Central Europe / News
Hungary threatens to block Dutch PM Rutte as new Nato chief
Hungarian delay in Sweden's Nato membership has already strained ties with allies, undermined the country’s credibility and reinforced views that Prime Minister Viktor Orban serves Russian interests.
Latvian government adopts €300mn eastern border defence plan
The Eastern border military strengthening and anti-mobility plan is part of the creation of the Baltic Defence Line involving all three Baltic states
Macron doubles down on idea of using Nato troops in Ukraine
French president for a "strategic leap" in Western thinking on help to Kyiv.
Poland’s parliament delays work on changes to abortion law until after local elections in April
Poland’s four-party coalition government is split on how far the changes should go.
Central Europe's top security conference moves to Prague amid pressure from Slovak cabinet
Robert Fico's government is targeting Slovakia's strong roster of think-tanks, which he argues is part of the opposition campaign against him.
Poland to push EU to ban food imports from Russia and Belarus
Prime Minister Donald Tusk is going to ask the Polish parliament this week for a resolution calling on the ban of farm product imports from Russia and Belarus.
Hungarian government paid for regional online advertisement push in support of political allies
Hungary’s advertisement campaign featured the headline “Hungary protects the EU from illegal migration”.
Slovak TV Markiza said to be scaling down politics in news
The reported editorial changes allegedly follow pressure from the new left-right government of Robert Fico, who has labelled the station an "enemy media".
Zelenskiy says situation at Poland border has gone 'too far'
Ukraine says Poland is not doing enough to contain the protests that hurt its economy during wartime.
Slovak foreign minister slammed by opposition and president for meeting Russia's Lavrov
Prime Minister Robert Fico praised the meeting as an example of a “balanced and sovereign Slovak foreign policy”.
Hungary’s central bank governor slams government policy and flags risks to independence
Central bank governor Gyorgy Matolcsy slammed the government's economic policy shift in mid-2021 and denounced attempts by the cabinet to curb the central bank’s independence.
Czech lower house passes watered down legislation enhancing the rights of same sex couples
Marriage for all staunchly opposed by the powerful conservative wing in the parliament.
Slovak Constitutional Court suspends part of Fico’s judicial overhaul
Court rushes to suspend several key paragraphs in the government's controversial legislative reform
Thailand's SCBX acquires PPF's Home Credit Vietnam business for €800mn
PPF founded Home Credit Vietnam in 2008, becoming the second largest player in the Vietnamese consumer finance sector.
Czech court maintains Liberty Ostrava's protection from bankruptcy
Liberty Ostrava has not been operating since December after its main energy supplier cut off power and went into bankruptcy.
Czech plan reportedly secures 800,000 pieces of ammunition for Ukraine
Czechs use worldwide arms contacts to locate ammunition stocks which “for political reasons” the supplying countries won’t be able to deliver themselves.
British man arrested after illegally trying to cross Russian border to meet online fiancée
A lovestruck Brit was arrested on February 23 after attempting to illegally cross the border from Poland into Russia, where he wanted to meet a girl he had met online.
Despite differences over Ukraine, V4 leaders stress the platform is not dead
Split over Ukraine has led analysts and journalists to describe the group as the V2+V2 rather than the V4, and to speculate whether it had a function anymore.
Hungarian central bank cuts key rate by 100bp to 9%
Hungary’s economy has seen strong and general disinflation as headline CPI last month fell 1.7pp on a monthly basis to 3.8%.
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Macron says sending Nato ground troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out
French president says Russia now presents a greater danger and nothing should be excluded.