A collection of 227 posts
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
Hungarian Sinologist Tamas Matura argued in his recent report for CEPA that China wields little influence in Hungary, despite the Hungarian government’s decade of support for Beijing in the EU. However, shortly after the release of the CEPA report, China’s CATL announced plans to build a EUR 7.
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
After months of deliberation, Estonia banned Russian citizens with tourist visas from entering its territory on Thursday, effective as of next week. In a move that Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas described as “necessary”, over 50,000 visas will be rescinded, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Estonia Foreign
The Hungarian government unveiled a number of energy-related measures at the weekend, in response to soaring prices and an impending autumn fuel crisis in Europe. In a decree announced Saturday, Hungary hiked from 25% to 40% its windfall tax on oil companies’ “surplus profits”. The cabinet is increasing its levy
The EU annual inflation rate rose from 8.8% to 9.6% in June, the bloc’s official statistics agency Eurostat reports. The inflation rate in June last year was 2.2%. Inflation was highest in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and in the three Baltic countries in particular, with
North Macedonia and Albania nominally began their EU accession negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday, with detailed discussions slated to begin in the autumn. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “right after the Intergovernmental Conference today, the Commission and the negotiation teams from Albania and North Macedonia will start
The Hungarian government said on Monday that it will pass a parliamentary resolution condemning EU criticism of its refusal to participate in the plan to introduce a global minimum tax rate of 15%. The measure, which aims to create a global tax floor for multinational corporations, is backed both by
Hungary had the highest proportion of solar technology in its electricity production in the EU last year, according to the Hungarian energy and public utility authority MEKH. Solar accounted for 11.1% of electricity generation in Hungary last year, MEKH announced on Monday, local business website Portfolio reported. Athough Hungary’
Austria’s foreign and European affairs minister said he expects the countries in the Western Balkans (WB) to join the EU, after he met Serbian government officials in Belgrade on Monday, 13 June. Alexander Schallenberg added that he hopes Serbia and other WB states will align their stances on Russia
As Europe attempts a highly complicated manoeuvre to phase out Russian energy, two countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are taking very different roads. While EU member Slovakia is signing supply contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from northern Europe, accession candidate Serbia has agreed a medium-term gas deal
The European Commission (EC) adopted a EUR 300bn proposal for the 27-country bloc to be entirely independent of Russian energy by 2027, on Wednesday 18 May. “We must now reduce as soon as possible our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. I’m deeply convinced we can,” EC President Ursula von
The EU failed to agree on its latest sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, as Hungary refused to drop its threat to torpedo the package. Consensus on a blanket embargo of Russian oil remains elusive and could take another “week or two”, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday,
G7 ministers expressed their concern about the “deepening political crisis” in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and support for the commencement of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, following a meeting in northern Germany at the weekend. In a strongly worded joint statement, the foreign ministers of the US,
The EU on Monday failed to make headway on finalising a sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, which includes a complete embargo on oil imports from the country. The first five rounds of EU sanctions included asset freezes and travel bans on Russian