Is great travel writing one of the dying literary arts? Our editor (once a travel writer himself), has a few thoughts on the subject here. What’s certain is that over the past century Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have spurred numerous great authors to put pen to pa … | Continue reading
Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis believes that politicians from Central and Eastern Europe are missing out on Europe’s top jobs. How accurate is his assessment? In football it’s known as a ‘come and get me’ plea. A player unhappy at their current club, possibly approaching the … | Continue reading
Catch up quickly with the stories from Central and Eastern Europe that matter, this week led by a long-awaited change at the top in Ukraine’s armed forces. Russia’s war on Ukraine Ukraine’s president this week sacked the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, Valerii Z … | Continue reading
Values-based communication will be needed to build a politically viable enlargement narrative that can withstand the test of populism and disinformation. The end goal should be that of maintaining the EU’s appeal. In the wider geopolitical context shaped by Russia’s war of aggres … | Continue reading
Attention will now shift to applying further pressure on Vienna to fully lift its veto on Bulgaria and Romania’s Schengen accession. Any movement, however, is unlikely until after Austria holds parliamentary elections in September. Ali Demirci has been driving trucks across Euro … | Continue reading
Investors continue to back Starship Technologies’ global ambition to revolutionise last-mile delivery. It’s fair to say that Estonians are proud of their country’s reputation as a unicorn factory, home to more successful tech start-ups per capita than any other country in Europe. … | Continue reading
Czechia, as with the CEE region as a whole, urgently needs a new growth model, based on innovation, to achieve the next stage of economic convergence. In November last year, unions in Czechia organised a series of strikes and protests which, organisers claimed, were the largest … | Continue reading
GR8 Tech, an international iGaming provider, has been nominated in three categories at the SiGMA Eurasia Awards 2024: Best Online Sportsbook Provider 2024, Best Marketing Campaign, and Best CEO 2024. This recognition closely follows the company’s recent win at the European CEO Aw … | Continue reading
Referring to Central Asia as ‘Russia’s backyard’ is a mischaracterisation that denies the region’s agency and overlooks the complexity of its international relationships. Rarely, if ever, has there been so much global interest in the five countries of Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Ky … | Continue reading
The WWF is calling for the wetland in Mahmudia to be designated a ‘national interest ecological restoration area’ by the Romanian government in order to safeguard the natural gains and allow the community to thrive. A large swathe of naturally restored wetlands in the Romanian Da … | Continue reading
Despite a tough fundraising environment—global start-up investment was down 38 per cent in 2023—the Baltic tech ecosystem has again demonstrated its robustness and resilience. Vilnius-based Practica Capital this week announced the final closing of its third vintage and largest fu … | Continue reading
Catch up quickly with the stories from Central and Eastern Europe that matter. Russia’s war on Ukraine European Union leaders struck a deal on Thursday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lifting his veto on a 50 billion euros financial aid package for Ukraine. “This locks … | Continue reading
Supliful, a Latvian on-demand consumer packaged goods start-up, helps online entrepreneurs and influencers launch and manage their private-label cosmetics, dietary supplement, or packaged food business. The vale of the creator economy has mushroomed in recent years, and it’s pred … | Continue reading
Our major new report’s recommendations include combatting the region’s demographic crisis, future-proofing education, trusting in the power of the digital transformation, advocating for the region’s success, and leading Europe’s defence. Central and Eastern Europe must do more t … | Continue reading
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has undertaken a series of bold reforms and measures aimed at distancing his country from the Kremlin. Brussels must, in turn, step up its efforts to court the overwhelmingly Atlantic … | Continue reading
Do we need to say that technology is changing every aspect of human life? No, we don’t—and healthcare and life sciences are no exception. Leading pharmaceutical companies explore data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the development and production of new and m … | Continue reading
The Silesian Voivodeship is in a phase of dynamic economic and socio-cultural changes, and the ambition of the voivodeship authorities is to expand international activity which will serve the economic and social development of both the country and the region. The aim of internati … | Continue reading
Low scores on the latest Corruption Perceptions Index in many countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia reflect systemic governance deficits and a lack of independent oversight. Improvement in some countries of the region however offers a glimmer of hope. The 2023 Corrupti … | Continue reading
The EU members in Central and Eastern Europe are returning to normality and will continue the process of economic convergence with Western Europe that was interrupted last year. Even though the international environment is challenging, and there are significant downside risks, th … | Continue reading
Since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine in 2014, and its escalation in 2022, a number of insightful books have been published that provide various perspectives on the situation. It should also be noted, however, that several awful books about the war have also been hurried … | Continue reading
The Baltic Sea is under pressure from multiple factors—climate change, intense fishing, as well as pollution that is still difficult to control. A six-month long Lithuanian expedition is hoping to raise public awareness of its precarious state. The Baltic is one of the five most … | Continue reading
Catch up quickly with the stories from Central and Eastern Europe that matter. Russia’s war on Ukraine Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski this week said he is trying to “put some urgency” into providing ammunition and defence systems to avoid a “too little, too late” scena … | Continue reading
Findings from the CMS Emerging Europe M&A 2023/2024 report, published today in cooperation with EMIS, demonstrate the resilience of the emerging Europe deals market as activity holds firm against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and strong inflationary pressures. The latest re … | Continue reading
A new report acknowledges the achievements of both Moldova and Ukraine in accelerating their alignment with the EU despite very difficult circumstances. Further evidence of the progress made by Moldova and Ukraine towards meeting their European Union membership goals was provided … | Continue reading
