The EU was unusually unified and prompt in condemning Belarus for “hijacking” the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair plane. The European Council has imposed new sanctions including banning Belarus’s airlines from using EU airspace and airports. Yet, it is still questionable whether tougher sanctions could force Lukashenko to change
Lawmakers in some of the most influential EU member states say the Union’s Digital Marketing Act (DMA), set to regulate the actions of tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Google, is simply too weak. A coalition of Germany, France and the Netherlands recently submitted a letter in which they
Two European airlines, Austrian Airlines and Air France, have had to cancel flights to Moscow after Russian authorities denied permission for them to divert around Belarus to be in line with new EU sanctions. Russia’s ambassador to Austria, Dmitry Lyubinsky, justified the move on Facebook, writing that the “politicization”
Slovenia’s prime minister, Janez Janša, is facing increasing pressure from the European Union as his country is poised to take over the European Council presidency. For one, he is alleged to be obstructing the work of the Office of the European Public Prosecutor (EPPO), a new EU office whose
In a joint statement sent to the European Commission, five member states have issued a call to establish stricter supervision of the use of biofuels in the EU. The Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg made their demand following a number of fraudulent cases related to the sale of used
Pushed through by state secretary Norbert Izer and communicated by the Ministry of Finance as a success story, Hungary has reduced the tax rate on cryptocurrencies from 30.5% to 15%. The announced tax reform has, to some extent, been triggered by rising prices, although – independent of the government’s
Twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating an environmental catastrophe, new research reveals. ExxonMobil is the greatest single-use plastic waste polluter in the world, contributing 5.9m tons to the global
Known as the “Airbnb of clean energy” and “brAIn,” the Slovak startup Fuergy is a Central European success story in the field of green technology. Fuergy revolutionizes energy consumption through its commitment to making renewables effective and affordable to everyone. The company has built a highly scalable hardware device and
After what is being called the hijacking of a Ryanair flight from Athens-Vilnius on Sunday, heads of state and governments of the European Union on Monday rushed to agree a fresh wave of economic sanctions against Belarus. The European Council meeting document “strongly condemns the forced landing of a
A Ukrainian start-up, Horos.ai promises to help farmers maximize yield, and minimize herbicide and water use with drone technology-driven machine learning. “We were early drone enthusiasts. A few years after meeting in 2013, we started to think about ways drone footage and data could be useful. One
Following extensive debate between the European Parliament and Council, lawmakers in Brussels have reached an agreement on QR code Covid certificates that will be valid for EU citizens across the Union beginning 1 July. Presenting such passes will indicate that travelers in Europe have been vaccinated, tested, or have recovered
Low-cost carrier Ryanair, which will open bases in Zagreb and Zadar this summer, has slammed Croatia Airlines’ recent complaints that the company is receiving preferential treatment in the Croatian capital. Jason McGuinness, Ryanair’s chief commercial officer, said that it is inappropriate for the national carrier to complain about
Young entrepreneurs from Poland have developed applications based on artificial intelligence and machine learning to come up with what they believe is a game-changer for the recruitment industry: Emplocity‘s tireless chat-bot is privy to all of a company’s open positions and can communicate with candidates about
Following two failed attempts in 2011 and 2016, this week the EU Commission presented its plans for the unification of the corporate tax rule book of member states. Decision-makers in Brussels decision intend to bring a halt to the race among EU member states to lower corporate taxes in
“Turbine,” a biotech company simulating cell behavior with artificial intelligence, is combining two disciplines for which the country is renowned: biology and IT. Hungary’s first ever Nobel-prize winner was Albert Szent-Györgyi, a biochemist who invented vitamin C. Hungarian mathematician János Neumann is regarded as the father of
After being halted in April due to environmental concerns, the construction of 2 km of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline has been given the go-ahead by the German maritime authority (BSH) with the continuation of works in Danish waters. Two German environmental NGOs, Nature And Biodiversity Conservation
Public opinion in the EU strongly supports more ambitious national climate targets, according to a poll conducted in 12 European countries. The online poll commissioned by Transport&Environment from leading institute YouGov reveals that 68% of respondents would support their country’s climate target to be increased. The survey
According to a new draft law, Hungary’s Atomic Energy Authority – also responsible for the Paks 2 nuclear power plant investment – will no longer be under direct government control starting in 2022. Government politicians argued that the European Commission had long demanded the “independence” of the Authority, but critics are
Slovakia now has plans for a drastic reduction of the emissions of its steel mill in the city of Košice, following Slovakia’s finance minister (and former PM) Igor Matovič’s high-level visit to the US owner of the facility, US Steel. The plan would replace the operation’s
Central and Eastern Europeans were forced to live under a communist regime for four decades, which hindered their development and broke them off from Western European progress. However, the former Soviet block has been reviving, growing twice as fast as the Western part of the continent for years, which has
Bulgaria’s president’s Security and Defence Secretary, Stefan Yanev, will be the prime minister of Bulgaria’s caretaker government. President Rumen Radev has appointed the government by decree. Gulub Donev will be deputy prime minister for Economic and Social Policy and Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Boiko Rashkov
More than 60% of Hungarian start-ups are using some sort of “deep tech,” according to the Hungarian Start-up Report conducted by Microsoft among 232 local start-ups. The top verticals were AI, Big Data, Fintech, Analytics/BI, IoT, and Medtech. The study strengthens a preconceived notion that Hungary
As head of the new Luxembourg-based European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Laura Codruta Kovesi is poised to lead a Europe-wide effort to curtail losses due to corruption, which she estimates amount to EUR 60 billion each year. From 2015-18, she led similar efforts in her native
Exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky at a public hearing of the European Parliment told to MEPs: Russia has recruited allies in Angela Merkel’s German chancellor’s “inner circle” so as in the Austrian intelligence services. One of the earliest and most well known Russian ologarch, Khodorkovsky with his UK-based
So far, the Baltic States, Romania, and Slovakia have all expelled Russian diplomats to show their solidarity with the Czech Republic, but Czechia’s prime minister, Andrej Babiš, is hoping for more. At last weekend’s gathering of EU leaders for the “Social Summit” in Portugal, Babiš asked other counterparts