Reinvention is never a solo journey. It’s shaped by the people we work with, the communities we serve, and the relationships we build. Empathy weaves these elements together, turning change into progress and ambition into purpose. Reinvention is often described in terms of bold i … | Continue reading
Adoption of the euro as early as January 2026 is now a real possibility for Bulgaria, if its new coalition can stick together. For the first time since 2021, Bulgaria has a permanent government, although not, perhaps, the government it needs. On January 16, the country’s parliame … | Continue reading
Bulgaria’s banks have a golden opportunity to leverage the momentum of eurozone entry for a more comprehensive transformation, not just a currency switch. Entering the eurozone presents challenges as well as opportunities for the Bulgarian banking ecosystem. On the one hand, comp … | Continue reading
Armenia must heavily invest in education, media literacy, and public awareness to build a society capable of discerning and resisting manipulative narratives. Armenia’s strategic geopolitical position has historically rendered it vulnerable to external pressures and multifaceted … | Continue reading
After decades of departure, a growing wave of professionals is returning to emerging Europe, attracted by rising wages and a new mindset. Furthermore, they are being joined by talent from around the world which once eschewed the region’s opportunities. It was once the norm for am … | Continue reading
Boomerang Partners, a rapidly growing global igaming company, with operations spanning the world—including emerging European markets—is preparing to announce the launch of the second season of the Golden Boomerang Awards (GBA). This will occur at iGB Affiliate 2025 in Barcelona o … | Continue reading
Central Asia’s cities remain unique, shaped by histories that link Turkic, Persian, Russian, and Soviet legacies. The question is whether their evolution can be guided in a way that balances the appeal of shining skyscrapers with the equally pressing needs of housing, healthcare, … | Continue reading
We have a lot to learn from how the Indo-Pacific region has created bilateral and multilateral frameworks of cooperation which are just now being replicated in Central and Eastern Europe. There was a sense of unreality in Eastern Europe when we read about the new defence pact bet … | Continue reading
Boomerang Partners has shared its plans for 2025. This rapidly growing global company, with operations spanning the world—including emerging European markets—is preparing for new products and global expansion. After a successful 2024, it is ready to strengthen its position in iGa … | Continue reading
GR8 Tech has received a Recognition Notice from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), authorising the platform provider to expand its product reach within Malta’s jurisdiction. This recognition grants GR8 Tech the same rights as a standard MGA B2B license, confirming the company’s co … | Continue reading
Imposing targeted sanctions and supporting civil society are all necessary steps to help Georgia stay on its democratic, European path. Georgia, once seen as a strong example of democracy in the post-Soviet region, is now slipping toward authoritarianism. The government is cracki … | Continue reading
In a world that demands constant adaptation, living with curiosity, awareness, intentionality, confidence, freedom, and discipline is an act of self-empowerment. When someone asks, ‘Who are you?’, it is tempting to respond with titles, roles, or achievements: a professional, a so … | Continue reading
The New Year That Never Came (Anul Nou care n-a fost), directed by Bogdan Mureșanu Just days before the end of 1989, the Romanian capital Bucharest is awash with rumour of awful events said to have taken place in the western city of Timișoara a few days previously, where a protes … | Continue reading
In a region of Europe that has often wrestled with volatility, Czechia’s path to prosperity hinges on steady progress underpinned by measured ambition. Are the good times about to return to Czechia? It would appear so. Following zero growth in 2023 and a modest recovery in 2024 ( … | Continue reading
In a rapidly changing global economy, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 provides a crucial lens into the transformations reshaping industries and workforce dynamics. Published amid a convergence of technological advancement, demographic shifts, and geopolitica … | Continue reading
As Ukraine’s leaders have demonstrated, national resilience increasingly depends upon a government’s ability to maintain core functions online. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov spoke of the importance of digitalisation during wartim … | Continue reading
Superhero Capital, a Helsinki-based venture capital firm, has announced the launch of its fourth fund, targeting 50 million euros to invest in early-stage software startups across Finland and the Baltics. Hardly has the year begun, and already there’s action on the Baltic start-u … | Continue reading
Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU made enlargement a dirty word. Poland needs to make it not just acceptable again, but essential. Outlining Poland’s priorities for its six-month stint as President of the Council of the EU, which began on January 1, Foreign Minister R … | Continue reading
For Ania Tatou, Ukraine’s war has become a fight for her adopted homeland and a way to reclaim her identity. Her life is now woven into the fabric of the country’s struggle, and she intends to stay until victory is achieved. In the hellish battlegrounds of Ukraine’s frontlines, A … | Continue reading
Two young entrepreneurs this week reminded me of the power of reinvention—not just in the work we do, but in how we approach relationships, learning, and leadership. My column last week looked at the need to revolutionise education. At one point, I argued that teachers should shi … | Continue reading
Astana has struck a happy medium between neither antagonising nor warming up to an increasingly belligerent Moscow, while simultaneously cultivating stronger commercial and cultural ties with Beijing and the Collective West. In early 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNG … | Continue reading
Amid a continent-wide push for digital supremacy, CEE’s resourceful economies are leveraging artificial intelligence to vault from tech-outsourcing backwaters into the ranks of Europe’s leading innovation hubs. For decades, emerging Europe was seen largely as a back office for Eu … | Continue reading
Movements like Holy Struggle highlight the Armenian public’s deep frustration with the status quo but also underscore the limitations of relying on charismatic leaders to drive change. Armenia’s political trajectory since its independence in 1991 is a story of unfulfilled promise … | Continue reading
Will the EU be able to pick up the slack should the Donald Trump administration reduce or end support for Ukraine? Is Warsaw’s mayor about to become Poland’s president? Will Bulgaria ever form a government? Here’s our preview of 2025. This year will be harder than last year. On t … | Continue reading
