The Dispatch

Hungary will veto EU sanctions against Russia on nuclear energy -PM Orban

BUDAPEST, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Hungary will veto any potential European Union sanctions against Russia affecting nuclear energy, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio on Friday. Ukraine has already called on…

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Dutch hacker obtained virtually all Austrians’ personal data, police say

VIENNA (Reuters) - A Dutch hacker arrested in November obtained and offered for sale the full name, address and date of birth of virtually everyone in Austria, the Alpine nation's…

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Poland’s unemployment rate at 5.2% in December

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Poland's registered unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in December compared with 5.1% in November, statistics office data showed on Wednesday, in line with analysts' expectations of…

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Czech presidential candidates seek calmer tone before run-off vote

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech presidential frontrunner Petr Pavel urged his rival, ex-premier Andrej Babis, to stop fanning war fears while Babis said he would halt rallies due to threats against…

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Slovak parliament opens way to September early election

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Slovak lawmakers approved a change in the constitution on Wednesday which allows the parliament to shorten its term, paving the way for an early election in…

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EPA’s Eye In The Sky: Krzywcza, Poland

An aerial picture taken by a drone shows a snowy road at a forest in Krzywcza village, southeastern Poland. The Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) is forecasting…

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Photo Story: Polish Highlander Carnival horse races

Participants compete in the 'Kumoterska Gonba' traditional sleigh race at the Highlander Parade in Bialy Dunajec village, near Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains, southern Poland. Participants competed in various disciplines…

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Pavel leads ahead of Czech vote; opponent plays on war fears

PRAGUE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Retired general and former NATO official Petr Pavel led billionaire ex-prime minister Andrej Babis by a nearly 18-point margin ahead of a Czech presidential election…

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Slovakia’s former coalition heads agree to early parliamentary elections

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovakia will hold early parliamentary elections on Sept. 30 after the leaders of the country's previous coalition government agreed on a constitutional change to bring forward the…

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Poland earmarks $1 bln to help curb surge in household heating bills

WARSAW (Reuters) - Proposed measures to help Polish households cope with rising heating bills will cost 4.5 billion zlotys ($1.04 billion), according to a draft law posted on the parliament…

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Photo Story: Prague marks Ukraine’s Day of Unity

Two people carry a Ukrainian flag as people form a symbolic human chain across the Charles Bridge to mark the Day of Unity of Ukraine, in Prague, Czech Republic, 22…

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Referendum in Slovakia fails to bring early vote closer

Jan 22 (Reuters) - A referendum in Slovakia failed to open a path to early elections after most voters avoided the polling stations on Saturday, quashing the opposition's plan to…

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Retired general Pavel leads in poll ahead of Czech presidential vote

PRAGUE, (Reuters) - Retired general Petr Pavel held a 15 percentage point lead over billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babis heading into a Jan. 27-28 presidential run-off vote, a Czech Television poll…

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Photo Story: Snowfall in Warsaw

A view of the Nowy Swiat street covered with snow in central Warsaw, Poland. Temperatures in Warsaw were reported at plus one degrees Celsius. Via EPA-EFE/Radek Pietruszka

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Photo Story: Floods in Hungary

A photo taken with a drone shows flooded fields after the River Ipoly burst its banks in Ipolytarnoc, Hungary, 20 January 2023. Via EPA-EFE/PETER KOMKA

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Czech government survives no-confidence vote

PRAGUE, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Czech government survived an opposition attempt to overthrow it in a no-confidence vote, a widely expected outcome of the motion which the cabinet had…

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Slovak PM agrees to early election

(Reuters) - Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said he would start discussions on holding early elections after his attempt to find a majority in parliament following a lost no-confidence vote…

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NATO deploys surveillance planes to Romania, to monitor Russian activity

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A NATO surveillance plane arrived in Romania to bolster the military alliance's eastern flank and help monitor Russian military activity. The plane, the first to be deployed,…

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Photo Story: Counting of birds of prey at Hortobagy National Park

White-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) fight near some prey in the Hortobagy National Park near Hortobagy, Hungary. The Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME) in cooperation with the national park…

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Romanian inflation rises below expectations to 16.37% y/y in December

