A collection of 244 posts
Estonia had the highest employment rate in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) of 81.9% in 2022, according to the recently released data of the EU statistics agency Eurostat. Just behind the Baltic country were Czechia, with 81.3%, and Hungary (80.2%). The middle grouping of the EU member
Czech President Petr Pavel called for a “joint and balanced” strategy between the US, Europe, and other democracies to address China’s growing economic and political power while avoiding divisive lines between them, on Friday 21st April. During a visit to Brussels, Pavel discussed EU-US-China relations with European Council President
The EU’s mooted ‘critical raw materials (CRM) law’ would strengthen the EU’s autonomy by reducing its reliance on third countries for the supply of essential minerals for green energy and modern industry. Proposed recently by the European Commission (EC), the legislation would mean the reopening of mines earlier
Croatia had the highest share of tourism in total gross value added (GVA) at 11%, EU statistics office Eurostat finds in a newly released report entitled “Tourism Satellite Accounts in Europe”. GVA is output produced after deducting the intermediate value of consumption, or gross domestic product added to product subsidies,
Poland and Hungary have temporarily ceased importing Ukrainian grain and other agricultural produce, defying warnings from the EU that unilateral action would violate its trade policy. Following Poland and Hungary, the Slovak government also announced that it would temporarily restrict the import of grain and other products from Ukraine, citing
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid out his hopes to build a new economic community in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with Romania and Ukraine in Bucharest on Tuesday, 28 March, and also criticised powerful Western countries for “undermining the region”. At the Polish-Romanian intergovernmental consultations in Bucharest, Morawiecki stressed cooperation
The number of pay TV subscribers in Eastern Europe will decline by 8mn from its peak of 81mn in 2018, to 73 million by 2028, according to a new report by Digital TV Research. However, the figures for 2018 included 17mn analogue-cable subscribers, which will have dropped to zero by
Poland will send Ukraine four MiG-29 fighter jets in the coming days, with more to follow later, according to an announcement by Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, 16 March. The move will make Poland the first NATO member country to fulfil the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for
The average net salary in Romania was RON 4,254 (EUR 864) in January 2023, up 15% year-on-year, but down RON 144, or 3.3%, month-on-month, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Wednesday 15 March, digi24.ro reported. However Romanians will not generally be
Hungarian National Bank (MNB) Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy has once again harshly criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s economic policy, business website Portfolio reported. Speaking about the MNB’s 2021 results in Parliament on Wednesday 9 March, Matolcsy said if inflation is due to external causes, then the central bank
Net investments in the Romanian economy were 150.1 billion leu (EUR 3.06bn) in 2022, up 8.5% on the previous year, according to National Institute of Statistics data, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Friday 10 March. “This demonstrates the confidence of investors in the Romanian economy,
German carmaker Volkwagen (VW) has put on hold its plans to open a battery plant in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) citing better incentives offered by the US. VW reportedly told EU officials last week that it will prioritise a battery plant in the US as it can access subsidies
Estonia is named the most prosperous country in Eastern Europe, and the 21st globally, in the newly-released 2023 Legatum Prosperity Index. Legatum’s 16th annual survey praises the Baltic country’s “effective policy response” to Covid, which meant “Estonia’s pandemic-period contraction was one of the smallest in Europe”, and
Annual inflation in the EU was 10% in January, according to the latest report from EU statistics office Eurostat. Of the 12 countries with inflation rates above the EU average of 10%, 11 were from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with the highest annual inflation rates found in Hungary (26.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the EU for imposing new sanctions instead of providing assistance and for depriving Hungary and Poland of the recovery funds they were entitled to, in his annual “state of the nation” speech in Budapest on Sunday, 19 February. Standing in front of a sign