largest lithium mine, which were shelved two years ago.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Serbia has said it is looking to give global mining group Rio Tinto the go ahead to create Europe’s largest lithium mine two years after Belgrade shelved the project following huge environmental protests.   President Aleksandar Vucic told UK daily the Financial Times that...

Romanian traders must offer customers the possibility of paying with credit and debit cards under new regulations. Over ...
05/07/2024

Romanian traders must offer customers the possibility of paying with credit and debit cards under new regulations. Over 21mn cards are active in the country, according to the National Bank of Romania.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Romanian companies are now obliged to offer customers the possibility to pay for purchased goods and services with credit and debit cards, under new regulations, effective Sunday, June 16. The law does not yet specify that a merchant must have a point of sale (POS) payment m...

Hungarian EU Minister Janos Boka said the Hungarian presidency will focus on competitiveness and ensuring the long-term ...
05/07/2024

Hungarian EU Minister Janos Boka said the Hungarian presidency will focus on competitiveness and ensuring the long-term competitiveness of the bloc.

Reading Time: 5 minutes Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on Monday, 1 July with the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” a nod to the populist and nationalist politics of Donald Trump, who will run for US president again in November, during Hungary...

CEE’s start-up scene secured USD 11.8bn in Q1, bucking the negative global trend in investor funding. Key industries wer...
05/07/2024

CEE’s start-up scene secured USD 11.8bn in Q1, bucking the negative global trend in investor funding. Key industries were AI, fintech, healthcare, energy, SaaS, enterprise software, and cloud services.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite an overall downturn, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) start-up scene showed resilience in the first quarter of 2024, when it secured USD 11.8bn in investor funding. AI continues to attract significant interest, representing about 17% of global funding. Other key...

Hungary will not take part in foreign military actions, nor send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Vi...
05/07/2024

Hungary will not take part in foreign military actions, nor send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Hungary will not be obliged to participate in military actions outside its territory or send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Budapest on Wednesday, 12 June, ahead of the treaty or...

Centre-right GERB beat the pro-Western We Continue the Change (PP) in the recent local elections. In Romania, the Social...
20/06/2024

Centre-right GERB beat the pro-Western We Continue the Change (PP) in the recent local elections. In Romania, the Social Democratic Party and centre-right National Liberal Party performed strongly.

Reading Time: 2 minutes One-third of the EU-27 member states held local or national elections in tandem with the European Parliament ballot on June 6-9. Of these, three were countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Romania’s June 9 local elections saw 41 county coun...

Korea’s Daewoo and numerous Czech companies have signed MOUs in connection with its tender for a nuclear power plant in ...
20/06/2024

Korea’s Daewoo and numerous Czech companies have signed MOUs in connection with its tender for a nuclear power plant in Dukovany, south Czechia. Daewoo also met local officials in Dukovany.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Czech companies signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in connection with Korea’s Daewoo concerning the construction tender for a nuclear power plant in Dukovany, south Czechia, on Monday, 27 May.  Daewoo Engineering & Construction (E&C) President Baek Jung-wan made th...

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony retained his post at the recent election, the Hungarian National Election Committee (NV...
20/06/2024

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony retained his post at the recent election, the Hungarian National Election Committee (NVB) confirmed after it carried out a recount of invalid votes.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony retained his post at last Sunday’s election, the Hungarian National Election Committee (NVB) confirmed on Friday evening after a recount of invalid votes. Last weekend the Hungarian capital’s liberal incumbent mayor received 371,466 votes,...

The European Commission has provisionally concluded that the battery electric vehicles value chain in China "benefits fr...
20/06/2024

The European Commission has provisionally concluded that the battery electric vehicles value chain in China "benefits from unfair subsidisation".

Reading Time: 2 minutes The European Commission (EC) published a draft package on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) imported from China, including tariffs of between 17.4% and 38.1% on manufacturers, in addition to the 10% they already pay, on Wednesday, 12 June. The EC wrote that it has “provision...

Hungary will not be obliged to send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met ...
20/06/2024

Hungary will not be obliged to send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said he had been assured Hungary would not oppose these efforts.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Hungary will not be obliged to participate in military actions outside its territory or send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Budapest on Wednesday, 12 June, ahead of the treaty or...

CEE’s start-up sector bucked the negative global trend in Q1, as it secured around USD 11.8bn in investor funding. AI re...
20/06/2024

CEE’s start-up sector bucked the negative global trend in Q1, as it secured around USD 11.8bn in investor funding. AI represented some 17% of global VC funding in the first quarter.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite an overall downturn, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) start-up scene showed resilience in the first quarter of 2024, when it secured USD 11.8bn in investor funding. AI continues to attract significant interest, representing about 17% of global funding. Other key...

Hungarian state-owned MVM Group’s 5% new stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas field will secure “a much more stable and s...
20/06/2024

Hungarian state-owned MVM Group’s 5% new stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas field will secure “a much more stable and secure energy supply”, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Hungary’s state-owned MVM Group has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to acquire a 5% stake in the Shah Deniz natural gas field. The acquisition will propel Hungary’s gas security into a “new dimension,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a joint pre...

Pro-European centrist parties performed well in CEE at the European elections, in contrast to further west, where far-ri...
20/06/2024

Pro-European centrist parties performed well in CEE at the European elections, in contrast to further west, where far-right parties surged.

Reading Time: 4 minutes Pro-European centrist parties performed well in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) at the European Parliament (EP) elections held from 6-9 June, in contrast to elsewhere on the continent, where far-right parties surged. Tusk consolidates lead in Poland In Poland, the Civic Coal...

