Poland’s Parliament passed new legislation on 24 May expanding the use of artificial intelligence in public surveillance, authorising facial recognition and behavioural tracking tools for use by law enforcement and municipal authorities. The bill, backed by the ruling Civic Coalition and several allied MPs, permits the deployment of AI
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) gained new recognition in Dealroom’s 2025 Global Tech Ecosystem Index, with CEE capital cities Vilnius, Lithuania; Warsaw, Poland; and Zagreb, Croatia, named among the world’s top 100 emerging innovation hubs. The index, released on 21 May, ranked 288 cities worldwide. While Paris and
Zabka is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on 17 October, as Poland’s leading convenience shop chain expands into Romania and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The IPO could raise as much as PLN 6.45bn. The IPO is set to be
Czechia’s former industry minister and crisis manager Jozef Sikela has been appointed to lead the EU’s EUR 300bn Global Gateway Strategy, the bloc’s riposte to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Sikela will oversee infrastructure investments aimed at countering the BRI by forging strategic international partnerships.
Czech opposition party ANO, led by former prime minister Andrej Babis, scored a significant victory in Saturday’s elections for the country’s upper house the Senate, winning 8 of 27 seats up for grabs. Despite ANO’s gains, the ruling coalition, led by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, retained
Polish online platform eSky’s GBP 30mn (EUR 35.5mn) purchase of Thomas Cook from China’s Fosun Tourism Group signals a broader westward expansion trend of companies from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and media outlets in the UK and Poland are taking note. Emtech, Pepco among Polish firms
Financed with a EUR 5mn EU grant and a EUR 100mn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the nearly 1km-long Hercegovina Bridge on Corridor Vc (a.k.a. E73) opened on Wednesday, 4 September. The new bridge represents Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) largest infrastructure project and forms part
As tens of thousands of Serbians rally in opposition to the contentious lithium mining project planned by company Rio Tinto in Jadar, west Serbia, an alternative is being investigated elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). A crucial material for enabling the EU to meet its 2030 climate goals may
Serbian police forcibly removed demonstrators from railway stations protesting the lithium mining project planned by company Rio Tinto, in the country’s capital Belgrade on Sunday August 11. President Aleksandar Vucic’s government last month authorised the British-Australian global mining group to establish Europe’s largest lithium mine – and reportedly
Adoption of zero-emission vehicles gaining traction in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to Erste Group’s macroeconomic report for August 2024. The Austrian financial service provider’s analysis sees varied economic trajectories and fluctuating trade balances across CEE, as Slovenia reported a trade deficit of EUR 0.64bn in
Support for introducing the euro in Poland has decreased in the last year, pollster SW Research found, in a survey commissioned by the Economic Freedom Foundation. The proportion of Poles who back joining the eurozone in Poland “in the coming years” decreased year-on-year, from 34.9% in 2023 to 30.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk advised caution to European politicians calling for Hungary’s expulsion from the Schengen area, as it could in turn lead to its departure from the EU, on Friday, 9 August. Schengen member Hungary’s unilateral easing last month of visa requirements for citizens of Russia
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) could be closing in on an energy standoff as Hungary and Slovakia have threatened to restrict or even suspend electricity supplies to Ukraine in response to its recent decision to halt crude oil transits of Russian supplier Lukoil, Hungarian state news channel M1 reported on
Czech citizens who are interested in using solar power at their own home or company can rest easy, the subsidies for them will not end soon, Hospodarske Noviny writes. The Central European country has enthusiastically leaned into the construction of domestic solar power plants, and the lion’s share of
Czechia and Qatar signed bilateral agreements on Wednesday, as the Gulf state announced that it will open its first embassy in the Czech capital of Prague in the next few months. Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim met Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Prague, and said mutual relations will be explored