A collection of 239 posts
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia have jointly requested EU funding to develop the necessary infrastructure to support increased gas supplies from Azerbaijan. The countries say they recognize the importance of energy security for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and see the potential for Azerbaijan to play a crucial role in
As President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nears its first anniversary and Russia regroups, the defence sector politics of Central and Eastern Europe are also in transition. Fighting is moving to the flatter eastern Donbas region, in the wake of Russia’s retreat from the outskirts of Kyiv. To
The EU last year attempted to address the erosion of perceived democratic norms of the populist governments of Hungary and Poland, by withholding a combined EUR 138bn in funding from the two states. After this unprecedented move, 2023 will be the year when the EU decides on whether to make
The Council of the European Union adopted legislation Friday on releasing funds for Hungary’s EUR 5.8bn Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan that had been frozen for 18 months, dependent on the country meeting 27 anti-corruption and judicial reforms. Hungary’s steps have so far failed to convince
Bosnia and Herzegovina became an official candidate for EU membership in Brussels on Thursday, as the European Council approved the recommendation made by the European Commission in October, and then voted through by the EU Council and General Affairs Council this week. The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell called
A total of eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have co-signed a paper with four other EU member states that calls for the EU-wide cap on gas prices to be “significantly lower” than is currently being considered. Gas prices – and consequently inflation – have spiked in Europe since Russia’s
Next year the EU will provide Ukraine with EUR 18bn, circumventing Hungary’s veto, the Council of the European Union announced on Saturday. The loan to the war-torn country is aimed at short-term repairs of critical infrastructure and longer-term post-war reconstruction with an eye on future European integration. Czech Finance
Croatia will become the Schengen zone’s newest member on 1 January, the Council of the EU announced on Thursday, 8 December. Croatia will “take two important steps in its European integration, by joining both the euro and the Schengen areas”, noted Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, whose country has
The European Commission (EC) opened the possibility for EU national leaders to punish Hungary in an upcoming vote on funding suspensions, on Wednesday, 30th November. In a twin move, the EC suspended a EUR 7.5bn cohesion funding payments, subject to 17 milestones that Hungary must meet and, more ambiguously,
The EU brokered a last-ditch agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on Wednesday, 23 November, only for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to seemingly disregard the deal, which attempts to solve a long-running bilateral dispute over car registration plates. The EU has spent almost a decade formally working with the countries in
Hungary will find out whether it will receive its EUR 7.2 bn pandemic recovery fund payment on 22 November, Bloomberg reports, citing inside EU sources. After over a year of discussions, in September the European Commission (EC) froze the funds due to concerns regarding the rule of law in
MEPs backed Bulgaria and Romania joining the Schengen zone in the coming months by an overwhelming margin on Tuesday. Of the 639 members of the European Parliament (EP), 547 voted in favour of the proposal to 49 against and 43 abstentions. After the vote, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca tweeted
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