Producers in Poland, Czechia and Moldova are rebranding locally and pursuing new strategies to stay afloat after the collapse of major foreign markets, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions on premium alcohol.
Under the Hague Investment Plan adopted on 25 June, NATO members committed to raise annual defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. The 5% comprises 3.5% on conventional military capability and 1.5% on infrastructure, cyber-defence and civil preparedness; including support for Ukraine. cet
Hungary has now fallen to the lowest position in the EU for actual individual consumption (AIC), despite its starting position ahead of several regional peers two decades ago.
In late May, Merz said Nord Stream 2 must stay closed to “weaken Moscow's war machine” and also declared that his government would “do everything” to prevent the pipeline from going online.ce
While Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia continue to attract foreign capital, structural delays in electrification and infrastructure risk diminishing long-term value, according to the International Trade Centre (ITC) Trade Map.
China's trade with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) reached USD 142.3bn in 2024, marking a 6.3% year-on-year increase, surpassing China's overall foreign trade growth rate by 2.5 percentage points, according to China's General Administration of Customs.
The total marked a 4.
Nominal minimum wages in Romania and Bulgaria have more than doubled in the last decade, with the sharpest growth before 2020. Czechia and Slovakia now apply EU-aligned benchmarks for annual adjustments.
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) gained new recognition in Dealroom’s 2025 Global Tech Ecosystem Index, with CEE capital cities Vilnius, Lithuania; Warsaw, Poland; and Zagreb, Croatia, named among the world’s top 100 emerging innovation hubs.
The index, released on 21 May, ranked 288 cities worldwide. While Paris and
Independent pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan won Romania’s presidential election on Sunday, 18 May, defeating far-right challenger George Simion in a runoff vote. The result represents a holding of the political centre after months of polarised campaigning, easing tensions in Brussels and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
Dan secured 53.
First they laughed off George Simion as a fringe agitator. Now, with a commanding first-round lead behind him, the ultranationalist is one step away from Romania’s presidency. His opponent on 18 May, Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan, is racing to unite the fractured political centre to stop him.
Romania'
In a new step in the cleaner transport transition, OMV Petrom has inaugurated Romania's largest electric vehicle (EV) hub with 34 charging points of up to 400kW on the A1 motorway near Miercurea Sibiului, central Romania.
The site is located on the Rhine-Danube Corridor - one of Romania’
Estonia has surged to second place in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, its best-ever result and the highest ranking among EU countries.
Estonia's ranking in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index is the highest ever achieved by a Central and Eastern European (CEE) country since the index&
Far-right leader George Simion surged to a clear lead in the first round of Romania’s presidential election rerun, taking 40.9% of the vote ahead of the 18 May runoff that could reshape the country’s entire political trajectory.
Simion, leader of the ultranationalist Alliance for the Union of
US President Donald Trump’s new raft of global tariffs threatens to hammer the export-driven economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with his 25% duty on foreign-made cars posing a direct risk to regional manufacturing.
As highly integrated suppliers in Germany-led EU value chains, Slovakia, Hungary and Czechia are
The EU’s employment rate reached a record high of 70.9% in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). But while this marks a major milestone for the bloc, the picture in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is more complex, as