Lithuania allowing Taiwan to open a ‘Taiwanese Representative Office’ in its capital Vilnius “gave China reason to go all-out against us”, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says in an interview with the right-wing UK magazine The Spectator. Beijing withdrew its ambassador and blocked imports from Lithuania, deleting it from its
Inflation was highest in Estonia amongst the Eurozone countries in May, according to a Eurostat report that estimated 20.1% year-on-year for the Baltic country. Inflation climbed from 11.6% in Estonia in February, up from 14.8% in March and 19.1% in April. As numbers diverged wildly across
As Europe attempts a highly complicated manoeuvre to phase out Russian energy, two countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are taking very different roads. While EU member Slovakia is signing supply contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from northern Europe, accession candidate Serbia has agreed a medium-term gas deal
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that banks, insurance companies, retail chains, energy firms, telcos and airlines in Hungary will have to pay a large proportion of what he called their “surplus profits” into two state funds in 2022 and 2023, on Wednesday. The money will be used to subsidise
Fossil fuel prices in Europe have increased notably since the onset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Mercator Research Institute (MCC) writes in its new report. Higher prices affect households across EU countries differently, it adds. Financial impacts would constitute average additional ‘overnight’ costs for households of more than
The US can do without Russian oil, but has been reluctant to give up on its metals. Sanctions against Russian aluminium lasted less than a year before being lifted, due to their impact on US producers. Russian oil and gas have been high on the agenda of late, but Russia
In a letter to be sent to EU finance ministers, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia jointly call for frozen Russian assets to be used towards the reconstruction of Ukraine in the aftermath of its invasion by Russia. The letter written by the four Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, seen
Austrian energy group OMV announced on Friday that it was opening an account with Russian Gazprombank for ruble conversion. The development came after repeated Austrian assertions that it would not pay for gas in rubles, as Russia demanded in response to EU sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine on 24
The European Commission (EC) adopted a EUR 300bn proposal for the 27-country bloc to be entirely independent of Russian energy by 2027, on Wednesday 18 May. “We must now reduce as soon as possible our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. I’m deeply convinced we can,” EC President Ursula von
The Slovak government approved a proposal to impose an extra import tax on Russian-processed crude oil on Wednesday. The levy would impact Slovnaft, a subsidiary of Hungarian energy firm MOL that has a refinery in the Slovak capital of Bratislava, Hungarian-language Slovak daily Uj Szo wrote. Slovak Finance Minister Igor
Croatia is currently boosting its own gas security in preparation for next winter, Energy Minister Davor Filipovic announced. By 1 November, Croatia will have filled its only underground gas storage facility in Okoli, central Croatia, by up to 90%, Filipovic told state broadcaster HRT. Filipovic was speaking after a report
The European Commission (EC) is about to release the EUR 36bn Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) funds to Poland that were suspended over disagreements regarding the independence of the country’s judiciary. The EU will release the grants and loans on condition that Poland dismantles its disciplinary judicial chamber and
The EU failed to agree on its latest sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, as Hungary refused to drop its threat to torpedo the package. Consensus on a blanket embargo of Russian oil remains elusive and could take another “week or two”, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on Monday,
G7 ministers expressed their concern about the “deepening political crisis” in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and support for the commencement of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, following a meeting in northern Germany at the weekend. In a strongly worded joint statement, the foreign ministers of the US,
The EU on Monday failed to make headway on finalising a sixth package of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, which includes a complete embargo on oil imports from the country. The first five rounds of EU sanctions included asset freezes and travel bans on Russian
MEPs on the environment committee of the European Parliament (ENVI) will vote on a tranche of environmental proposals early next week. On Monday and Tuesday (16-17 May), the ENVI will decide on around half of the regulations detailed in the European Commission’s Fit for 55 package to cut greenhouse
The European Commission (EC) could channel funds to countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to help reduce their dependence on Russian fuels, in the wake of Hungary threatening to veto the planned EU embargo on Russian oil imports. The financial compensation would be disbursed via the new RePowerEU strategy
Czechia will participate in the UN Human Rights Council meeting on Thursday 12 May, after being elected as Russia’s replacement in the 47-member body earlier this week. The special session from 10am will address the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine including reported atrocities in Mariupol, at the request
NATO has around 30 surveillance and fighter jets in airspace outside of Ukraine and Belarus at any moment according the defence alliance, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO also released an infographic outlining the allied aircraft able to be deployed in airspace in Central and Eastern Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron told Chinese President Xi that France expects China to reverse the sanctions it has imposed on Lithuania during a telephone call on Tuesday. China has removed Lithuania from its customs system over its recognition of the independence of Taiwan, which the superpower considers illegitimate. Lithuania’s
Tour operator TUI Belgium has cancelled scheduled summer flights to Bulgaria and North Macedonia citing falling interest in destinations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the start of the war in Ukraine. The subsidiary of UK-German tourism firm TUI Group says customer demand has also fallen for CEE weekend
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen paid an unexpected visit to Budapest on Monday evening to discuss the EU’s proposed package of sanctions against Russia with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. After the meeting, von der Leyen tweeted: “This evening’s discussion with PM Viktor Orban was helpful
Serbian and Croatian business organisations are calling for less friction in the flow of goods across their common border, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, local media reported. At a meeting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on Monday, Serbian Chamber of Commerce president Marko Cadez and Croatian Chamber
The EU has revised its proposal to ban Russia oil imports by the end of 2022, in order to give Hungary and Slovakia an extra two years to comply. The third country offered a deadline extension by the EU is Czechia, which would have a six-month earlier deadline, of June
Companies from at least nine Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries will present their products and services at the upcoming military, aeronautical and security equipment exhibition Black Sea Defense and Aerospace (BSDA) in Bucharest, Romania. The biannual event’s organisers describe BSDA as a platform for Romanian companies to establish