A collection of 381 posts
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
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have discussed building a pipeline to transit Algerian gas when they unveiled the first power line linking their countries’ national grids Slovenia’s green energy mogul turned premier said the “expression of solidarity” would “allow Hungary to free itself
Wizz Air will serve 31% more passengers than Ryanair in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Caucuses this winter, according a new report that cites Official Aviation Guide (OAG) data. While the Hungary-headquartered airline runs 651 routes to, from and in CEE, this figure is 514 for Ryanair. That
Croatia has decided to introduce compulsory shop closures on Sundays, Croatian Employment and Family Minister Marin Piletic told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, 1 November. “The law will allow retail staff to spend Sunday with their families,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said. According to the proposed amendments
Orlen Unipetrol, owned by Poland’s leading energy company PKN Orlen, will take over 143 petrol stations in Hungary and 39 in Slovakia, the Budapest Stock Exchange announced on Thursday, 1 November. The regional shake-up of retail fuel operators involves all of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries, Poland, Czechia, Hungary
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,
Hungary could lose billions of euros from its Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding entitlement after the European Commission (EC) decided that it is unsatisfied with its rule of law reforms and corruption levels on Wednesday, 23 November. Hungary is officially entitled to EUR 5.8bn of RRF funds as
Robotisation has risen sharply in CEE, according to a new report entitled “How do Economies in EU-CEE Cope with Labour Shortages?” released by the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). As robotisation levels mainly depend on the automotive, electrics and electronics industries, they have spiked in recent years in
Ryanair’s ongoing dispute with the Hungarian government escalated last week, as the company’s CEO dismissed Hungary’s revisions to its aviation tax as “idiotic and damaging”. The stand-off over has pitted one of Europe’s most combative businessmen, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, against Hungary’s pugnacious Prime
The meeting of the parliamentary speakers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries scheduled for this Friday (25 November) has been cancelled after legislative leaders from Czechia and Poland announced they would not attend the event, citing Hungary’s friendly relations with Russia, Czech new website Seznam Zpravy reported. Czech Speaker
For the ninth consecutive year, Estonia has the best tax regime of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, according to the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index (ITCI). Of the index’s top ten countries, five from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were included. Estonia’s top ITCI
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
Household electricity prices rose year-on-year in the first half of 2022, from EUR 22 per to EUR 25.30 per 100 kWh on average, according to the latest report by Eurostat. Meanwhile households across the bloc saw gas prices climb from EUR 6.40 to EUR 8.60 per 100
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili signed a strategic partnership agreement and discussed responses to the energy crisis in Budapest on Thursday. A key point on the agenda was the possibility of transiting electricity from Azerbaijan to Hungary via Georgia and Romania. Orban said a
Romanian lorry drivers urged their government to “relentlessly lobby” for the country to join the Schengen zone on Monday, asserting that preventing lengthy delays at its border with Hungary would increase freight volumes by around 20%. On Monday, Europa 2002 Haulier Employers’ Association chairman Adrian Pop echoed the sentiments of