Emerging Europe and Central Asia set for deeper economic contraction and softer recovery
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is forecasting a deeper economic contraction and softer recovery in 2021 for its region, saying the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic had been longer lasting than expected.The EBRD is now forecasting an overall contraction across its economies of 3.9 per cent this year, and a return to…
Enough of double standards in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Deutsche Welle recently published a comment on Bosnia and Herzegovina written by Stefan Schwarz, a renowned German politician. In the text, the author advocates a revision of the German policy towards Bosnia, proposing a change of the country’s constitution, which needs to be jointly supported by Germany and the US. According to Schwarz, the current…
Is the US about to finance a motorway linking the Baltic and Black Seas?
Romania’s less-than-discerning press corps last week reported with barely-disguised joy that the United States had announced plans to finance – to the tune of seven billion US dollars – the construction of a motorway linking the Baltic and Black Seas. What’s more, a railway would be built alongside the motorway. It didn’t take long for…
EU minimum wage proposal should make sure workers in the east ‘get their fair share’
Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, has said that the idea of a common, uniform minimum wage for the whole of the European Union is “unrealistic”, and “totally impossible”. “It would be irresponsible,” he told the press this week after presenting a Commission proposal that seeks to ensure workers throughout the Union…
Emerging Europe is failing to protect citizens from air pollution
Governments across emerging Europe are failing to protect their citizens from toxic air pollution, with most Europeans still breathing filthy air in their cities, according to new data.Better air quality has led to a significant reduction of premature deaths over the past decade in Europe, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency…
Covid-19 is accentuating the need to bridge digital divides
We are at a turning point in the digital transformation, according to a new report from the OECD.Improved internet connectivity and skills have helped many countries to cope with the health and economic crisis from Covid-19. Yet the pandemic has raised the bar for the digital transition and underscores the need to close the digital…
What a Biden administration means for Eastern Europe
The world can look forward to four years of measured, hands-on diplomacy.I encountered Senator Joe Biden for the first time at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in the Russell Building in 2007. Ever since, I thought of Biden as the classical foreign policy Democrat – resounding, multi-region, global American presence and engagement, combined with…
Bulgaria’s North Macedonia U-turn
Back in 2018, many saw Bulgaria’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union as a means of providing impetus to the European integration of the Western Balkans. The recent reignition of a decades-old dispute with North Macedonia over language and identity however, and the decision in November to block the start that country’s EU…
Is it fish, or visas for Eastern Europeans that are holding up Brexit talks?
Something smells fishy in Brussels, and it’s not just the cod, mackerel and herring that are ostensibly holding up Brexit trade talks. Could the real blockage be a UK wish to impose visa restrictions on some EU citizens?With just over a week left until the end of the Brexit transition period the European Union and…
For Kosovo, Israeli recognition trumps EU concerns over Jerusalem embassy
Kosovo and Israel sign mutual recognition deal, but the Balkan state’s pledge to open an embassy in Jerusalem risks irking the European Union.At first glance, Kosovo and Israel have little in common, not least as Kosovo, Europe’s youngest country, is populated predominantly by Muslims.However, since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008 the state has sought…