The ECDC says the region could still meet its testing targets for HIV, but that it will be harder to improve detection for hepatitis B and C. Many European countries are falling behind on efforts to detect life- threatening diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, a new analysis has found. In 2018,...
Europe ‘not ready’ for Russian drone attack
Europe is not ready to deal effectively with a Russian drone attack and must integrate Ukraine's "battle-tested" capabilities to better protect itself, EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius said Monday. The 27-nation bloc is scrambling to plug its drone defences after NATO jets shot down Russian drones over Poland in September. "Why...
How sanctions dismantled one of the Kremlin’s key strongholds in Europe
Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova have demonstrated that they are capable of fundamentally rethinking and strengthening their own energy security. A decade ago, it seemed unthinkable that Russia’s Lukoil could lose its foothold on the Balkans and along the Black Sea. Its assets dominated Bulgaria’s fuel market, supplied a meaningful share...
Serbia faces tight deadline to resolve NIS ownership amid looming fuel crisis
Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović declared the energy sector "almost impossible" to manage under the U.S. sanctions, offering her resignation. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić warned on Sunday that a resolution for the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) – the country’s primary refiner, which the United States has sanctioned over its...
Hungary ready to clash with Croatia over Russian oil supplies
Tensions flared between Budapest and Zagreb after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed that Croatia’s Adriatic pipeline lacked the capacity to replace Russian oil imports to Hungary and Slovakia. Speaking in Washington on November 7 during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Orbán asserted that Croatia was “unable to...
Romania’s 2025–2030 defence strategy
Romania must deepen ties with Black Sea allies to safeguard offshore gas projects that will position it as the European Union’s largest natural gas producer by 2027, shielding them from escalating Russian threats. This imperative underpins the draft National defence strategy for 2025–2030, released on 12 November. The EU and...
Affluent Chinese, Turks top the list of beneficiaries of Greece’s Golden Visa program
For years, Greece’s scheme has been among the most accessible in the EU, with a minimum property investment of €250,000. Greece’s Golden Visa program, officially known as the Greek Residence Permit by Investment, is a residency-by-investment scheme launched in 2013 amid the country’s severe debt crisis. Designed to attract foreign...
Serbia will sign an agreement with Alstom for the construction of the first metro line
The Serbian president announced that Serbia will sign an agreement with Alstom for the construction of the first metro line. In a three-hour working dinner at the Élysée Palace on 13 November, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić secured commitments from French President Emmanuel Macron for Belgrade’s first metro line, a cutting-edge...
Czech PM-elect refuses to sell business empire amid conflict-of-interest row
Billionaire populist Andrej Babiš insists he will meet legal obligations before taking office but does not explain how. Andrej Babiš, the self-proclaimed “Trumpist” billionaire who won last month’s Czech election, has refused to sell his huge business empire, but insisted he will resolve a conflict of interest that threatens to...
Orbán claims Hungary exempt from U.S. oil sanctions as long as Trump remains president
“No sanctions while Trump and I are in power” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on November 10 that Hungary has secured what he called a “permanent exemption” from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil imports. Writing on Facebook after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Orbán declared:...