Poland’s pursuit of nuclear energy took another step forward last week as Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ) applied to the Polish Climate Ministry for a “decision-in-principle” on the construction of the country’s first large nuclear power plant. The decision would confirm that the investment in the plant is in
Czech President Petr Pavel called for a “joint and balanced” strategy between the US, Europe, and other democracies to address China’s growing economic and political power while avoiding divisive lines between them, on Friday 21st April. During a visit to Brussels, Pavel discussed EU-US-China relations with European Council President
Romanian Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea expressed solidarity with farmers from Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia – who all unilaterally stopped Ukrainian farm imports last week – after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solsky on Friday, 21 April, digi24.ro reported. However Daea said “we must make the rules together, not enter
Czechia’s largest investment group PPF has acquired internet and television content provider Nej.cz from billionaire Karel Prazak’s Kaprain group. PPF made the purchase of Nej.cz, which has almost a quarter of a million active customers, through its Cetin concern, Hospodarske noviny (HN) reported. Prazak sold Nej.
Slovakia has donated 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian forces, Slovak state news agency TASR reported on the morning of Monday, 17 April. The transfer of the last nine Soviet-era fighters, aimed at supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russian military aggression, was completed recently, after the initial four
The EU’s mooted ‘critical raw materials (CRM) law’ would strengthen the EU’s autonomy by reducing its reliance on third countries for the supply of essential minerals for green energy and modern industry. Proposed recently by the European Commission (EC), the legislation would mean the reopening of mines earlier
Croatia had the highest share of tourism in total gross value added (GVA) at 11%, EU statistics office Eurostat finds in a newly released report entitled “Tourism Satellite Accounts in Europe”. GVA is output produced after deducting the intermediate value of consumption, or gross domestic product added to product subsidies,
Poland and Hungary have temporarily ceased importing Ukrainian grain and other agricultural produce, defying warnings from the EU that unilateral action would violate its trade policy. Following Poland and Hungary, the Slovak government also announced that it would temporarily restrict the import of grain and other products from Ukraine, citing
Polish energy giant Orlen announced the completion on Friday 7 April of the process of implementing remedies, and Lotos Terminale finally becoming the property of fuel importer Unimot. The sale was the last stage in the implementation of conditions set by the European Commission (EC) for merging Orlen with Lotos,
Farmers are organising protests across Romania on Friday 7 April to express dissatisfaction with the European Commission (EC) approach market distortions caused by the war in Ukraine, local website digi24.ro reported. A joint statement of Romania’s four main farming federations said they were sending “a new appeal to
The EU has reached a provisional agreement on increasing the number of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) and alternative fuels, as it seeks to reduce the transport sector’s carbon footprint, Romanian outlet digi24.ro wrote. The deal will send a clear signal to EU citizens that easy-to-use recharging
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