Visegrad
Morawiecki resists calls to reject EU recovery money
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki dismissed Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro’s calls for Poland to turn down EU COVID recovery fund money if the European Commission insists on justice system conditions. Ziobro, often seen as Morawiecki’s main rival within the government, recently...
European defence suffers from bad reputation, Czech industry says
Strict regulations, lack of raw materials and inability to apply research outcomes in practice are to blame for the European defence industry’s limitations, Czech arms industry representative Jiří Hynek said. Besides regulatory and supply chain issues, the defence sector also...
Slovak academia increases cooperation with Chinese counterparts
About 28 Slovak academic institutions, including public universities, the Slovak Academy of Science, and its various research institutes, have at least 136 connections to China, a study by the Bratislava-based Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) has found. Slovakia’s...
Slovakia eases EU funds access to boost geothermal energy
With the 2021-2027 budgetary period supporting exploratory drilling, the Slovak government has decided to remove one of the main barriers to geothermal energy development in the country, though the Commission still needs to give its green light.
EU Commission probes Czech state support for new nuclear unit
The European Commission has launched investigations into whether the planned public support for the extension of the Czech Dukovany nuclear plant is in line with EU competition rules.
Jourová: Polish Supreme Court bill does not fulfil recovery plan milestones
The law dismantling the Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court does not fulfil the conditions for the Commission to disburse the Recovery Fund money, European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said on Thursday. Asked in the European Parliament whether the bill...
Metsola: No thawing between Fidesz and EPP yet
There is no thawing of relations between Hungary and the European People’s Party yet or possibly even at all European Parliament Presidents Roberta Metsola told EURACTIV.fr following reports from Budapest that former Commissioner Tibor Navracsics was working on bringing Fidesz...
Europe’s costly pushback against Kremlin’s spies
The war in Ukraine has laid bare EU member states’ Russia ties with little to underscore them more tangibly than diplomatic expulsions accompanied by accusations of espionage. This is particularly true in bloc members with deeper ties to Russia, where...
Czechia wants to help Ukraine save its cultural heritage
The Czech Republic wants to organise expert teams to help Ukraine with the conservation and reconstruction of its cultural heritage, Culture Minister Martin Baxa told his counterparts at a meeting in Lviv on Wednesday. The Russian army is already plundering...
Latvia, Austria, Slovakia have EU’s largest gas stores
After clinching a deal on mandatory gas storage last month, Latvia, Austria and Slovakia currently have the largest gas stores for next winter compared to annual consumption. Slovakia, for example, has already filled its stores to 36% of its yearly...
Slovaks worried by climate change but don’t want drastic lifestyle shift
Most Slovaks view climate change as a serious threat but reject solutions that would drastically affect their lives, a new survey has found. The survey conducted by the researchers from Masaryk University in Brno sheds more light on how Slovaks view climate...
Central eastern Europe energy hub to coordinate EU gas supplies
The new Prague-based Central Eastern regional task force, established within the voluntary EU Energy Platform set up to secure energy supply and phase out dependency on Russia, will identify bottlenecks in gas supply in the region and propose urgent solutions....
Kaczyński’s transgender comments prompt outrage
LGBT rights groups and the opposition have slammed the leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party Jarosław Kaczyński for his statements about transgender people at a party rally. During the weekend’s public meetings in Grudziądz and Włocławek in...
Slovakia to revise national recovery plan due to changed conditions
Slovakia will revise its national recovery and resilience plan, Lívia Vašákiová, director of the recovery plan department, announced after she said earlier that new conditions made it impossible to implement the plan as initially intended. The statement came after Vašáková admitted to...
Czech agrifood associations awarded EU funds without tenders, auditors say
Czechia’s Supreme Audit Office found “serious errors” in EU co-financed programmes aiming to promote agricultural products and foodstuffs under the tenure of the former government led by agri-tycoon Andrej Babiš. According to auditors, beneficiaries of the funding – including the...
Landslide Fidesz victory in municipal by-elections
By-elections were held in four Budapest districts, five county capitals and nine other municipalities where party candidates were running on Sunday and the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition put forward candidates in 16 of the 18 jurisdictions, winning in 12. The united...
Czechia will not adopt euro anytime soon, says PM
The Czech Republic has no plans to adopt the euro anytime soon, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said amid rising concerns from Czech economists. As Croatia was recently given the Commission’s go-ahead to adopt the euro in 2023, the Czech Republic has...
Russia removing Polish flag from Katyń monument angers Poles
The removal of the Polish flag from a memorial to Polish soldiers murdered by Soviet forces in Katyn in 1940 on Friday (24 June) was met with criticism in Poland, with some saying it is part of Russia’s ongoing anti-Poland...
Slovakia unable to implement COVID recovery plan as planned
Slovakia is unable to implement the national recovery and resilience plan as it was conceived a year ago due to new conditions, Livia Vašáková, director of the recovery plan department at the government office, admitted to EURACTIV Slovakia. One of...
Slovakia second-worst in EU funds absorption after Croatia
Slovakia ranked second to last in the absorption of EU funds in the 2014-2020 programming period only beaten by Croatia, the National Bank of Slovakia says. Slovakia has historic trouble in absorbing EU funds. It also ranked at the bottom...
Famine looms over Africa, warns Czech agriculture minister
If the EU does not help countries in northern Africa, food shortages, famine, and another refugee crisis could be triggered, Czech Agriculture Minister Zdeněk Nekula warns. Agriculture priorities of Czechia’s EU presidency will include food security, reducing pesticide consumption, preventing...
Polish parliament rejects abortion bill
A bill to legalise abortion has been rejected by right-wing MPs, making Poland one of the few European countries with very strict abortion laws. In 2020, the Constitutional Court further restricted the right to abortion, declaring it unconstitutional to terminate...
Polish parliament swearing-in ceremony disrupted by opposition MP
Klaudia Jachira, who represents Poland’s largest opposition party, the liberal Civic Platform, scattered cut-up banknotes in the parliamentary hall as an act of protest against the election of Adam Glapiński, president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), for a...