The Dispatch

UPDATE: Hungary govt extends price caps on fuels, foodstuffs, mortgage rates

BUDAPEST, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Hungary has extended price caps on fuels and basic foodstuff by three months until the end of the year in a bid to shield households from soaring…

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EU lawmakers’ call to cut funds to Hungary a ‘boring joke’ -Orban

BELGRADE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday the European Parliament's call earlier this week to cut funds to Hungary over democratic backsliding was a…

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Poland against EU-wide tax on energy firms, climate minister says

WARSAW, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Poland is against introducing an EU-wide windfall tax on energy companies but may introduce a similar solution independently, Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa said on…

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Poland to freeze electricity prices for households in 2023

Poland plans to freeze in 2023 electricity prices at current levels for households consuming less energy, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) leader said this week, as the government looks…

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Hungary enshrines ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion law

Hungary's government has tightened its abortion rules, which will make the process of pursuing a termination more bureaucratic for pregnant women. From Thursday onwards, pregnant women will have to listen…

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Rate-hike cycle in Poland may be ending, central banker Kochalski says

WARSAW, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Polish central banker Cezary Kochalski said there was significantly reduced room for further interest rate hikes and that the probability of ending the monetary tightening…

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Czech billionaire ex-PM stands trial accused of EU subsidy fraud

PRAGUE, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis stood trial on Monday over fraud accusations connected to a 2 million euro ($2 million) European Union subsidy that…

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Hungary aims to cut gas use 25% at public institutions

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary aims to cut gas consumption by 25% this heating season at public institutions and companies except for hospitals and social institutions due to surging energy costs,…

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EPA’s Eye In The Sky: The Sky Bridge 721, Czech Republic

A view of the newly completed world's longest suspension bridge, the 'Sky Bridge 721,' in Dolni Morava, Czech Republic. The structure connecting the ridges of two mountain peaks is 721…

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Austria’s Turk proposed to be next UN human rights chief

GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will propose Austria's Volker Turk to be the next High Commissioner for Human Rights, a UN document showed. Turk, who…

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Poland joins Baltic states on new limits to entry of Russian nationals

WARSAW, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Poland joined the Baltic states on Thursday in limiting the admission of Russian nationals on its territory, the government said, the latest move aiming to…

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Austria plans to partly reimburse household power bills

VIENNA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Austria's conservative-led government on Wednesday outlined a plan to help households cope with soaring energy bills by partly reimbursing costs beyond what it called the…

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Hungary to set up anti-corruption body in bid to unlock EU funds

Hungary will create an anti-corruption authority and a working group involving non-government organisations to oversee the spending of European Union funds, the government said in a decree in its official…

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Poland has not decided on windfall tax on energy firms, minister says

KARPACZ, Poland, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Poland has not decided if it will introduce a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies to support consumers, finance minister Magdalena Rzeczkowska…

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UPDATED: EU to propose price cap on Russian gas, von der Leyen says: Plans non-gas power price cap of 200eur/MWh

BRUSSELS, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose a price cap on Russian gas, alongside measures including a mandatory EU cut in electricity use and a cap on…

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Poland to order 48 Krab howitzers for nearly $800 mln

WARSAW, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Poland will order 48 more AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers and 36 accompanying vehicles from local arms producer Huta Stalowa Wola for 3.8 billion zlotys ($797…

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Tens of thousands protest in Prague against Czech government, EU and NATO

PRAGUE (Reuters) - An estimated 70,000 people protested in Prague against the Czech government on Saturday, calling on the ruling coalition to do more to control soaring energy prices and…

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Walesa says Gorbachev played a positive role, but ‘under duress’

GDANSK, (Reuters) - Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, played a positive role in ending the Cold War, but he did it "under duress", as Communism was already disintegrating, former…

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Photo Story: Special drills for the Hungarian military to increase combat readiness

Mi-24 military helicopters fly during a special exercise of the Hungarian military to increase reactive and combat capabilities at the army's Bakony Combat Training Centre near Ujdorogd, western Hungary. In…

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Poland manufacturing PMI falls in Aug as inflation bites

WARSAW, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Polish manufacturing activity contracted further in August, a survey showed on Thursday, with output and new orders falling at rates not seen since the first…

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Poland to officially demand WW2 reparations from Germany

WARSAW, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Poland estimates its World War Two losses caused by Germany at 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.32 trillion), the leader of the country's ruling nationalists said on…

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Photo Story: The drought in Poland

Boats sit on the exposed bottom of one of the arms of the Solinskie (Solina) Lake, in the town of Chrewt, southeastern Poland. Due to the lack of rainfall and…

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EU Commission stands by view Poland’s recovery plan merited approval

