The European Commission (EC) may allow Hungary and Slovakia to opt out of the Russian oil embargo currently being drawn up, Reuters reports. The EU will on Tuesday finalise its sixth package of sanctions against Russia, and is aware of how dependent the two countries are on Russian crude oil,
A strike that would have seen traffic cut by two-thirds at Poland’s two biggest airports has been averted after air traffic controllers accepted a last-minute temporary agreement with national air navigation agency PAZP. Air traffic controllers, whose wages were cut in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, had threatened to
Poland began operating a new pipeline that transits gas from Lithuania on Sunday, 1 May. The launch was particularly timely, as Russian state energy company Gazprom halted gas deliveries to Poland on 27 April. The 508-kilometre, bi-directional Poland-Lithuania Gas Connector (GIPL) had been under construction since 2020. The opening this
Mutually beneficial business relations were meant to cement cooperation and peace in Europe after WWII. This post-world war global order is now in danger of falling apart, as sanctions against Russia are extended to technology, industry and agriculture, finances and energy. How did the road to globalism begin five decades
The European Commission (EC) has activated against Hungary a “rule of law mechanism” that links alleged corruption to provision of EU funds. A formal notification was sent to the Hungarian government on Wednesday, after all the commissioners approved the move. On Wednesday morning journalists were briefed that the EU’s
EU Commission President von der Leyen proclaimed “the era of Russian fossil fuel in Europe is coming to an end” on Wednesday, after Kremlin-owned energy firm Gazprom cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. The news came after Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned countries refusing to pay for natural
The EU will extend EUR 130mn to Lithuanian companies affected by the trade restrictions China has imposed on the Baltic country, the European Commission (EC) announced on Tuesday afternoon. The scheme will run until 31 December 2027 or until the “discriminatory” restrictions are lifted, the EC wrote in a statement.
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 in
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
Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky says one of his country’s goals when it heads the EU Council is to clarify the EU’s relationship with China. In an interview with Politico, Lipavsky spoke of Prague’s objectives in its 6-month stint in the rotating presidency, which begins in
Romania is rolling out a EUR 3.4 billion part-EU-funded assistance package to help struggling companies and families amid the economic downturn caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Under the “Support for Romania” measures that Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca unveiled on Monday, firms impacted by the war in Ukraine
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 2022 report,
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 largest
NATO leaders will formulate plans to bolster its eastern flank across Central and Eastern Europe at a summit in Madrid in June, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced. Calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the “biggest security crisis in a generation”, Stoltenberg said “regardless of when, how, the war in Ukraine ends
Over two hundred Russian diplomats have been sent home from countries in Europe this week, in response to scenes of atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, in eastern Ukraine. The number of expelled Russian envoys from European states now totals 325, representing “one of the biggest diplomatic breakdowns of
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
The Polish Finance Ministry confirmed on Thursday that the European Commission (EC) has paid Poland EUR 30 million less in EU funding over the country’s failure to pay European Court of Justice (ECJ) fines, in an unprecedented move. The ECJ has so far levied EUR 200 million in penalties
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 6