In a letter to be sent to EU finance ministers, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia jointly call for frozen Russian assets to be used towards the reconstruction of Ukraine in the aftermath of its invasion by Russia. The letter written by the four Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, seen
Austrian energy group OMV announced on Friday that it was opening an account with Russian Gazprombank for ruble conversion. The development came after repeated Austrian assertions that it would not pay for gas in rubles, as Russia demanded in response to EU sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine on 24
The European Commission (EC) adopted a EUR 300bn proposal for the 27-country bloc to be entirely independent of Russian energy by 2027, on Wednesday 18 May. “We must now reduce as soon as possible our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. I’m deeply convinced we can,” EC President Ursula von
The Slovak government approved a proposal to impose an extra import tax on Russian-processed crude oil on Wednesday. The levy would impact Slovnaft, a subsidiary of Hungarian energy firm MOL that has a refinery in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, Hungarian-language Slovak daily Uj Szo wrote. Slovak Finance Minister Igor
Croatia is currently boosting its own gas security in preparation for next winter, Energy Minister Davor Filipovic announced. By 1 November, Croatia will have filled its only underground gas storage facility in Okoli, central Croatia, by up to 90%, Filipovic told state broadcaster HRT. Filipovic was speaking after a report
The European Commission (EC) is about to release the EUR 36bn Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) funds to Poland that were suspended over disagreements regarding the independence of the country’s judiciary. The EU will release the grants and loans on condition that Poland dismantles its disciplinary judicial chamber and
The EU failed to agree on its latest sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, as Hungary refused to drop its threat to torpedo the package. Consensus on a blanket embargo of Russian oil remains elusive and could take another “week or two”, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday,
G7 ministers expressed their concern about the “deepening political crisis” in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and support for the commencement of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, following a meeting in northern Germany at the weekend. In a strongly worded joint statement, the foreign ministers of the US,
The EU on Monday failed to make headway on finalising a sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, which includes a complete embargo on oil imports from the country. The first five rounds of EU sanctions included asset freezes and travel bans on Russian
MEPs on the environment committee of the European Parliament (ENVI) will vote on a tranche of environmental proposals early next week. On Monday and Tuesday (16-17 May), the ENVI will decide on around half of the regulations detailed in the European Commission’s Fit for 55 package to cut greenhouse
The European Commission (EC) could channel funds to countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to help reduce their dependence on Russian fuels, in the wake of Hungary threatening to veto the planned EU embargo on Russian oil imports. The financial compensation would be disbursed via the new RePowerEU strategy
Czechia will participate in the UN Human Rights Council meeting on Thursday 12 May, after being elected as Russia’s replacement in the 47-member body earlier this week. The special session from 10am will address the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine including reported atrocities in Mariupol, at the request
NATO has around 30 surveillance and fighter jets in airspace outside of Ukraine and Belarus at any moment according the defence alliance, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO also released an infographic outlining the allied aircraft able to be deployed in airspace in Central and Eastern Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron told Chinese President Xi that France expects China to reverse the sanctions it has imposed on Lithuania during a telephone call on Tuesday. China has removed Lithuania from its customs system over its recognition of the independence of Taiwan, which the superpower considers illegitimate. Lithuania’s
Tour operator TUI Belgium has cancelled scheduled summer flights to Bulgaria and North Macedonia citing falling interest in destinations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the start of the war in Ukraine. The subsidiary of UK-German tourism firm TUI Group says customer demand has also fallen for CEE weekend
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen paid an unexpected visit to Budapest on Monday evening to discuss the EU’s proposed package of sanctions against Russia with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. After the meeting, von der Leyen tweeted: “This evening’s discussion with PM Viktor Orban was helpful
Serbian and Croatian business organisations are calling for less friction in the flow of goods across their common border, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, local media reported. At a meeting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on Monday, Serbian Chamber of Commerce president Marko Cadez and Croatian Chamber
The EU has revised its proposal to ban Russia oil imports by the end of 2022, in order to give Hungary and Slovakia an extra two years to comply. The third country offered a deadline extension by the EU is Czechia, which would have a six-month earlier deadline, of June
Companies from at least nine Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries will present their products and services at the upcoming military, aeronautical and security equipment exhibition Black Sea Defense and Aerospace (BSDA) in Bucharest, Romania. The biannual event’s organisers describe BSDA as a platform for Romanian companies to establish
Germany will help Czechia to modernise its army by replacing military equipment it sent to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Berlin on Thursday evening. Scholz said Czechia will receive newer Western weapons in place of the Russian-built, pre-1989
NATO will increase its number of forces in the Baltic sea if Sweden applies to join the defence alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday afternoon. The NATO chief told Swedish SVT News that although NATO does not intend to enter the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – and therefore
The Polish government’s Stop Russia Now advertising campaign arrived in Hungary on Wednesday, increasing speculation that the alliance between the two countries’ populist nationalist governments has reached breaking point over differences on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Of the Visegrad Four (V4) group, comprising Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary,
There were mixed messages from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) on Wednesday, when the European Commission (EC) announced plans for a Russian oil embargo. In CEE, two of the countries that would be most affected by the import ban had markedly different reactions to the announcement. While Slovakia merely requested
Estonia has the healthiest media environment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) according to the Reporters Sans Frontiers/Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2022 World Press Freedom Index released on Tuesday 3 May. The RSF meanwhile singled out two CEE countries as showing marked promise for press freedom: “Moldova (40th) and
The combination of a rise in demand for renewable energy sources and supply-chain issues is causing problems for manufacturers in Czechia and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Companies in Czechia cannot meet the increasingly high demand for renewables due to a shortfall in both materials and workers,