Ahead of the EU foreign ministers council meeting on Monday, a working document entitled “EU reinforced engagement in the Western Balkans” details the region’s disillusionment with the slow, stop-and-go European Union enlargement process. The diplomatic paper comes in the wake of a political storm over a series of phantom
E-health, urban traffic management, self-driving cars, security services, energy networks, industrial facilities and the media – all industries and services in which 5G telecommunications networks will make up the basic critical infrastructure in the short term. Security of the network and supplier selection have become divisive geopolitical issues. Concurrently, from a
Welfare and unemployment are on the agenda in Porto, Portugal, where this weekend EU leaders are getting together for the first time in 5 months for a 2-day summit that started today. The leaders gathered in Portugal – minus German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Netherlands’ prime minister Mark Rutte – will
Eleven of the 27 member states want the EU to stop funding cross-border fossil-fuel energy projects. The related provisions are currently under review in Brussels. The group of countries lead by Denmark also includes Austria, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. They argue that to
EU sanctions being in place against China, and vice versa, have doused the approval prospects for a massive investment deal between the two sides, says European trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who said the issue is not conducive for ratification. Observers point out the deterioration of the relations between Brussels and
From conspiracy theories through trade wars and espionage, debate regarding the political and social effects of 5G next-generation mobile network technology is polarized, dividing European citizens on the matter long before 5G becomes reality. General Political Framing of 5G in the EU “Internet-of-things”-driven smart services are part of our
On Tuesday, the benchmark EU Allowance (EUA) price for carbon hit EUR 50.05 /ton for the first time since it was introduced back in 2005. Analysts argue this is a sign that carbon prices will be at the price levels needed to trigger investments in innovative clean technologies. The
Kyiv and Beijing both remain cautious towards full-scale cooperation despite a number of successful cooperative actions and the increasing trade seen in recent years. Still, some plans seem to be up in the air, or very little information is available on whether or not they are being implemented. 5G’s
Russian news agency Ria Novosti has reported that Hungary will start repaying a loan to Russia of EUR 9 billion for the Paks nuclear power facility investment in 2031, five years later than the original 2026 deadline. The delay might mean that new reactor units may not be nearing completion
Poland’s relationship with China has undergone a significant shift in recent years. Yet the economic opportunities that were supposed to come with a closer partnership have not materialized. Below, we look into the causes. A very sensitive issue: 5G Poland, where Huawei has been operating since 2004, is where
The European Commission has now received 13 national plans for how EU countries plan on spending pandemic recovery funds from the EU, which has allotted EUR 672.5 – roughly half grants, half loans – to help economies recover and foster zero-carbon public investment projects. While such plans have been received from
Budapest Airport, the Chinese Henan Airport Group, and the Chinese-Hungarian business and logistics development company, CECZ/Utlink, have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at establishing an “aerial Silk Road” between Hungary and China. The deal is expected to bring important economic opportunities and foster a significant expansion of air freight
It’s said that when times are tough one knows who their friends are. For Greece, it was Chinese interests (and credit) that came to the rescue of an economy that had been on the brink of disaster, and investment by China into a Greek port has turned it into
President Radev handed over a mandate to the second-largest political force in Parliament, There Is Such a People (TISP), to form a government, following GERB-UDF failed to find coalition partners and secure a majority. The party immediately returned it as they would not like to enter into any coalitions with
Despite the significant increase in China’s contribution to the Serbian economy in the last decade, EU countries’ investments in Serbia largely outperform those of the Asian economic powerhouse. Here’s how FDI from China is influencing Belgrades’ trade priorities, but outstanding questions over Serbia’s 5G rollout could make