A collection of 227 posts
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was accused of mission creep by the international community after he opened his first week hosting the six-month EU rotating presidency with unannounced trips to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing. Orban’s final destination after a busy week was Washington DC, for the long-planned NATO summit
The EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine on 25 June. The agreement of the EU’s 27 members was secured the previous week, despite efforts from Hungary to block the move. “These are truly historic moments. Ukraine is and will always be part of a united Europe,
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was nominated on Friday, 28 June as the EU’s foreign policy chief (High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy), subject to agreement from the European Commission (EC) president. Kallas will succeed Spain’s Josep Borrell and become the first politician
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who recently described the current European Commission (EC) as “the worst one” ever, framed the June 7-9 elections as a decisive moment between peace and the spectre of war looming over Europe, at a large demonstration in Budapest on Saturday, 1 June. Orban called for
Countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) made up five of the seven signatories states of a letter expressing concern over recent developments in Georgia to its Parliamentary Chairman H.E. Shalva Papuashvili sent on Friday, 24 May. In recent months, Georgia has witnessed political and social upheaval, as anti-government
Poland will invest PLN 10bn (EUR 2.35bn) in securing its eastern border against the rising threat of Russia and Belarus, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday, 18 May. Tusk said Poland is “starting a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications, landscaping
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Hungary underscores the geopolitical importance of the growing bilateral friendship. China’s new investments in Hungary total EUR 16bn and are expected to reach EUR 30bn by the end of the year. On his first visit to Europe since the pandemic, Chinese
As Chinese President Xi completed his trip to Europe, he held a conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, with whom he had spent three of the five days. Although Xi failed to give concrete details, Hungarian officials said 18 agreements had been signed between their country and China, but
China’s Huawei and Hungary’s 4iG signed a letter of intent to establish a common cloud service platform for Hungarian companies and large Chinese and Asian companies with a presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Budapest from 8-10 May 2024.
The EU will close its Article 7 procedure over democratic backsliding against Poland that was initiated in 2017 against the country’s nationalist government led by the former ruling party Law and Justice (PiS), European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, 6 May. The EC could
Nationalist opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), toppled last year after eight years in power by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) grouping, came first in the country’s local government elections, an exit poll showed Sunday, 7 April. The election is seen as a bellwether for
The EU approved the opening of accession negotiations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a candidate since 2022, on Thursday, 21 March 2024. BiH now faces a lengthy reform process to join the EU. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola wrote: “Today’s decision to start accession negotiations is an important step
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied against the presidential pardon scandal in Budapest on Friday evening. The catalyst for the protests is what the BBC described as “the biggest threat to (Hungarian) Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rule since he returned to power in 2010”. Papal visit prompted controversial pardon
Ukraine is planned to be added to the Trans-European TEN-T transport corridor, enabling access to the rest of Europe for trains from Lviv, west Ukraine. The Mediterranean Corridor will be the only TEN-T line that completely links western and eastern Europe, starting from the southern coast of Spain, through Almeria,
Polish farmers from Solidarity announced Friday that the trade union is planning a blockade of the country’s border crossings with Ukraine from Friday, 9 February, joining similar protests in Germany, France, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal. Farmers say they oppose rising costs, EU climate change measures, and “unfair competition