Catch up quickly on the Central and Eastern European stories that matter.
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday that the country cannot produce enough electricity to meet growing demand for heating and is looking to neighboring EU countries for help, amid fears of Russian strikes on production facilities.
Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure last winter left millions of people in the cold and darkness. “Electricity consumption continues to grow and there is a deficit in the energy system,” said network operator Ukrenergo.
Ukrenego said he appealed to operators on Wednesday in Romania, Slovakia And Poland to provide “emergency aid” to bolster supplies, AFP reported. “The situation remains difficult: repairs are underway at several blocks of thermal power plants and there is a shortage of electricity in the power system,” Ukrenergo said.
Kiev has asked Western countries to strengthen their air defense systems in case Russia resumes systematic strikes on energy facilities, as it did last winter.
Energy consumption has increased recently due to falling temperatures, placing additional burden on production facilities that need maintenance and repair.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatens to block all European Union aid to Ukraine, as well as the country’s future membership in the bloc, unless EU leaders agree to review their entire support strategy for Kiev, according to a letter seen by Politico.
In the letter addressed to the head of the European Council Charles Michel, the Hungarian leader says that no decisions on financing Ukraine, opening EU accession negotiations or new sanctions against Russia can be taken until this “strategic discussion” takes place when leaders meet in Brussels in mid-December.
“The European Council should take stock of the implementation and effectiveness of our current policies towards Ukraine, including various assistance programs,” Orbán writes in the letter, which is not dated but bears the stamp of his office.
On Thursday, the EU approved 900 million euros in advances from the previously frozen Hungarian recovery fund, as the bloc seeks to overcome its veto on aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine said on Thursday it wanted its Export routes via Poland will be unblocked before entering into negotiations with Warsaw and the European Commission to put an end to protests by Polish truckers who are reducing Ukrainian exports.
Two Ukrainian drivers died and thousands of trucks were stuck for days in the winter cold as truckers blocked roads leading to three crossings on the Polish-Ukrainian border, a key route for Ukraine’s trade during the Russian invasion.
Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s trade representative and deputy economy minister, said drivers were forced to live for days in freezing temperatures and unsanitary conditions.
“Our task is first to unblock the road, and then to talk about all the demands of the protesters,” Kachka said in an interview on national television.
“This should be done at the negotiating table… in Brussels, or in Warsaw, or in Kiev, but not on the roads in winter, which would cause damage not only to the economy but also to health and the lives of the drivers stuck there,” he added.
Ukrainian media reported that a truck driver died Wednesday evening near the Polish village of Korczowa, where he was stuck waiting to cross the border. Another driver died on November 11 near the intersection in the Polish town of Chelm.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg addresses KFOR troops in Kosovo this week. .
Other news from the region
NATO is studying a more permanent increase the number of troops deployed in the Western Balkans to keep tensions under control, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. NATO sent hundreds of additional forces Kosovo of Great Britain and Romania after a battle between police and armed forces Serbs locked in a monastery turned a peaceful village in northern Kosovo into a war zone in September. “We are currently examining whether we should have a more permanent increase to ensure that this does not get out of control,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Kosovo.
Moldova The government asked lawmakers on Wednesday to extend the state of emergency in the country within 30 days from December 1. The state of emergency was declared at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with which Moldova shares a long border. Prime Minister Dorin Recean’s government argued the extension was necessary amid an expected escalation of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the approaching cold season, which could disrupt energy supplies. electricity of Moldova.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Tuesday accused France of create conditions for a new war in the South Caucasus by providing weapons to Armenia. Aliyev used his speech at a decolonization conference in Baku to launch a scathing attack on France, which last month said it had concluded new contracts to supply military equipment to Armenia. “France is destabilizing not only its past and present colonies, but also our region, the South Caucasus, by supporting separatist trends and separatists,” Aliyev said.
Hungary the main civil society groups this week accused Viktor Orbán of trying to “silence all critical voices” in the country after proposing legislation to create a “sovereignty protection office” investigating foreign influence. For years, Hungary’s prime minister has supported the narrative that outside forces would try to undermine his government and support his opponents. Seven civil society organizations warned in a statement on Wednesday that plans to create the “sovereignty protection office” were part of the government’s broader attempts to suppress dissent.
Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico for his part also attacked critical media, civic groups and the European Union’s defense of liberal values this week as he presented his administration’s agenda. Fico, who won a fourth term in September, has criticized the bloc’s sanctions against Russia, although he softened a key promise to suspend military aid to Ukraine. His cabinet won parliamentary approval in a vote of confidence on Tuesday. Since his return to power, Fico has attacked several critical media outlets, including the most popular television channel.
The economic development and economic security of Europe depend Bulgaria And Romania full integration into the Schengen area and the Eurozone, Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov said on Thursday. Bogdanov and Romanian Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Stefan-Radu Oprea visited the Danube Bridge border crossing in Ruse. Truckers often have to wait more than six hours to cross the border between the two countries. “This is a serious problem for Europe,” Bogdanov said.
Estonia this week accused Russia of deliberately directing potential migrants to its border. The claim was made after Finland confirmed it was closing all but one crossing point with Russia. Finland said Russian guards were encouraging people from countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria to try to cross. Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported that 75 migrants had attempted to enter Estonia from Russia via the Narva crossing since Thursday last week. None requested asylum and all were turned away.
Poland the largest refiner Orlen this week, I accepted to purchase oil and gas production assets on the Norwegian continental shelf from the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. for US$445 million as part of an effort to diversify natural gas shipments to the country. The acquisition of stakes in five fields will allow Orlen to increase its gas production in Norway by a third to more than four billion cubic meters, the Warsaw-listed company said in a statement sent by mail electronic. Such production will allow it to fill around half of the Baltic Pipe connection to Poland with its own production.
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