Lithuania will hold a constitutional referendum on whether its citizens can hold dual and multiple citizenships on 12 May 2024, in tandem with the first round of its presidential elections. Dual citizenship is mostly banned and around one thousand Lithuanian citizens annually give up their citizenship each year to take
The ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the most seats but failed to secure a simple majority in the snap parliamentary election held on Wednesday, 17 April. The HDZ won 61 seats (down 7) in the 151-member assembly, to 42 (up 22) for the Social Democratic Party-led (SPD) centre-left
Shipping label management and payment system Ikas has announced that it will initiate operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as well as Germany and Switzerland. Ikas CEO Mustafa Namoglu said US tech giants largely overlook CEE and his company will offer SMEs a reliable, user-friendly interface as well as
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Budapest, Hungary and Belgrade, Serbia, at the beginning of May. After a trip to France from May 5-7, Xi Jinping will then stop over in Belgrade, before concluding his Europe tour in Budapest, Radio Free Europe (RFE) wrote, citing two independent sources. Orban China’
The first German troops of a brigade to be fully deployed as the German Army 45th Brigade Lithuania within 4 years arrived in Lithuania on Monday, 8 April, when Lieutenant General and Bundeswehr chief Alfons Mais visited Vilnius. Around 5,000 military personnel and civilians will move to Lithuania, including
A 147.8km stretch of the A7 motorway between Bucharest and Moldova and north Romania will open this year, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu pledged at the Social Democratic Party (PSD) election conference in Suceava, north-east Romania, on Friday, 12 April. Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Romania
Peter Pellegrini of Slovakia’s nationalist-left ruling coalition beat pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korcok by 53.1% to 46.9% in the presidential election on Saturday, 6 April. Turnout was 61.14%, the highest for a presidential election in Slovakia since 1999. Pellegrini, 48, is House speaker and an ally
Nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), toppled last year after eight years in power by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) grouping, came first in the country’s local government elections, an exit poll showed Sunday, 7 April. The election is seen as a bellwether for
Romanian Minister of Environment, Waters and Forests Mircea Fechet warned of the need for action as rising temperatures continue to increase the desertification of the country, speaking at the Romanian Business and Investment Roundtable in Bucharest on 5 April “According to our current science, this can only be combated through
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed to progress with planning a greater role in coordinating aid to Ukraine on the first of two days of meetings at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday 4 April, the 75th anniversary of the signing of the defence alliance’s founding document.
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
Romania and Bulgaria partly entered the Schengen free movement zone at midnight Sunday, 31 March, meaning air travel and freight, and sea freight in and out of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries no longer requires document control. The two countries’ partial Schengen membership does not include land routes
Hungary’s Wizz Air will be forced to ground 20% of its fleet for several months due to the recall of its many Airbus A320s with contaminated engines. The Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engines of over 3,000 Airbus SE A320s have been contaminated by metal powder, causing engine
The awarding of a turbine tender to China’s Envision Energy by EU applicant Serbia looks to have set the bloc on a new course. The deal has prompted EU plans to ban foreign wind turbines over cybersecurity issues, with protectionist measures to protect European manufacturers against Chinese rivals. The
Europe remains heavily reliant on energy imports even after recent crises, as dependence on Russia has been replaced by that on other countries, according to an Intelligent Energy Association (AEI) analysis, based on data from the EU’s official statistics agency Eurostat. Romania is the country least dependent on imported
The EU approved the opening of accession negotiations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a candidate since 2022, on Thursday, 21 March 2024. BiH now faces a lengthy reform process to join the EU. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola wrote: “Today’s decision to start accession negotiations is an important step
Czechia and Poland are campaigning to stop the importing of Russian and Belarusian grain into Europe, and the former country will formally propose a ban at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday, Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny said. “Conditions must not mean failing to look after the land
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has approved the transit of Finnish equipment and supplies to Ukraine as well as the relevant training of around 50 Ukrainian pilots, the Romanian parliamentary press service announced on Monday, 18 March. The training of the pilots will take place in the second half of the
A total of EUR 400mn will be available to Romanian short- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 1 April, as the Start-Up Nation financing line enters a new phase thanks to an agreement with the European Commission (EC), Romanian European Investments and Projects Minister Adrian Caciu announced, news.ro reports. “After
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s incumbent administration will decide to build at least two new nuclear power units in Czechia, Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela said in an interview with left-wing daily Pravo. The offers Czechia has received indicate that it would be prudent to construct two or
Thousands protested at Freedom Square, Bratislava, over Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s plan to overhaul the country’s state media, on Friday, 15 March. According to the plan, state media body Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) would be scrapped and a seven-member government-nominated council could hire and fire
The EU announced further concessions for the bloc’s agricultural workers, especially for smaller farms, to quell agricultural workers’ protests, on Friday, 15 March. The changes to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidy programme were proposed on Friday evening. The European Commission (EC) said EC President Ursula von
The EU will recommend that member states open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), a candidate for membership since 2022, European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday, 12 March. Wary of Russian influence, von der Leyen said “We have realised that it is not enough to just wait
The highest shares of women tertiary education graduates in the scientific STEM subjects were recorded in Romania (42.5%) and Poland (41.5%), according to new data released by the EU official statistics office Eurostat on International Women’s Day on 8 March. STEM subjects include engineering, natural sciences, mathematics
Czechia will host a EUR 7.9bn electric vehicle (EV) battery in Karvina, east Czechia, funded by a foreign investor, the Czech government announced on Thursday, 7 March. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday that the project should improve the country’s employment figures, energy security and competitiveness, adding