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party suffered a shock defeat to the opposition liberal party Progressive Slova...
20/06/2024

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer party suffered a shock defeat to the opposition liberal party Progressive Slovakia in the EU elections.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico faced an unexpected setback in the EU elections against the opposition liberals on Sunday, following a recent assassination attempt that left him severely wounded, according to his party. An opponent of military assistance to Ukraine in...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised support on energy and defence for Moldova when he met with Moldovan Presid...
20/06/2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised support on energy and defence for Moldova when he met with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau.

Reading Time: 2 minutes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Chisinau, Moldova and Prague, Czechia, from May 28-31, to discuss energy, defence and the NATO summit in Washington DC scheduled for early July. In Chisinau, Blinken met with Moldovan President Maia Sandu to show support for t...

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were among the signatories of a letter of concern to the Georgian Parliamentary Chairman H...
27/05/2024

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were among the signatories of a letter of concern to the Georgian Parliamentary Chairman H.E. Shalva Papuashvili, who recently accused their foreign ministers of attempting to overthrow the country’s government.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) made up five of the seven signatories states of a letter expressing concern over recent developments in Georgia to its Parliamentary Chairman H.E. Shalva Papuashvili sent on Friday, 24 May. In recent months, Georgia has witnesse...

Skoda Group is to deliver a EUR 133mn order for RegioJet, CEE’s largest private railway carrier, of trains for suburban ...
27/05/2024

Skoda Group is to deliver a EUR 133mn order for RegioJet, CEE’s largest private railway carrier, of trains for suburban and regional services in north Czechia over a 15-year period.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Skoda Group is to deliver 23 low-floor EMU electric trains to Czechia in a EUR 133mn order that it said will “substantially enhance both service quality and capacity”. RegioJet, the largest private railway carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, will use the trains on sub...

The Romanian gov’t and national chemicals body Romchimica have signed a letter of intent on the energy transition. The c...
27/05/2024

The Romanian gov’t and national chemicals body Romchimica have signed a letter of intent on the energy transition. The chemical industry in Romania consists of around 2,350 firms and some 22,000 employees.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Romanian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Stefan-Radu Oprea and Romanian Chemical Industry Association Romchimica signed a letter of intent regarding joint efforts in the country’s energy transition on Friday, May 17. The document will form the basis of col...

Poland will invest EUR 2.35bn in a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications and land...
27/05/2024

Poland will invest EUR 2.35bn in a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications and landscaping that will make the border impenetrable for a potential enemy.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Poland will invest PLN 10bn (EUR 2.35bn) in securing its eastern border against the rising threat of Russia and Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday, 18 May. Tusk said Poland is “starting a major project to build a secure border, including a system of...

Slovakia’s head of state and president-elect called for calm in the wake of the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Mi...
27/05/2024

Slovakia’s head of state and president-elect called for calm in the wake of the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. “Please don’t be carried away by negative emotions,” Peter Pellegrini said.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Slovakia’s head of state and president-elect jointly called for calm in the wake of the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday 15 May.  Fico was shot five times by Juraj Cintula in Handlova, central Slovakia, on Wednesday, at 2:30 pm, in t...

Romania and Serbia may build a third hydroelectric power plant at Derdap, where the two existing plants have a 1,605MW c...
27/05/2024

Romania and Serbia may build a third hydroelectric power plant at Derdap, where the two existing plants have a 1,605MW capacity, and a third unit would raise that to 2,400MW.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Romania’s Energy Ministry confirmed that it may partner with Serbia to build a third hydroelectric power (HEP) plant on the Iron Gates gorge stretch of the River Danube. The ministry was reacting to a report in Radio Free Europe that said the Serbian Energy Ministry had cl...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has described the European Commission as the worst ever, adding that it has turned...
27/05/2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has described the European Commission as the worst ever, adding that it has turned into a “war council”.

Reading Time: < 1 minute Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban described the current European Commission (EC) as “the worst one” ever in an interview to the Patriota YouTube channel on Sunday. As voters throughout the EU-27 set to head to the ballot boxes between June 6 and 9 to choose 720 membe...

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda secured re-election with a landslide victory against Prime Minister Ingrida Simony...
27/05/2024

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda secured re-election with a landslide victory against Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte on 26 May.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda secured re-election on Sunday 26 May, according to official results, in a vote heavily dominated by defence concerns regarding neighbouring Russia. The electoral commission reported that Nauseda garnered 74.6% of the vote, with 90% of b...

After seven years in opposition, right-wing VMRO-DPMNE swept back into power in North Macedonia while also securing the ...
14/05/2024

After seven years in opposition, right-wing VMRO-DPMNE swept back into power in North Macedonia while also securing the presidency, in the Balkan country’s recent elections.

Reading Time: 2 minutes North Macedonia’s right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party scored twin landslide victories in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday, 8 May 2024. After 7 years in opposition VMRO-DPMNE swept back to power as the 22-party coalition it led won 44% of the vote in the Balkan country’s p...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proclamation that Hungary has ‘all-weather’ status means it now ranks as China’s third al...
14/05/2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proclamation that Hungary has ‘all-weather’ status means it now ranks as China’s third ally, behind only Russia and Pakistan, according to Asia researcher orcasia.org.

Reading Time: 5 minutes As Chinese President Xi completed his trip to Europe, he held a conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, with whom he had spent three of the five days. Although Xi failed to give concrete details, Hungarian officials said 18 agreements had been signed between th...

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