A collection of 197 posts
In the first visit to Taiwan by an official European Union delegation, 13 MEPs have met with Taiwanese premier Su Tseng-chang today in Taipei. Their visit comes in the wake of the EU having passed a resolution in October to “intensify EU-Taiwan political relations” and establish a bilateral investment agreement.
In conjunction with South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s 9-day tour of Europe, Slovakia and South Korea have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that could result in the delivery of Korean-built defense training aircraft to Slovakia. Bratislava is looking to replace its fleet of training aircraft and plans on
South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, begins a 9-day tour of Europe this week, ending with a meeting of the regional “Visegrad 4” group, where boosting business cooperation in areas like batteries and electric vehicles will be on the agenda. Today, president Moon is scheduled to meet with his Hungarian
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi commenced a whistlestop diplomatic tour of Europe yesterday in Greece, where he met his opposite number Nikos Dendias. Wang will also visit Serbia, Albania and Italy to talk trade, investment and cultural relations with the countries, all of which are participants in China’s Belt
Slovakia’s capital city Bratislava is having difficulty getting EU funding after the rapid rise in its GDP per capita in recent years. As with many Central and Eastern European capitals, Bratislava’s wealth has climbed well above the EU average, meaning that the city no longer qualifies for EU
Hungary has decided against a plan to expand the country’s ownership of agricultural land in some of its neighbors like Slovakia, through a EUR 400 million fund. The government said the land purchases were designed to support the agricultural activities of ethnic Hungarian minorities in Hungary’s immediate neighbors.
Uncertainty could loom over Europe for some time following this past weekend’s German elections, which did not produce a clear winner. Although the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) won by a narrow margin of 1.5% ahead of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a long and wary period
In Slovakia, Tesco is now in the rear mirror for German supermarket chain Lidl, whose profits for 2020 (over EUR 126 million) have exceeded that of the British retailer, which has been the market leader in the country for some time. Lidl overtaking Tesco in Slovakia can be attributed to
If not partly or fully owned by the state, like utility and oil companies, the largest companies in the Visegrad 4 (“V4”) countries – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia – are mostly foreign-owned and typically operate in the automotive, retail and electronics sectors. They are highly productive and prosperous, driving their
In Slovakia, a prototype flying car has completed a 35-minute flight between the country’s international airports in Nitra and Bratislava. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol. Its creator, professor Stefan Klein, said it could fly about 1,000km, at a
Since Viktor Orbán became the prime minister of Hungary, cooperation among the “Visegrád 4” (V4) countries – Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland – has become a key ingredient of the Hungarian government’s rhetoric. Now, with Hungary taking over the presidency of the Visegrad Group, the country is keen to
Meeting in Warsaw, finance ministers from the “Visegrad 4” (V4) country grouping – Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Slovakia – discussed post Covid-19 economic recovery plans and investments. They welcomed the global minimum tax proposed by the G7 but said they prefer an international solution in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
The European Commission has approved the economic Recovery and Resilience Plan submitted by Slovakia, which was among the first EU member states to present how it intends to spend EUR 6.3 billion in Union funds on things like education, healthcare and the environment. EC president Ursula von der Leyen
Shortly following the monumental changes to their governmental systems and economies, countries in Central & Eastern Europe did see their wages grow steadily – but over 30 years later it is apparent that average employee pay in the region can still be even half of that seen in the West of
Slovakia has been a great beneficiary of automotive industry expansion in recent decades. However, its high exposure to the global car market, and the ongoing far-reaching transformation of the industry may endanger the country’s outlook in this regard and reveal weaknesses in Slovakia’s economic growth model. “This is