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Romania's consumer price inflation fell to 16.37% on the year in December from 16.76% the previous month, below expectations, data from the National Statistics Board showed…

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Romanian prosecutors take away luxury cars seized in Andrew Tate case

OLUNTARI, Romania (Reuters) - Romanian authorities started on Saturday to take away luxury cars from a property close to the capital as part of a criminal inquiry into alleged human…

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Ex-premier, retired general to square off in Czech presidential vote runoff

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Billioniare ex-premier Andrej Babis held a narrowing lead in the first round of the Czech presidential election on Saturday ahead of retired general Petr Pavel, putting the…

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Fears of migrant deaths rise after bodies found in eastern Poland

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish officials searched wetlands on the border with Belarus on Friday after three bodies were found in an area where thousands of migrants from the Middle East…

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UPDATED: Polish lawmakers approve judicial reform that could help unblock EU funds

WARSAW, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Polish lawmakers on Friday adopted a judicial reform that could unblock billions of euros in European Union funds withheld in an ongoing row between Warsaw…

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Retired general, ex-PM lead the field in Czech presidential election

General Petr Pavel, ex-PM Andrej Babis lead polls Pavel seen favourite in second round Czech presidents not executive but hold significant powers All candidates more pro-western than incumbent Milos Zeman…

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UPDATED: Hungary says deadly attack on policemen in Budapest not a terrorist act – prosecutor

BUDAPEST, Jan 13 (Reuters) - An attack in which a man injured three Hungarian police officers in Budapest late on Thursday with a knife, one of whom died in hospital,…

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Hungary denounces EU decision to cut off funds to universities

BUDAPEST, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Hungary on Thursday branded a European Commission decision to cut off some Hungarian universities from EU funding as unacceptable, saying it had met EU requests…

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Czech presidential election pits combative ex-PM against ex-general

The Czech Republic's presidential election this weekend pits a retired general, a billionaire ex-prime minister and an economics professor in a battle to replace Milos Zeman, the retiring heavyweight of…

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UPDATED: Czech court acquits presidential candidate Babis in subsidy fraud case

PRAGUE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A Czech court acquitted former prime minister Andrej Babis on Monday of alleged fraud, improving the billionaire's prospects in a presidential election this week in…

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EPA’s Eye In The Sky: Lake Morskie Oko, Poland

Tourists on a sheet of ice on Lake Morskie Oko in the Tatra Mountains, south Poland. The Tatra National Park warns against entering frozen mountain lakes - due to the…

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Slovenian Jesuits ask for forgiveness in major abuse case

ROME, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Slovenia's Jesuits say they believe sexual abuse allegations against a prominent member of their order are true and have asked for forgiveness. It is the latest development…

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Bird flu spreads in Czech Republic’s largest outbreak

PRAGUE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Czech authorities will destroy all 750,000 hens on a poultry farm at the centre of its worst outbreak of bird flu so far as the…

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Czech billionaire Babis fights fraud trial alongside presidential contest

PRAGUE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Czech billionaire and former Prime Minister Andrej Babis returned to court to fight fraud accusations over a 2 million euro subsidy on Wednesday, days before…

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Czech farm to cull 220,000 chickens in country’s largest bird flu outbreak

Czech authorities are preparing to destroy up to 220,000 hens on a poultry farm in the west of the country after bird flu was discovered there last week, in the…

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Polish manufacturing slump slows in Dec as cost inflation eases -PMI

WARSAW, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The slowdown in Poland's manufacturing sector eased in December, a survey showed on Monday, while prices for input materials rose at a slower rate than…

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Poland ready for Russian oil ban, says minister

WARSAW, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Poland is prepared for a Russian ban on oil sales to countries implementing a price cap, the climate minister said on Thursday, with the country having cut…

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Photo Story: Light Festival on River Danube in Budapest

Participants of the 'Light Festival on River Danube' event on Tuesday evening arrive with their lighted kayaks, canoes, and dragon boats at the illuminated building of the Parliament in Budapest,…

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UPDATE – All missing people found alive afterAustrian avalanche – APA

BERLIN (Reuters) - The last two people unaccounted for after an avalanche in the Lech/Zuers skiing area in western Austria contacted authorities late on Sunday, and a search and rescue operation was…

