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
The battle between Washington and Beijing over the rollout of 5G networks in Europe just scratches the surface of a broader conflict between the global superpowers. The actual “war” is over which country, China or the United States, will be able to consolidate its dominance over the technologies of the
The Hungarian government is working on its National Clean Development Strategy, which would set frameworks for achieving the 2050 climate targets, sais Attila Steiner, State Secretary for the Development of the Circular Economy, Energy and Climate Policy of Hungary’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology (ITM). He underlined that Hungary
Ahead of the EU foreign ministers council meeting on Monday, a working document entitled “EU reinforced engagement in the Western Balkans” details the region’s disillusionment with the slow, stop-and-go European Union enlargement process. The diplomatic paper comes in the wake of a political storm over a series
E-health, urban traffic management, self-driving cars, security services, energy networks, industrial facilities and the media – all industries and services in which 5G telecommunications networks will make up the basic critical infrastructure in the short term. Security of the network and supplier selection have become divisive geopolitical issues. Concurrently,
Welfare and unemployment are on the agenda in Porto, Portugal, where this weekend EU leaders are getting together for the first time in 5 months for a 2-day summit that started today. The leaders gathered in Portugal – minus German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Netherlands’ prime minister Mark Rutte
Eleven of the 27 member states want the EU to stop funding cross-border fossil-fuel energy projects. The related provisions are currently under review in Brussels. The group of countries lead by Denmark also includes Austria, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. They argue
EU sanctions being in place against China, and vice versa, have doused the approval prospects for a massive investment deal between the two sides, says European trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, who said the issue is not conducive for ratification. Observers point out the deterioration of the relations between Brussels and
From conspiracy theories through trade wars and espionage, debate regarding the political and social effects of 5G next-generation mobile network technology is polarized, dividing European citizens on the matter long before 5G becomes reality. General Political Framing of 5G in the EU “Internet-of-things”-driven smart services are