Right as GR8 Tech is celebrating its first anniversary as a fully-fledged B2B company, its CEO Evgen Belousov has been recognised as an outstanding leader, winning the CEO of the Year in the iGaming category at the European CEO Awards 2024. This acclamation, based on Evgen’s prof … | Continue reading
Three decades of conflict, ethnic cleansing, and border disputes are over for Armenia and Azerbaijan, as 2024 will be a breakthrough year for Armenia’s relations with both its Turkish and Azerbaijani neighbours. It’s been a long time coming. From 1988 to 1992, Armenia and Azerbai … | Continue reading
New projects in Romania demonstrate DTEK’s ambition to build a fully-integrated EU-Ukraine energy system. Ukraine’s DTEK Group this week took a significant step on its path to becoming an important provider of clean energy to Europe by achieving ‘first power’ at its debut project … | Continue reading
Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who needs to maintain public calm, should not casually talk about a potential war against Serbia. This only heightens internal tension in Kosovo when there is no reason to assume that war will break out. A couple of months ago, in an interview with Al … | Continue reading
CEE energy companies have a unique opportunity in 2024 to position themselves as regional trendsetters. In today’s changing geopolitical and economic landscape, energy companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) are facing significant challenges (and opportunities). Beyond comm … | Continue reading
A new report explains how the Polish electricity system will cope with the variability of production resulting from the increasing role of wind and solar. Poland made headlines last week when a senior government official urged the European Union to “embrace” a plan to slash 90 pe … | Continue reading
AI has great potential to improve the workforce shortage problem in some emerging European countries with the most significant workforce shortages, such as Slovenia and Estonia. To many professionals, AI has become something of a personal assistant—helping to draft emails, create … | Continue reading
Czechoslovakia, founded in the aftermath of World War I, died a peaceful death on December 31, 1992, when its constituent parts, Czechia and Slovakia, separated into two independent countries. More than three decades since what was dubbed the Velvet Divorce, the country neverthel … | Continue reading
Robert Fico’s latest term as Slovakia’s prime minister is likely to be marked by the incompetence and irresponsible governance that marked those of the past, writes Ivan Mikloš, a former deputy PM and minister of finance. Where do I see Slovakia in 2030? Predicting social and eco … | Continue reading
ComplexDiscovery, a leader in delivering insights on cybersecurity, information governance, and eDiscovery, has launched its the Winter 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey. Now in its 33rd iteration, this distinguished survey seeks to capture the viewpoints of eDiscovery p … | Continue reading
New investment will accelerate CloudTalk’s growth and product innovation, mainly in enhancing its AI-powered cloud phone system and contact centre solutions. In the emerging Europe region’s biggest raise of the year so far, Slovak firm CloudTalk earlier this month secured 26 mill … | Continue reading
Catch up quickly with the stories from Central and Eastern Europe that matter. Russia’s war on Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a passionate plea to leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, urging them not to allow Russia’s war in Ukraine to bec … | Continue reading
The Polish prime minister’s agenda has more to do with eradicating his predecessors, Law and Justice, than restoring the rule of law. One month into his latest term in office as Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk has wasted no time to confront the controversial state apparatus … | Continue reading
Facing an immediate cash crunch Ukraine’s leader made a new plea for financial support, but also pitched to global CEOs about the long-term need—and opportunities—for investment in the reconstruction of the country. Last year it was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife, … | Continue reading
Uzbekistan’s economy has proven resilient to recent global challenges and has continued to grow at a rapid pace. The outlook remains positive, as the country courts foreign investors across several key sectors. One of the youngest and fastest growing countries in the world (it h … | Continue reading
A new accelerator programme from Startup Lithuania aims to provide start-ups with global experience and a worldwide network from the outset. Startup Lithuania, the Baltic country’s start-up ecosystem facilitator, has partnered with the global innovation platform Plug and Play and … | Continue reading
Over the past year, the front line in Ukraine has hardly shifted. Fierce fighting is taking place in the southern and eastern regions of the country. At the same time, the Russians are seriously engaged in integrating the occupied Ukrainian territories with their own. In November … | Continue reading
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda this week claimed that for the first time since what he dubbed ‘the dark days of totalitarian rule’, Poland has political prisoners. It doesn’t. Anyone thinking that the Polish political scene would be a more peaceful, less antagonistic place foll … | Continue reading
The collective West must close ranks to enforce a uniform travel ban and more stringent banking restrictions on Russia’s entire citizenry. Doing so will serve as a litmus test of whether civil society is truly sold on the hype surrounding ‘multipolarity’ and ‘de-dollarisation’. F … | Continue reading
Catch up quickly with the stories from Central and Eastern Europe that matter. Russia’s war on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine would not lead to political dialogue, and would only benefit Moscow. Speaking to r … | Continue reading
GR8 Tech, a dynamic iGaming provider of high-performance sportsbook and casino platforms, is attending the ICE London 2024 exhibition on February 6-8. Moreover, on ICE week’s Monday, February 5, GR8 Tech will also visit the Global Gaming Awards EMEA 2024 ceremony. The company is … | Continue reading
In 1994, the psychological need to maintain ties with Russia pervaded Belarusian society, beset by economic woes after the dissolution of the USSR. Thirty years ago, in January 1994, the Belarusian Supreme Soviet voted to remove Stanislau Shushkevich from his position as Chair of … | Continue reading
Hope of victory is no longer enough for Ukrainians. They want tangible support from the West in order to bring about tangible results. While popular support for Ukraine remains high, tangible assistance is becoming harder to obtain. What at first looked like simple bureaucratic p … | Continue reading
The Tallinn-based AI-powered quality management platform is set to become part of Danish-American giant Zendesk. Klaus, an Estonian AI-powered quality management platform that helps companies drive revenue through outstanding customer service, this week announced that it had agre … | Continue reading