The European Commission said on Monday it fully stood by its proposal to approve Poland's recovery plan after four associations of European judges asked the EU court to annul it, because the plan disregarded…

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Austria backs EU cap to end ‘madness’ of runaway power prices

VIENNA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer backs a European Union-wide cap on runaway electricity prices, he said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday. Austria's conservative-led government…

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Carlsberg’s Poland unit could stop production; lack of CO2 threatens food industry

GDANSK (Reuters) - Danish brewery Carlsberg's subsidiary in Poland could cut or halt beer production due to a lack of carbon dioxide deliveries, that is becoming a problem for the…

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Photo story: Emergency on the Czarna Woda river in Poland due to flooding

An aerial view of flooding after a warning was issued due to heavy rainfall on the Czarna Woda river in the town of Gniechowice in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland.…

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Poland’s unemployment rate flat at 4.9% in July

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Poland's registered unemployment rate remains flat at 4.9% in July compared with 4.9% in June, statistics office data showed on Wednesday, above analysts' expectations of 4.8%.…

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Orban tightens hold over telcom sector as Vodafone sells Hungarian unit

LONDON/BUDAPEST, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Britain's Vodafone will sell its Hungarian business for 715 billion forints ($1.8 billion) in cash to local IT company 4iG and the Hungarian state, consolidating…

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Mass fish die-off sparks political row between Poland and Germany’s leaders

The death of thousands of fish in a river bordering Germany and Poland has sparked a political row between the two countries. Scientists are still trying to find an explanation…

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Some Czechs sending 1,968 crowns to Ukraine in memory of 1968 Soviet invasion

PRAGUE, (Reuters) - Czech nationals have been sending exactly 1,968 crowns ($80) to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia and to commemorate the 1968 invasion of then Czechoslovakia…

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Photo Story: The International Mountain Folklore Festival in Zakopane, Poland

A Polish folk group takes part in a procession on Sunday along the streets of Zakopane at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, in Zakopane, Poland. The 53rd International Mountain…

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Algae toxins suspected of killing fish in Oder River

Research groups and laboratories investigating what killed thousands of fish in the Oder River running between Poland and Germany are pointing at algae toxins. "The results of the research of…

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Photo Story: The light festival “Bella Skyway Festival” in Torun, Poland

The Anookis , emblematic giant luminous statues, during the 13th Bella Skyway Festival in Torun, Poland. The slogan of this year's festival which ended Saturday, was "Event Horizon." For five…

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Fear for future after mass die-off of fish in Poland’s Oder river

WIDUCHOWA, Poland (Reuters) - As thousands of dead fish neared the banks of the Oder River in the village of Widuchowa in western Poland on Aug. 11, local people realised…

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Czech windfall tax would affect energy, banks and maybe another sector -finance minister

PRAGUE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - The Czech government will decide in three weeks whether to impose a windfall tax on large energy companies and banks and may include one more sector if it goes…

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Photo Story: Solina Lagoon in Wolkowya, Poland, drying up

Decreased water level at Solinski Lagoon in Wolkowya, southeastern Poland. Due to the drought, the water level in the lagoon has drastically decreased. Via EPA-EFE/Darek Delmanowicz

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UPDATED: Czech president released from hospital

PRAGUE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman was released from the Central Military Hospital in Prague on Friday after a one-day stay, news agency CTK said. Zeman, 77,…

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Poland says Oder tests so far not showing poison as cause of fish die-off

WARSAW, (Reuters) - Poison cannot be ruled out as the cause of a mass die-off of fish in the Oder river but tests so far have not proven toxic substances…

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Photo story: People smuggling tragedy on Austrian-Slovak border

Emergency services at the scene where at least three people were killed and several seriously injured after an accident on the A6 near the Kittsee border crossing, Austria, 13 August…

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Mass fish die-off in German-Polish river blamed on unknown toxic substance

BERLIN, Aug 12 (Reuters) - An unidentified highly toxic substance in the Oder river, which runs through Poland and Germany, appears to be the cause of a mass die-off of…

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Poland to get recovery cash after meeting agreed milestones – Commission

BRUSSELS, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Poland will get money from the European Union recovery fund only after it reaches the milestones and targets that the Polish government has jointly agreed…

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Photo Story: Ecological disaster hits the the Oder River

Dead fish in the Oder River in Cigacice village, western Poland. Polish Environmental Protection Inspectorate had notified the prosecutor of an ecological disaster that hit the second longest river in…

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Polish PM calls for reform against EU ‘imperialism’

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused the European Union of imperialistic behaviour towards smaller member states in an op-ed published on the Welt news website on Wednesday. "Political practice has shown that the positions of Germany and France…

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