Visegrad Archives

Opposition party ANO of former prime minister Andrej Babiš won a resounding victory in 10 out of 13 regions in the regional elections while simultaneously making a strong showing in the Senate elections.

US presidential candidate Donald Trump cancelled his meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda without giving a reason but did post a message of support on social media.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged EU-funded aid to help repair the damage caused by recent floods as she visited the western Polish city of Wroclaw on Thursday.

Preparations are now well underway for the elections for local councils and a third of the Senate on Friday and Saturday in Czechia, albeit under extremely difficult conditions in the flooded regions.

The spokesperson for Poland's climate ministry resigned on Wednesday after the minister made a controversial promise of low-interest loans for flood damage.

Czechia’s Foreign Ministry has denied allegations that the country is in any way involved in a plot to overthrow the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, days after Spain rejected the same claims.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed his satisfaction with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to assign the highly coveted budget, anti-fraud and public administration portfolio to Polish candidate Piotr Serafin.

Polish emergency services are fully equipped and well prepared to deal with the ongoing flood crisis, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, adding that there was no immediate need to request the activation of the EU's civil protection mechanism.

The ruling coalition removed Michal Šimečka (PS/RE) from his position as deputy speaker of parliament in a vote on Monday, with 76 MPs voting in favour of his removal in a secret ballot - the narrowest possible majority, as even three coalition members did not vote in favour of his dismissal.

The Slovak government is pleased with the portfolio given to its nominee, five-time commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who has added trade, economic security and transparency to his roster, while Transparency International Slovakia reminds of his "non-transparent" 2019 presidential campaign. 

As the Polish government plans to apply to activate the EU's civil protection mechanism and the Czech government is exploring whether it can access EU funds for repairs after devastating floods, the government in neighbouring Slovakia has been criticised for not providing enough aid. 

Torrential rains have severely impacted central European countries in the past few days, with Czechia confirming it will use EU funds and Poland announcing it will seek EU financial assistance and possibly activate the EU's emergency mechanism.

Poland would support ending welfare payments to Ukrainian men of fighting age in Europe to push them to return home and fight Russia's invasion, the Polish foreign minister has said.

China poses a fundamental threat to Euro-Atlantic civilisation and is using various channels, including LinkedIn, to establish contacts and gain influence and know-how, the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) has warned.

Russia is rejecting the jurisdiction of Czech courts in a dispute over unpaid rent for buildings used by the Russian government, with the Czech Foreign Ministry demanding more than €2 million for Russia's unauthorised use of the properties for commercial activities.

Poland will start consultations with other EU countries bordering Germany to formulate a response to Germany's decision to introduce border controls, the Polish Interior Ministry confirmed to Euractiv.pl.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has denied allegations that his government purchased the notorious Pegasus spyware, but an expert interviewed by Euractiv Slovakia has serious doubts about Fico’s claims.

Politicians in the opposition party PiS admit the party will face consequences if its former MEP, Ryszard Czarnecki, is found to have falsified documents to avoid charges of embezzling EU funds.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called off his visit to Germany, planned for later this week, as relations between the two countries worsen.

A new conservative left-wing alliance is in the process of forming in the European Parliament, with the potential of officially being established within a year, Czech MEP Ondřej Dostál (non-attached) revealed in an interview for Euractiv.cz. 

The EU is developing a proposal to sanction Slovakia for its deteriorating democratic standards, which could lead to the suspension of EU funds allocated to Bratislava, according to a report from Bloomberg and Czech News Agency (ČTK).

Polish authorities successfully dismantled a cyber-espionage group linked to Belarusian and Russian intelligence services, which had been conducting malicious activities in Poland, reported Polish Minister of Digitization Krzysztof Gawkowski on  Monday (9 September).

Slovakia has failed to include charges for emissions from heating and road transport in its latest amendment to its Emissions Trading Act, despite an EU directive requiring member states to do so by 25 September, with Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba (SNS) urging Brussels to revise the directive instead.

An unidentified object with Cyrillic writing initially thought to be a balloon, fell a few metres from the Belarusian border in another incident of this kind in recent months.