A collection of 36 posts
Czechia received near universal acclaim as it completed its stewardship of the presidency of the Council of the EU, which will now be led by Sweden. Leading Czech daily Denik N, wrote that Czechia had “grown up” during its tenure, which ran from July to December 2022. EC officials give
Czechia and Qatar signed bilateral agreements on Wednesday, as the Gulf state announced that it will open its first embassy in the Czech capital of Prague in the next few months. Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim met Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in Prague, and said mutual relations will be explored
German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) may close its plants in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) if the natural gas shortage persists beyond this winter, procurement manager Geng Wu said. Volkswagen will consider bringing factories closer to the point of sales, in the medium-term, Wu added, citing the worldwide shortage of microchips
Onsemi inaugurated the expansion of its silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor fabrication plant in Roznov, east Czechia, on Wednesday. The USD 450mn investment will create 200 jobs and increase onsite SiC production capabilities 16-fold over the next two years. The Arizona-based semiconductor supplier makes SiC power devices for electric vehicles and
As the September 21 deadline approaches, leaders in Brussels are split on whether to finally unlock billions of euros that have been withheld from Hungary due to concerns about the rule of law and corruption in the country. In addition to around EUR 6bn that Hungary was earmarked to receive
Crude oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia will recommence after Hungarian energy firm MOL paid the August transit fee for usage of the southern, Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline on Wednesday. Ukraine suspended Russian oil flows through the pipeline on Thursday 4 August, Russian pipeline operator Transneft said
Hungary’s currency, the forint, has in recent weeks plumbed all-time lows against the euro. Although currencies are dropping across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) due to the war in Ukraine and its resultant sanctions, the forint’s fall has been the region’s most precipitous. The fall of the
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said it is extremely important that the EU provide support to Africa, when he and his opposite numbers from Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary and Slovenia gathered in Budapest on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the famine caused by his war in Ukraine,
Tour operator TUI Belgium has cancelled scheduled summer flights to Bulgaria and North Macedonia citing falling interest in destinations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the start of the war in Ukraine. The subsidiary of UK-German tourism firm TUI Group says customer demand has also fallen for CEE weekend
The EU has revised its proposal to ban Russia oil imports by the end of 2022, in order to give Hungary and Slovakia an extra two years to comply. The third country offered a deadline extension by the EU is Czechia, which would have a six-month earlier deadline, of June
The combination of a rise in demand for renewable energy sources and supply-chain issues is causing problems for manufacturers in Czechia and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Companies in Czechia cannot meet the increasingly high demand for renewables due to a shortfall in both materials and workers,
Czechia’s new government will allocate more EU subsidies to smaller-scale family farms, and fewer to the country’s traditionally dominant large landowners, from next year. The conservative-led coalition that succeeded Babis has deeply discussed its policy within the EU Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan. The result was a document
Czechia’s President Milos Zeman officially appointed Petr Fiala as prime minister to lead a broad coalition of right-wing and centrist parties on Sunday, after his predecessor Andrej Babis lost the national elections in October. Fiala said his new coalition, expected to form mid-December, hopes to be a government of
Polish Climate and Environment minister Anna Moskwa appeared to reverse Poland’s commitment to cutting coal power by 2030 on Thursday, just hours after her government had signed up for the policy at the COP26 climate conference. More than 40 major fuel-burning countries including Poland and Ukraine pledged to phase
Czechia looks set to be ruled by a liberal, centre-right coalition after five parties agreed on a joint programme on Tuesday, around one month after outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s narrow election defeat. Prospective prime minister Petr Fiala, who leads the liberal-conservative, eurosceptic Civic Democratic Party (ODS), said Tuesday