Political newcomer Robert Golob promised to restore “normality” to Slovenian politics after his environmentalist Freedom Movement won 34.6% of the vote in Sunday’s national elections. The Freedom Movement, which was established just less than a year ago, will hold 41 of the 90 parliamentary mandates in the upcoming
People supporting war crimes can have their citizenship removed in Latvia as of today, after a large majority of the country’s MPs voted in favour of amendments to the Citizenship Law on Thursday. Latvia’s Defence, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee passed the amendments, a response to Russia’
The European Commission (EC) is assessing whether the EU can ramp up its renewable energy target for 2030 from 40% to 45%, Reuters reported on Thursday. Russia is the EU’s biggest gas supplier, and in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine, the EC is keen to decrease its
The commercial flight numbers of several Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are closing in on their pre-pandemic levels faster than the EU average, according to new data reported by Eurostat. When the EU’s official statistics office compared the number of flights made in March 2022 to those
New sanctions on Russia’s oil and gas currently being discussed by EU leaders would impact several Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries much harder than their Western neighbours, a French government economic research institute estimates in its latest report. In CEE, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Czechia could experience national
Estonia is providing the most aid to Ukraine by far in relation to its economic output, according to a new data tracker set up by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The Baltic country has promised aid worth nearly 0.8% of its GDP, way ahead of Poland on
“The war in Ukraine is severely affecting the euro area economy and has significantly increased uncertainty,” Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), said after its Governing Council met on Thursday afternoon. The ECB restated its intention to conclude bond buying in the third quarter. With inflation at
A coalition of 11 European Union states led by Denmark wants to accelerate the continent’s green transformation, in order to end the bloc’s dependence on Russian energy. EU governments last year commenced talks on reforms aimed at meeting 2030 emissions reduction goals. Now some countries including Poland want
The war in Ukraine is set to inflict twice the amount of economic damage that the COVID-19 pandemic did, the World Bank says in its new report that includes detailed outlook analyses for Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. According to the Washington-based lender’s ECA Economic Update Spring
Russia’s Sberbank has sold its 43% stake in Fortenova to Hungarian-US investment fund Indotek Group, Croatian daily Jutarnji List reported. The deal came as the EU and US unveiled new economic sanctions on Russian banks in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Fortenova is Croatia’s
The EU banned Russian seafaring vessels from entering European ports, as it approved its fifth tranche of sanctions against Russia on Friday. The bloc also embargoed Russian coal supplies from August and enforced restrictions on all transactions with four major Russian banks. “We are proposing a fifth package of sanctions,
The Hungarian Ministry of Finance took the unusual step of issuing a public statement aimed at international investors on Friday. After Sunday’s celebrations, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban woke up to a grim domestic economic reality that includes a plummeting forint, rocketing prices and rule of law disputes that
Nearly 300 Russian companies and nationals have been registered in Serbia since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Belgrade-based television channel N1 reported. According to Serbia’s Business Registers Agency, 288 Russian companies registered in Serbia between 24 February and 6 April, when Ukrainians registered only
The EUR 12.5 bn expansion of Hungary’s only nuclear power plant at Paks remains viable, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told members of the press on Wednesday afternoon. Russian state nuclear company Rosatom’s addition of two blocks at the facility, can still go ahead, according to the
The chairman-CEO of one of Hungary’s oldest and best known companies, historic light bulb maker Tungsram, appealed to the government for assistance on Tuesday. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the pandemic and difficulties with the global supply chain are endangering the future of the Tungsram group, Jörg Bauer