Southeast Europe / Features
Croatia's bank profits fall 5.5% as a strong first quarter unwinds
Croatia's banks were making more money than a year earlier when the first quarter closed. By the end of June that gain had gone.
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Missile War Monitor: Putin orders massive strikes on Ukraine's energy grid
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian armed forces to prepare massive strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, in what he cast as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.
Missile War Monitor: Odesa down to one ship a day as Russia closes Ukraine's export routes
Russia has driven shipping out of Ukraine's Black Sea ports, cutting vessel calls from seven or eight a day to one and shutting the Orlivka ferry crossing on the Romanian border, while Ukrainian drones reached a logistics centre in Yekaterinburg
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Foreign workers fill labour gaps as North Macedonia grapples with unemployment
In a country with nearly 90,000 registered unemployed people, why are companies looking abroad for workers?
Senior US Democrat widens probe into Jared Kushner’s Albania development that sparked Flamingo Revolution
The most senior Democrat on the US House Judiciary Committee has widened his investigation into Jared Kushner's business interests to include the disputed Albanian land where his investment firm plans to build a luxury resort.
Russia's saboteurs have followed the arms industry east into Nato
Slovak police foiled an arson attack on a Ukrainian-owned drone factory near Presov this week, the first documented attempt of its kind in the country.
Eastern flank drone incidents test Nato's defences
Three drone incidents in 36 hours last week highlighted the growing security challenge facing Nato's Black Sea flank.
Bosnia heads to October vote with no working government and stalled EU path
OSCE report says elections set to take place in a "highly polarised environment marked by increasing challenges to the constitutional order".
Balkans turn to Asian workers in response to shrinking workforces
For three decades, the Balkans exported workers. Now countries across the region are increasingly importing them from Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere.
Extreme heat, drought and wildfires expose Southeast Europe's climate risks
Southeast Europe is at the sharp end of this summer’s extreme weather crisis, with firefighters battling active blazes in counties across the region.
Croatia's foreign-owned banks face a 50% profit tax after their euro boom
Croatia's banks, almost all owned from Milan, Vienna or Budapest, are among the most profitable in Europe, and a new 50% tax on excess profit is aimed squarely at them.
Europe's second inflation shock is arriving in two waves, energy now and food next year
Central bankers do not usually forecast the weather. The European Central Bank's chief economist has just put one into his.
Serbia's banks post record profits as AIK hunts across the Balkans
Serbia's banks booked record profit of €1.4bn in 2025 and their fastest credit growth in a decade, even as home-grown AIK Banka buys up rivals across the Balkans.
Belgium leads EU buyers as Russian LNG sales to the bloc jump 57%
The EU bought €809mn of Russian liquefied natural gas in June, 57% more than a year earlier, with Belgium the single biggest buyer.
Russia swings 93% of its rail trade to friendly states as it maps corridors to the Indian Ocean
Russia is stitching together a web of new railway corridors from the South Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, redirecting freight away from Europe towards Asia and the Global South.
The Global North's missile crisis
Washington's own stockpile is depleted and its arms industry is scrambling to catch up; Kyiv is chasing spare interceptors from allies who increasingly need their own; and a $300mn arms deal with Turkey, while welcome, does...
Ukraine's interceptor missiles run dry as Zelenskiy scours the world for more
Ukraine's stockpile of air-defence interceptor missiles is running down to zero this week, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's mounting desperation as the hunt for replacement ammunition fails is becoming impossible to hide, with the...
North Macedonia battles wildfires and water contamination as Europe’s drought intensifies
Europe’s worst drought in decades is disrupting transport, energy and agriculture, with the Balkans increasingly feeling the impact of extreme heat and water shortages.
Russia adapting hybrid tactics to slow EU enlargement, European Parliament report warns
Russia is refining its use of hybrid interference to undermine European Union enlargement countries by combining disinformation, covert political financing, cyberattacks, economic pressure and proxy actors, says European Parliament report.
Drought grips Central Europe, disrupting nuclear power, shipping and agriculture
Europe's worst drought in decades has brought shipping on parts of the Danube to a standstill, threatened nuclear power generation and exposed growing vulnerabilities as climate change pushes temperatures to unprecedented levels.