Belarus
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 fortifications, landscaping
Slovakia
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 the highest profile
North Macedonia
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 parliamentary elections. The election was
Analysis
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Hungary underscores the geopolitical importance of the growing bilateral friendship. China’s new investments in Hungary total EUR 16bn and are expected to reach EUR 30bn by the end of the year. On his first visit to Europe since the pandemic, Chinese
Economy
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 their country and China, but
Economy
China’s Huawei and Hungary’s 4iG signed a letter of intent to establish a common cloud service platform for Hungarian companies and large Chinese and Asian companies with a presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Budapest from 8-10 May 2024.
Economy
The EU will close its Article 7 procedure over democratic backsliding against Poland that was initiated in 2017 against the country’s nationalist government led by the former ruling party Law and Justice (PiS), European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, 6 May. The EC could
Bulgaria
Romanians have been consuming more than Hungarians, Budapest-based business website Portfolio writes, and now it has become clear why: wages were already higher in Romania than in Hungary last year. “Regarding purchasing power parity (PPP), 2023 was the first year when the wages of our eastern neighbour came before us,
Albania
Per capita income in Slovenia will surpass that of Italy by 2029 when adjusted for purchasing power (PPP), according to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections, while Lithuania will draw level and Poland will not be far behind. The shift makes good on promises that the Central and Eastern
Economy
Chinese President Xi Jinping will commence a three-day visit to Hungary from Wednesday, 8 May, having arrived in France on Monday, 6 May, where he met French President Emmanuelle Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Xi’s delegation includes Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chinese Finance Minister
North Macedonia
No candidate received a majority of votes in the first round of the Presidential elections in North Macedonia on 24 April 2024, meaning a second round will be held alongside parliamentary elections on 8 May. Despite failing to secure the 50% required to avoid a runoff vote, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, a
Czech Republic
Hungary will focus on key issues for central Europe during its upcoming EU presidency, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto claimed at a press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky in Budapest on Friday, 26 April. According to Szijjarto, the key issues for the region are enlargement for countries in
