A collection of 206 posts
Finland and Sweden abandoned their long-standing neutrality and joined NATO in 2023 and 2024 respectively, citing heightened security threats from Russia. Austria, bordered by NATO members Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, is increasingly the odd one out in Central Europe’s defence landscape.
CEE contributions include cross-border logistics, public-private coordination platforms, and green recovery initiatives. Regional forums such as the Three Seas Initiative are also expected to play a larger role in financing and implementation.
The European Commission (EC) published long-term budget allocation plans on 17 July, showing Poland set to receive the highest national allocation under the 2028-34 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), totalling EUR 123.3bn.
The signatories, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, said the policy’s “visibility and predictability” would be compromised if merged into a broader single investment fund.
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.
Polish Deputy PM and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in April that Poland’s defence strategy prioritises frontline support and rapid capacity building. He added that Poland “will not turn anyone away” from its training centres, including non-combat personnel.
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
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
Hungary and Slovakia have emerged as the most vocal opponents of two of the EU’s most consequential reform proposals: plans to phase out Russian energy imports and to overhaul the bloc’s long-term budget to prioritise defence, climate and digital transition. EU mulls ban of new Russian energy contracts
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&