Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wants to convince his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán to change his stance on Russia as Hungary is among the countries willing to pay for natural gas imports in roubles – a move unacceptable for Czechia despite its heavy Russian gas dependency.
The Greek government is expected to raise with its EU partners Ankara’s decision not to join western sanctions against Russia, questioning Turkey’s narrative of being a neutral broker, EURACTIV has learned.
“It’s inconceivable that Turkey has managed to escape western sanctions against Russia,” a source close to the matter told EURACTIV Greece.
Now, following Russia’s dramatic decision this week to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, the West and its allies must give serious consideration to upgrading the level of military support they provide to Ukraine.
The real reason, though, [that Russia cut gas supplies] is that Russia is trying to blackmail Poland and Bulgaria, which have become high profile supporters of the Ukrainian war effort, to end their support for Kyiv.
Our Homeland won six per cent of the popular vote in Hungary’s April election; experts say it represents both a risk and an opportunity for Viktor Orban.
In calling for the 1920 Treaty of Trianon – which stripped Hungary of two-thirds of its territory and half of its population – to be repealed, the official manifesto of the far-right Hungarian party Our Homeland might sound a little unrealistic.
A new minority government in Montenegro offers the Democratic Party of Socialists a change to re-establish itself as a force to be reckoned with ahead of elections in 2023.
Disappointed with the West, lacking trust in local leaders, and served a diet of Serbian media, many in North Macedonia are vulnerable to Russia’s wartime propaganda.
The police takedown of encrypted communications provider Sky ECC has led to a spate of new arrests across the Balkans, notably that of notorious drug boss Darko Saric and the former head of Montenegro’s top court. Whether justice will come is still in doubt.
As Belgrade feels the heat over its warm ties to Moscow, Beijing’s stake in the country is likely to grow.
Serbia is coming under significant pressure over its policy towards Russia due to current events in Ukraine. A country on track to EU accession, with European values enshrined in its constitution and a near-majority supporting EU membership, it has long benefitted from cooperation both with Europe and Russia. This policy is supported by a high share of the population, especially supporters of the current government. But now, as a sharp turn further in the direction of either Russia or the EU looks relatively unlikely, Chinese influence is likely to increase.
It was billed as a promising breakthrough — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting last month and agreeing to try to resolve their countries’ age-old differences, keeping, at least, a lid on tensions as the conflict in Ukraine rages.
Viktor Orban and the Myth of the Self-Destructing Strongman
The timing could not have been more striking. On April 3, nearly six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine had apparently reinvigorated and reunified the liberal democratic West, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was easily reelected to his fourth consecutive term in office, and his fifth in total. Although Orban has long emulated Putin and presides over an increasingly authoritarian regime—and although he faced for the first time a largely united opposition front—he had little trouble winning, drawing more than 53 percent of the vote and securing a continued supermajority in parliament. With the retirement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he also now carries the dubious distinction of being the longest-serving head of government in the European Union, a supposed bastion of human rights and democracy.