Some movies, TV, books, music, travel and sporting highlights that kept the Emerging Europe team occupied when we weren’t busy working. Films The New Year That Never Came, directed by Bogdan Mureșanu A clever film which takes place during a period of 24 hours beginning early in t … | Continue reading
The solid growth of recent years continues, but Kyrgyzstan is still playing economic catch up with most of its neighbours. Diversification—especially into tourism—would help. Landlocked and often overshadowed by its more populous and economically powerful neighbours, Kyrgyzstan h … | Continue reading
The future of education in emerging Europe—and everywhere—demands a radical shift. A revolution, not reform. The question is: will we have the courage to start over? Emerging Europe prides itself on being a region of transformation—adapting, innovating, and reinventing itself in … | Continue reading
From Ukraine’s ongoing resilience in the face of Russia’s brutal aggression to rigged elections in Georgia, political stalemate in Bulgaria, and the shooting of Slovakia’s PM, this is Emerging Europe’s review of 2024. Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk regi … | Continue reading
Armed with lower operating costs, well-educated workforces, and supportive local governments, secondary cities are becoming unexpected magnets for talent and investment. For decades, ambitious firms seeking a foothold in Central and Eastern Europe gravitated toward the usual susp … | Continue reading
As the recent ousting of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad proves, no autocracy is permanent—and that includes the regime of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. In late November, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—an outgrowth of the now-defunct Al-Nusra Front and Syria’s main opposition movemen … | Continue reading
Innovation in the mobility sector and a commitment to sustainability mean that the competition for a liveable Baltic capital, Vilnius currently enjoys pole position. Vilnius is currently a city going places, quite literally. Construction of a shiny new departures terminal at the … | Continue reading
Kosovo must invest 2.8 billion US dollars in climate resilience over the next decade to safeguard its economy, health, and environment while transitioning to net-zero emissions by 2050. Investing in climate resilience and transitioning the economy from fossil fuels to renewables … | Continue reading
While attitudes are slowly changing, many people with mental health issues in the emerging Europe region still hesitate to seek help, fearing judgment or misunderstanding. Emerging Europe is a region historically known for its resilience. Its people have endured wars, including t … | Continue reading
What happened in Romania’s presidential election marks the beginning of the new political era, of hybrid war, political unrest, and disdain, anger and revolt against political elites. The recent crisis in Romania has come as a direct consequence of a decision by the country’s Con … | Continue reading
Surprisingly little is known in the West about the role of Central Asia in World War II. This scholarly but thoroughly readable work plugs that gap. Even though Central Asia was far from the main battlefields of World War II, it was still tightly bound up in the Soviet war effort … | Continue reading
Boomerang Partners, a rapidly growing global company, concludes 2024 with top achievements. It became a game changer in the iGaming and sports betting industries. This year, the company achieved significant growth in business indicators, developed its affiliate network, and expan … | Continue reading
McKinsey estimates that about 500 billion US dollars could be added in value to global agriculture through drone surveillance, automation and crop monitoring. The technology is available. Agriculture was, in 2024, a source of tension in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly li … | Continue reading
As over-tourism threatens cultural integrity and residents’ quality of life, the EU must act to shift the focus toward lesser-known regions, balancing the influx of visitors across the continent while offering a sustainable travel experience and promoting rural economic developme … | Continue reading
ComplexDiscovery has released the findings of its Fall 2024 eDiscovery Business Confidence Survey, the 36th installment of the widely respected quarterly survey. Conducted from November 12 to December 6, 2024, this survey provides an in-depth look at the eDiscovery industry, incl … | Continue reading
As growth sputters and debt mounts, North Macedonia faces a stark choice: fix its public finances fast or watch its economic promise wither away. More than three decades after gaining independence from Yugoslavia, North Macedonia continues to pursue a stable and prosperous market … | Continue reading
A recent regional survey on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) confidence has revealed a notable upswing in optimism across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), underscoring the region’s growing role as a strategic outsourcing hub for global enterprises. The study, which polled a di … | Continue reading
Stara Zagora is transforming from a coal-mining stronghold into Bulgaria’s emerging IT hub, leveraging its location, cost advantages, skilled workforce, and investor appeal to fuel a new era of tech-driven growth. Stara Zagora in central Bulgaria was once best known for its heavy … | Continue reading
Everyone loves Christmas, everyone loves awards. Awards at Christmas therefore are just about perfect. Emerging Europe this week named the winners of its 2024 awards programme, the seventh edition of an initiative first launched in 2018 that highlights best practice, innovation, … | Continue reading
Data show a significant slowdown in new foreign greenfield investment in most countries of the region: only Moldova has seen an increase. International investors are increasingly turning their backs on Central, East and Southeast Europe. This is the conclusion of a new report by … | Continue reading
With help from EIT Health, a team in Poland is reinventing the way we diagnose and treat mental illness. Mental health disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder, affect millions worldwide. Across Europe alone, an estimated 84 million people experience mental health cha … | Continue reading
IBA Group has announced that its Visual Flow tool for Databricks achieved the Technology Partner Validated tier with Databricks, a unified, open analytics platform for building, deploying, sharing, and maintaining enterprise-grade data, analytics, and AI solutions. This mileston … | Continue reading
Boomerang Partners has been named a finalist in the prestigious Affiliate Programme of the Year category at the Global Gaming Awards EMEA 2025. This recognition highlights the company’s successful efforts in building a strong relationship with affiliates. This year, Boomerang Par … | Continue reading
EU politicians shouldn’t try to turn the DSA into a tool for banning TikTok. That’s not what it’s for. Platform regulation needs clear, evidence-based policies, not hasty political decisions. The EU is at it again. Brussels is trying to stretch the Digital Services Act (DSA) far … | Continue reading