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Poles count the cost of Christmas carp as prices soar

By Kuba Stezycki WARSAW (Reuters) - For most Poles no Christmas would be complete without carp for dinner, but with prices rising, shoppers whose budgets are already stretched by surging…

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Poland’s unemployment rate flat at 5.1% in November

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Poland's registered unemployment rate remained flat at 5.1% in November compared with 5.1% in October, statistics office data showed on Friday, in line with analysts' expectations…

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Slovak president removes finance minister as part of budget deal

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Slovakia's President Zuzana Caputova removed Finance Minister Igor Matovic from his government post on Friday and put Prime Minister Eduard Heger in charge of the ministry,…

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Pope thanks Poles for helping Ukrainians

During a general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis said: “I would like to wish all Poles a blessed Christmas. According to your tradition, during Christmas Eve, you leave…

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Photo Story: The Christmas sand nativity scene in Gdansk

A view of a Christmas sand nativity scene designed by Polish artist Ewa Topolan and four Polish and Ukrainian sculptors on a street in Gdansk, northern Poland. Via EPA-EFE/Adam Warzawa

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Polish ruling party boss says judicial reform may be ‘destructive’

WARSAW, Dec 17 (Reuters) - A draft law aimed at unlocking billions of euros in frozen EU funding could be "extremely destructive", Poland's ruling party leader was quoted as saying on Saturday,…

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Photo Story: The illuminated Christmas trams in Debrecen

Two trams decorated with Christmas lights run in downtown Debrecen, Hungary. The trams will run during the Christmas season to Epiphany. Via EPA-EFE/Zsolt Czegledi

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Poland’s new judicial reform in limbo after president voices concerns

WARSAW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Poland's parliament will not start debating a judicial reform bill on Thursday the ruling party hoped would unblock COVID-19 recovery funds withheld by Brussels in a dispute…

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Hungary government, employers agree on 16% minimum wage hike for 2023

BUDAPEST, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government and private- sector employers have agreed on a 16% minimum wage increase for next year, the government said, amid a surge…

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Slovak government loses no-confidence vote

By Robert Muller and Jason Hovet Dec 15 (Reuters) - Slovakia's minority government lost a no-confidence vote on Thursday despite last-ditch efforts to gain support, raising political instability in the country as…

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Poland’s top cop injured by exploding present, says ministry

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's most senior police officer was injured and hospitalised when a present he received during a visit to Ukraine exploded at police headquarters in Warsaw, Poland's interior…

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Austrian economy to slow in 2023

BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Austria's economy is expected to slow in 2023, according to forecasts by two leading economic institutes published on Thursday, as high energy costs and waning…

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Slovak ruling party head offers to quit as minister to keep government in place

The head of Slovakia's ruling OLANO party offered to quit as finance minister on Thursday if an opposition party withdrew its no-confidence motion against the government and backed its budget…

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EU top court advocate general says Polish court law is against treaties

WARSAW, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A Polish law from 2019 on disciplining judges is against European Union treaties, the advocate general of the bloc's top court said on Thursday. The…

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Polish lawmakers seek consensus on judicial reform to unblock EU cash

By Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk WARSAW, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Poland's government is hoping to win parliament's support on judicial reforms, a contentious issue that could fracture the ruling…

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Photo Story: Christmas market in Rzeszow, Poland

People visit the Christmas market at the Main Market Square in Rzeszow, south-eastern Poland. Photo: EPA-EFE/Darek Delmanowicz

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Poland offers to amend law on Supreme Court to get EU funds

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will submit draft amendments to a law on its Supreme Court this week to fulfill requirements to receive EU recovery funds, Polish European Affairs Minister Szymon…

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Berlin, Warsaw discussing deployment of German air defence on Polish soil

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German and Polish defence ministries are in discussions over how German Patriot anti-aircraft defence systems can be deployed in Polish territory, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said…

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Poland, Germany should ask EU for help with Ukrainian refugees, says Polish president

BERLIN (Reuters) - Poland and Germany should ask the European Union for more help in dealing with an expected increase in Ukrainian refugees during the winter, the Polish president said…

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