Central Europe / News
Education minister quits to put Slovak coalition crisis to bed
Peter Plavcan resigns over EU funding scandal as Slovak Nationalists back down.
Czech police seek removal of immunity for PM frontrunner
Czech police requested that parliament remove the immunity of Andrej Babis. Likely the latest in a series of political potshots, the effort will struggle to derail the march of the billionaire leader of the Ano party to take the PM's seat.
Poland-born reformist head of Ukraine's rail monopoly resigns
Wojciech Balczun submitted his resignation after little more than a year at the helm of Ukrzaliznytsia citing a "negative PR-campaign and even sabotage" against him.
Junior coalition member insists Slovak government will survive
The junior parties in Slovakia’s ruling coalition want to continue the government after the SNS announced its withdrawal, but some sound more committed than others.
Stateless Saakashvili resurfaces in Poland, Georgia petitions Warsaw for extradition
Georgia's stateless former president Mikheil Saakashvili turns up in Poland to attend Warsaw Uprising commemoration, insists he will journey back to Ukraine to fight withdrawal of citizenship.
Polish passport design provokes Lithuania and Ukraine
The new design proposed by the Polish home affairs ministry features depictions of the Ukrainian city of Lviv and Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Czech rate setters take the plunge
Czech National Bank raises interest rates by 20bp, becoming the first central bank in the EU to hike rates in the recovery business cycle.
US VP affirms support for CEE allies as relations with Russia deteriorate
“America has no small allies, only strong allies,” says Mike Pence as he visits Estonia, Georgia and Montenegro days after US Congress votes for tough new sanctions on Russia.
CEE/CIS economic hubs face $1.3 trillion infrastructure gap
The region's steepest gap - of $727bn - is in Russia where inadequate infrastructure spending in recent decades has hindered economic growth.
European Commission threatens Poland with imminent nuclear option
The European Commission threatened on July 26 that it will immediately launch the Article 7 "nuclear option" against Poland should Warsaw push through the controversial reforms to the country's senior courts that were vetoed by the president.
Brussels presses Visegrad states on migrant quotas
Populist governments in the "Visegrad Four" states are resisting the EU’s migrant quotas scheme intended to redistribute 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece.
EU allows Gazprom to use an additional 40% of OPAL gas pipeline's capacity
The EU has reportedly backed off and loosened restrictions on access of Russia’s Gazprom to the OPAL pipeline, which will allow the energy giant to send more gas to European clients via its Nord Stream pipeline.
Polish president delivers blow to government's judiciary reform
Polish President Andrzej Duda surprised as he announced he will veto two out of three controversial bills aimed at reforming the judiciary. But that's unlikely to prove the end of the story.