Baltic States
EU funding push grows for €23bn Rail Baltica project
Railway linking Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with Poland and the wider European network seen as key to European connectivity.
The battery gap: Europe only has 15mins of storage capacity
Europe has been pouring billions into building green energy generating capacity. But it is much further behind on storing that power. Europe's batteries go flat after only 15mins.
Finland's break with Russia left its economy struggling to keep up with defence spending
When Finland formally joined Nato in April 2023, abandoning the studied neutrality it had maintained since the Second World War, the decision was framed in Helsinki as an existential security choice forced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Switzerland breaks ground on world's most powerful battery
A construction crew in northern Switzerland is excavating a pit the size of two football pitches and 27 metres deep that will house the world's most powerful battery when it opens in 2029 — a $1bn batter that can supplying 210.000 homes
Renewables have saved Europe €100mn every day since the start of the Iran war
Solar power has been saving Europe more than €100mn a day since the US-Israel war on Iran began, Euronews reports, as the Strait of Hormuz blockade transforms the economics of Europe's energy transition from a climate crisis to a security issue.
World’s largest sand battery survives its worst winter, ready for roll out
The world's largest sand battery can store enough heat to warm a whole town for a week during the worst of a Finnish winter.
Iran-linked shock’s impact on Emerging Europe seen milder than 2022 crisis, says wiiw economist
Severity of current shock in Emerging Europe linked to Iran war unlikely to match the 2022 crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent
“We’ve seen record heatwaves from the Mediterranean to the Arctic, while glaciers have been shrinking and snow cover melting. The evidence is unequivocal: climate change is not a future threat. It is our present reality,” the EC said
Europe bought more Russian LNG in March than at any point in history, the same week it banned imports
Despite threatening to end Russian LNG imports completely next year, prompting the Kremlin to threaten to cut off gas exports to Europe before then, the EU just imported the most LNG in history as it slides into an expanding gas crisis.
Croatia pushes stronger financing role for Three Seas Initiative at Dubrovnik summit
With global uncertainty driving demand for resilient supply chains and energy diversification, leaders said the initiative could play a larger role in Europe's economy provided it can secure investment.
Why global population collapse will keep the wars coming
Demographers warned for decades that ageing, declining states grow more dangerous, not less. The wars now spreading from Eastern Europe to the Gulf to East Asia look increasingly like the opening engagements of a long contest over who outlasts whom.
Inconsistent messaging on Turkey shows EU cannot pretend to be geopolitical power, says analyst
Gaffe or not, remarks from European Commision president played into hands of Turkish politicians who want Ankara to pursue closer ties with Moscow and Beijing.
Europe buys the most Russian LNG in history, just as first bans on imports come into effect
Despite threatening to end Russian LNG imports completely next year, prompting the Kremlin to threaten to cut off gas exports to Europe before then, the EU just imported the most LNG in history as it slides into an expanding gas crisis.
Emerging Europe weathers Iran war shock, but risks mount, wiiw says
Higher energy prices, weaker trade and geopolitical uncertainty weigh on the region’s outlook, according to new forecasts from the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.
Von der Leyen's gaffe complicates EU relations with Turkey
The EU is in a slow-moving identity collapse crisis. Disunity in the EU is growing more obvious each month and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is casting about for ways to rebuild a consensus without much luck.
Merz's conservatives deliver ultimatum to Von der Leyen: cut the Brussels machine or go
The relationship between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her own political family has reached a new point of tension, with German conservatives preparing to deliver a blunt ultimatum to the woman they helped install in Brussels
Europe paid for the weapons. America kept them.
The contracts were signed. The funds were transferred. The weapons were manufactured. Then came the notification that they would not be arriving on schedule — because the United States needed them elsewhere.
Nato weighs scrapping annual summits to avoid Trump confrontation
Nato is considering abandoning its recent practice of holding annual summits, six sources have told Reuters, in a development that would mark a significant shift in how the world's most powerful military alliance.
Russia's economy is cracking — but so is everyone else's
Every week brings a new slew of articles predicting that Russia's deteriorating economy will force Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table as the economy slips into recession. But its not just Russia. All the main countries are in the same boat.
Latvia deepens UK fintech ties with cooperation pact
Latvia's Fintech Latvia Association has signed a memorandum of understanding with UK industry body Innovate Finance at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London, aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and attracting UK fintechs seeking EU market ac