Bulgaria’s conservatives and liberals were practically neck and neck with votes still being counted after the country’s fifth election in two years on Sunday, 2 April. Early projections put former premier Boyko Borisov’s conservative GERB party at 24-26%, slightly ahead of the liberal We Continue The Change
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid out his hopes to build a new economic community in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with Romania and Ukraine in Bucharest on Tuesday, 28 March, and also criticised powerful Western countries for “undermining the region”. At the Polish-Romanian intergovernmental consultations in Bucharest, Morawiecki stressed cooperation
Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic lost the presidential election run-off on Sunday, 2 April, ending his 32-year rule that began in February 1991. Djukanovic, the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) leader, was squarely defeated by 36-year-old newcomer Jakov Milatovic, a candidate for Europe Now, in the second round, with preliminary results
Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia expressed concern in a letter to the European Commission (EC) on Friday over an “unprecedented” increase in the number of Ukrainian grains, oilseeds, eggs, poultry and sugar in their countries. Large quantities of cheaper Ukrainian grains have been redirected to countries in Central and
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on Germany to up its support for Ukraine as Europe continues to search for ways to arm Kyiv following the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Friday 24 March. Morawiecki urged Germany, the EU’s largest economy, to step up and lead by revising
Hungary could realistically replace Russian gas imports, according to local analysts, who say its dependence is reliant on the will of Hungarian politicians and economic players. Gas supply already shifting away from Russia Hungary’s procurement of sources has broadened and the partial replacement of Russian gas has begun, local
The number of pay TV subscribers in Eastern Europe will decline by 8mn from its peak of 81mn in 2018, to 73 million by 2028, according to a new report by Digital TV Research. However, the figures for 2018 included 17mn analogue-cable subscribers, which will have dropped to zero by
NATO’s annual report for 2022 reveals that only 7 countries of the 30-country defence alliance met the military spending target of 2% of GDP. A total of five of the seven countries that reached the target are from the Eastern side of Europe: Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Greece.
Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic took around one-third of the votes in Sunday’s presidential election ballot, well below the majority needed to avoid a second-round vote, according to the Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) data based on 95.5% of processed votes. Djukanovic, 61, is one of Europe’s
Poland will send Ukraine four MiG-29 fighter jets in the coming days, with more to follow later, according to an announcement by Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, 16 March. The move will make Poland the first NATO member country to fulfil the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for
The average net salary in Romania was RON 4,254 (EUR 864) in January 2023, up 15% year-on-year, but down RON 144, or 3.3%, month-on-month, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Wednesday 15 March, digi24.ro reported. However Romanians will not generally be
Hungarian National Bank (MNB) Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy has once again harshly criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s economic policy, business website Portfolio reported. Speaking about the MNB’s 2021 results in Parliament on Wednesday 9 March, Matolcsy said if inflation is due to external causes, then the central bank
Net investments in the Romanian economy were 150.1 billion leu (EUR 3.06bn) in 2022, up 8.5% on the previous year, according to National Institute of Statistics data, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Friday 10 March. “This demonstrates the confidence of investors in the Romanian economy,
Enel will sell its Romanian operations to Greek group Public Power Corp (PPC) for EUR 1.26bn, the Italian utility group announced Thursday, www.digi24.ro reported. Enel has a strategy of cutting its debts and focusing on green energies, the Romanian website noted. Enel said in a press release
German carmaker Volkwagen (VW) has put on hold its plans to open a battery plant in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) citing better incentives offered by the US. VW reportedly told EU officials last week that it will prioritise a battery plant in the US as it can access subsidies