A collection of 104 posts
Eastern Europe will be high on the agenda during France’s six-month EU rotating presidency tenure which will commence in under three weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron underlined on Thursday. Without specifically naming Poland and Hungary, Macron called the rule of law “non-negotiable” for the EU and urged countries to
US President Joe Biden discussed the threat of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine with numerous NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) on Thursday. Speaking with the leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia for 40 minutes, Biden pledged to
Every country in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has increased its research and development (R&D) intensity over the last decade, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. Poland and Czechia were the regional frontrunners from 2010-20, as they both increased intensity – i.e. R&D expenditure as a
An official visit of a Slovakia delegation to Taiwan is drawing the ire of China. Senior officials from Bratislava, who arrived on Sunday, are looking to deepen ties with the self-governed island nation, which China claims as its own territory. Another EU member state making a visit to Taiwan is
Since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, hundreds of UK-linked entrepreneurs have taken up e-residency in Estonia. From the moment it became clear that the UK have voted to leave the EU, the small Baltic country has been enjoying this Brexit benefit. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is only
America’s biggest food delivery firm DoorDash made a grand entrance onto the delivery service markets of Central and Eastern Europe on Tuesday with a EUR 7bn stock acquisition of Finland’s Wolt. As a startup, Wolt made its first delivery in Helsinki in 2014 and since then has expanded
Estonia received the third most venture capital (VC) per person in the world over the last 12 months, according to business information platform Crunchbase. The Baltic country’s lofty position on the list is mainly due to the multinational Bolt, which raised nearly USD 700 million in a funding round
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries are over-achievers regarding ‘digital quality of life’, according to the latest Digital Quality of Life (DQL) index. A strong e-culture generally correlates closely with GDP per capita, but 9 of the 21 global exceptions to this rule were in Eastern Europe in 2020: Bulgaria,
It has been hailed in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as their most ambitious shared project for a century. Rail Baltica – a EUR 5.8 billion high-speed railway between Helsinki and Warsaw – was originally planned for completion in 2026. However the north-east-Europe-spanning rail-link between the Finnish and
Loosening the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) would lessen the currently dramatic rises in energy prices, Estonia’s Economy and Infrastructure Minister Taavi Aas wrote on Tuesday. The ETS is not the root cause of the recent soar in European gas and electricity prices, but modifications to it could
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are all highly competitive in terms of taxes, according to the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI). Estonia leads the ITCI rankings for the eighth consecutive year thanks to minimal levies on non-resident businesses, low marginal tax rates on individual income and
Latvia has announced a month-long COVID lockdown after a surge in infections and hospitalisations, becoming the first EU country to reintroduce the strict conditions in place across much of Europe earlier in the year. In the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, Latvia received praise for its successful response. However
Russia has announced that it will suspend its NATO mission in Brussels after the western military alliance expelled eight employees for being “undeclared Russian intelligence officers” earlier this month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that the move is retaliatory, and his country will also withdraw accreditation of NATO staff
For the citizens of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, the signs are ominous. As the Baltic countries look ahead to rising Covid-19 rates in plummeting temperatures, they are meanwhile facing soaring energy bills. The only hope for manageable energy bills is mild weather in the months ahead, representatives of electricity firms