Though united in their commitment to European and NATO positions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries differ on their potential exposure to Russian gas supplies – a CET analysis. At time of writing, the Russian army is intruding into the heart of Kyiv and residents
Estonia has become the digital model for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) due to a digitalisation policy that has seen it close in on the wealth and GDP of EU countries further west. The keystones of Estonia’s ‘CEE dream’ are increasingly recognised as public service digitalization and digital integration.
French President Emmanuel Macron underlined that energy policy is now a major priority for Europe when he met the leaders of the Visegrad Four countries – Poland, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia – in Budapest this week. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban agreed that securing Europe’s energy independence is one of the
The Eastern European countries with large digital economies such as Estonia, Czechia and Hungary are best placed to stimulate growth by increasing sector productivity, according to reports by McKinsey, Microsoft, IT recruiters and other experts. Although ICT wages remain significantly lower in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) than on the
So dominant was German capital in the Czech media in 2003 that the European Federation of Journalists considered it no longer able to influence public discourse, as diversity and pluralism of opinion were in such steep decline. Meanwhile in Hungary, German media giants Axel Springer Verlag AG, Bertelsmann AG, and
Henry Ford once said: “I am ready to account for any day in my life, but don’t ask me how I made my first million.” The billionaires of Central and Eastern Europe, many of whom began to build their empires during the “wild privatisations” of the 1990s, would no
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are all highly competitive in terms of taxes, according to the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI). Estonia leads the ITCI rankings for the eighth consecutive year thanks to minimal levies on non-resident businesses, low marginal tax rates on individual income and
While Fintech and Big Tech firms make incursions into the financial services sector, data is becoming the real commodity in a world of hyper-connections and open banking. Cryptocurrencies appear on the horizon and credit card companies are morphing into tech firms. Meanwhile banks are incorporating open banking into their services,
In Serbia, early parliamentary elections will likely be held between 20 March 20 and 3 April of next year. Those dates have been leaked from talks between the ruling party coalition and the opposition on Monday. The presidential and municipal elections will presumably be held at the same time. Negotiations
Thirty-five million citizens of the European Union just don’t have the financial means to take a week-long trip within Europe, says a recent survey. That’s a total of 28% of EU citizens who can’t afford a one-week holiday away from home, according to recent research from the
Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has sought asylum at the Polish Embassy in Tokyo this wee after having learned that a campaign had been launched against her in the Belarussian state media. “The campaign was quite serious and that was a clear signal that her life would be in danger in