Von der Leyen's visits to frontline NATO states aims to deliver a message of solidarity while boosting Europe’s defence capacity, promoting joint procurement and galvanising industrial support through the EU’s SAFE mechanism.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda described Ruginiene as “a constructive negotiator who seeks compromise”, adding that foreign policy continuity, especially support for Ukraine, would be maintained. Nauseda signed a decree on 27 August formally appointing her.
The alliance’s biggest spenders are all on the Eastern flank and neighbouring Russia, with Poland leading the pack (4.48%) ahead of Lithuania (4.0%), Latvia (3.73%), and Estonia (3.38%). The US is sixth at 3.22% of GDP.
Fico’s Moscow visit and rhetoric at the recent commemoration have deepened tensions with Brussels over his approach to Russia. The forthcoming Beijing trip highlights his efforts to expand ties with China.
Ukrainian drones have struck at least 10 key Russian energy facilities this month alone, according to US news channel CNN. Attacks on 12, 17 and 21-22 August all targeted Druzhba's same pipeline’s southern leg.
Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka confirmed KHNP’s withdrawal but downplayed speculation of a diplomatic rift. “KHNP’s decision does not stem from any government actions and pertains to several European countries,” Motyka posted on X on 20 August.
Dodik, once seen as a moderate reformer, has shifted over two decades into a hardline nationalist who consistently tests BiH's post-war settlement.
RB is the largest infrastructure project in the Baltics since independence, designed to connect Tallinn, north Estonia, Riga, north Latvia, and Vilnius, south-east Lithuania, to the European standard-gauge network. The railway has also been described as a NATO corridor.
Having spent big on defence, Poland's growing role as a European player is at risk from political infighting, resource strain, and public fatigue.
Sunday’s events underscored the mix of largely peaceful mobilisation and episodic violence that now defines the unrest.
While Hungary and Slovakia welcomed the diplomatic efforts, fellow Visegrad Four members Poland and Czechia joined the Baltic states in rejecting any settlement that bypasses Ukrainian sovereignty.
Like other strategic CRM efforts across Central and Eastern Europe, Chvaletice is emblematic of the policy-delivery gap haunting the bloc’s transition ambitions.
Germany’s trade with Central and Eastern Europe rose EUR 5.4bn to EUR 275bn in the first half of 2025, led by a surge in exports to Poland, Ukraine and Slovenia.
If the EU decides to approach Moldova separately, it would depart from recent EU practice of advancing Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia as a group under the "Association Trio" framework.
The 44-year-old former Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation chairwoman now awaits a parliamentary confidence vote to approve her cabinet and programme.