A collection of 67 posts
Lithuania’s new Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas plans to increase the country’s defence spending to 3.5% of GDP in response to security concerns, he announced as he took office on Thursday, 21 November. MPs in the Baltic country’s parliament, the Seimas, confirmed Paluckas, 45, as the country’
As Donald Trump officially declared his victory in the US election, he received congratulations from numerous Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) leaders including Polish President Andrzej Duda and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. However, CEE politicians and observers are now wondering what the leadership change in Washington will bring, as
Bulgarian ex-prime minister Boyko Borissov’s conservative, pro-EU GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) party garnered approximately 25% of the votes in Bulgaria’s 7th general election in 4 years on Sunday, 27 October, falling well short of a majority to rule independently. An exit poll by local firm
Germany’s Rheinmetall will spend more than EUR 180mn on an ammunition manufacturing facility in Lithuania, the Lithuanian Economy and Innovation Ministry said. The production unit is expected to produce tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition per year. Last week the Lithuanian economy and finance ministries said another EUR
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk vowed to tackle inflation, drive record economic growth, and bolster key investments in energy and infrastructure when he unveiled the country’s 2025 budget on Friday, 30 August. Tusk said his government has set a high bar for the budget. “We aim to keep inflation
The expansion and modernisation of the NATO air base in Constanta, south-east Romania, symbolises the country’s growing strategic importance to NATO and the US, regional expert Ronald H. Linden writes in an article entitled “Romania is America’s new indispensable ally in Eastern Europe” in US politics daily The
Hungary will not be obliged to participate in military actions outside its territory or send money or troops to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after he met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Budapest on Wednesday, 12 June, ahead of the treaty organisation’s Washington Summit next month.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed to progress with planning a greater role in coordinating aid to Ukraine on the first of two days of meetings at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday 4 April, the 75th anniversary of the signing of the defence alliance’s founding document.
Hungarian MPs approved a proposal on ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO with 188 in favour and 6 dissenting votes, on Monday, 26 February. Hungary was the last member of the defence alliance to vote through Sweden’s membership. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted “I welcome the Hungarian parliament’
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte is reportedly likely to succeed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in October, as the US on Wednesday 21 February joined the group of two-thirds of member countries who back his nomination. Although US President Joe Biden has not publicly backed Rutte, one of
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asked his MPs to proceed with Sweden’s ratification as NATO member “at the first possible opportunity” in a climbdown from the delay tactics seen since the Scandinavian country officially asked to join the defence alliance in May 2022. Orban earlier pledged that Hungary
Slovenia will increase its defence budget to reach 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, a significant increase from the current 1.35%, Slovenian Defence Minister Marjan Sarec announced at the SOBRA international fair in Gornja Radgona, north Slovenia, on Thursday. In 2023 the defence budget of Slovenia,
Slovenia and Austria were the worst hit countries by the severe floods that swept over Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the weekend. As thousands evacuated their homes and four died in Slovenia, the country asked for help from the EU and NATO. In Austria, one person died after falling
The leaders of Ukraine and Lithuania were left frustrated at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, despite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s assertion that “there has never been stronger language for membership in NATO”. Although a communiqué issued after the two-day event proclaimed that “Ukraine’s
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda held a joint press conference on Monday, 10 July, the day before the start of the NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, with 48 delegations of some 2,400 people, including 40 heads of state and 150 leading officials, due to