The National Recovery Plan of the Czech Republic has been approved this week by EU finance ministers on one condition: that the country address conflict of interest issues involving some high-ranking politicians, in reference to Czech prime minister’s business empire. That means Czechia is set to receive over EUR
By the end of August, EU member Croatia and two of its Southern neighbors down the Adriatic coast, Montenegro and Albania, had happily concluded what was an excellent tourist season for those countries so far this year. Revenues from tourism are giving a significant boost to their economies, much needed
Wizz Air is to require all its flights’ crews to be vaccinated against coronavirus by December 2021. The airline said the decision was taken on health and safety grounds and to ensure the “smooth” operation of services over the long term. It is understood to be the first European carrier
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, allegedly pledged his allegiance to the European Union and admitted that Hungary is not likely to receive EU COVID-19 recovery funding on time at this past weekend’s “Kötcse” political picnic, an annual closed-circle gathering of people close to the government. According to sources
If not partly or fully owned by the state, like utility and oil companies, the largest companies in the Visegrad 4 (“V4”) countries – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – are mostly foreign-owned and typically operate in the automotive, retail and electronics sectors. They are highly productive and prosperous, driving their
The Czech Republic’s Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of the Czech ticket seller Kiwi.com against Ryanair in a dispute over Kiwi’s practices for handling passenger data. The legal win is a boost for the Czech company amid tensions with Ryanair which have seen the carrier threatening
Bulgaria will hold both presidential and snap general elections in November amidst political polarization and uncertainty that are stalling badly needed recovery aid from the European Union. On Thursday, the country’s parliament voted 152-0 with 25 abstentions to schedule the presidential vote on November 14. President Rumen Radev is
Romania’s government coalition is in major crisis after the dismissal of the country’s justice minister, Stelian Ion, by prime minister Florin Citu. After suffering two minister losses recently without prior notice, junior coalition party USR PLUS are calling on the senior coalition party, the National Liberal Party (PNL)
Amid the growing COVID-19 Delta variant threat in Europe, the Romanian government wants to boost its vaccination campaign. Currently, Romania, along with Bulgaria, has one of the lowest vaccination rates across the European Union with only 26.3% of the population fully vaccinated. With the school year about to start,
Hungary hosted a major airshow over the weekend, with the participation of dozens of military aircraft from across Europe. The Kecskemét Airshow featured aircraft and helicopters recently purchased by the Hungarian military, like the Airbus H145, Gripens, Falcons, and Zlin training aircraft. British and Italian Eurofighter 2000s were also present,
Two watchdog groups say global tech giants are spending nearly EUR 100 million every year – the biggest lobby spend for any industry – in an attempt to to influence digital regulations within the European Union, rules that could cut into their business. That’s according to a study of where and
Members of the Estonia’s parliament on Tuesday elected the director of the national museum as the Baltic country’s new president. The successful vote took place following an inconclusive first-round vote on Monday. On Tuesday, Estonian National Museum director Alar Karis gained the support of 72 parliamentarians in the
“Why risk a good relationship with the US and elicit yet another conflict with Brussels?” one might ask when pondering a bill, called “Lex TVN,” recently submitted to Poland’s parliament. One likely answer is that the Polish ruling party wants to secure its victory in the country’s next
Stricter COVID-19 health requirements are set to go back into effect on US citizens traveling to Europe, with an announcement likely to be made today. Now, those coming from America who are unvaccinated must once again undergo covid testing and/or quarantine when entering the European Union. Still, individual EU
Hungary has floated the idea of a tripartite agreement to supply Ukraine with natural gas flows through Hungary via liquefied natural gas (LNG) received at the terminal on the Croatian island of Krk. Following a meeting with his Croatian counterpart in Budapest, Hungary’s minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
A new study finds that the Czech Republic still has the most favorable conditions for manufacturing among countries in Europe. Worldwide, the country ranks 5th, behind China, India, the United States and Canada. The result is derived from a study, entitled Manufacturing Risk Index, carried out by the real estate
As in the rest of Europe, the cost of both buying and renting property has gone up in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE). Emerging Europe observes that within the region, the highest increases both for rental and purchase are being seen in Croatia, Slovakia, Poland and Estonia. One analyst notes
The Nord Stream II (NSII) natural gas pipeline will be completed, despite political opposition from Ukraine, Poland and the US – but a court challenge to how it operates may be another sticking point for the USD 11bn natural gas pipeline, which will deliver 55bcm of natural gas to Germany. That
Hungary will start producing Sputnik V, the Russian Covid-19 vaccine, in the city of Debrecen starting at the end of 2022, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Hungary’s minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, announced at a joint press conference in Budapest on Tuesday. Hungary is
Small, export-oriented countries may lose out to larger economies if a “minimum tax” proposal from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) remains unchanged. The proposal, backed by some 130 countries, would introduce a 15% minimum corporate tax globally to end the current “tax race to the bottom,” a
From May this year to July, 35,193 tourists arrived in Ukraine from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia. More than 85% of all tourists from the Gulf region (29,809 people) are citizens of Saudi Arabia. This is eight times more than in the pre-crisis year of
Romania’s economy continued its robust post-pandemic recovery in the second quarter after already returning to pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) went up by 1.8% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter, marking the fourth consecutive
If you’re looking for a high-ranking university that enjoys the esteem of a Harvard, Stanford or Oxford there are better places to look than in the western Balkan countries, where one higher education institution has fallen out of a top 500 universities ranking. Emerging Europe reports that now not
The Belarusian government is trying to “instrumentalize human beings for political purposes,” interior ministers of the European Union warned in a joint statement after a video meeting on Wednesday. The emergency meeting requested by Lithuania was scheduled after the government there published a video of 12 Belarusian police officers armed
If you’ve ever been in the situation where your mobile phone is running out of power, but you forgot your charger at home – and the only one available to you has a different pin connection, the European Commission’s plans to harmonize mobile phone chargers might have a solution