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☆ Slovakia's Fico: border checks with Hungary a priority for new government
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SMER-SSD party leader Robert Fico arrives to the party's headquarters, after the country's early parliamentary elections, in Bratislava, Slovakia, October 1, 2023. REUTERS/Eva Kornikova Acquire Licensing RightsBRATISLAVA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Slovakia needs to restart border controls with Hungary to stem the flow of illegal migrants, election winner Robert Fico said on Sunday, flagging the issue as one of his potential government's first priorities. Fico campaigned strongly against illegal migration in the run-up to Saturday's election, criticising a caretaker government for not doing more and for not suspending Europe's Schengen "open border" rules. The three-time former prime minister said controls were needed all along Slovakia's border with Hungary. "One of the first decisions of the government must be an order renewing border controls with Hungary," Fico told a news conference.

Persons: Robert Fico, Eva Kornikova, Fico, Viktor Orban, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet, Michael Kahn 私 Organizations: REUTERS, Rights Locations: Bratislava, Slovakia, Rights BRATISLAVA, Hungary, Germany, Europe, East, Afghanistan, Serbia

☆ Slovakia Struggles With Surge in Illegal Migrants as Election Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

"They don't want to live or work here, they are in transit, they rush through as they can," said Jozsef Barta, 70. Although he knew of no criminal incidents involving the migrants, he added: "People are scared to walk in the street." The number of illegal migrants detained in Slovakia has increased ninefold from a year ago to more than 27,000 so far this year, the country's interior ministry said. Hungarian police data also showed a jump in illegal migrant crossings on Hungary's southern border with Serbia in the past weeks, from where they head for Slovakia or Austria. Slovak police patrols are helping their Hungarian colleagues to catch the smugglers but that has proven little deterrent.

Persons: Jozsef Barta, Renata Gregusova, Robert Fico, Fico, Marian Cehelnik, Viktor Orban, Krisztina, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka, Gareth Jones Organizations: European Union, Europe's, Police, Reuters, EU Locations: CHLABA, Slovakia, IPOLYDAMASD, Hungary, Chlaba, Germany, Hungarian, Slovak, Europe, Czech Republic, East, Afghanistan, Serbia, Austria, EU, Prague

☆ Czech banks hit as central bank ceases paying interest on reserves
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Czech National Bank (CNB) decided on Thursday to cancel paying interest on banks' mandatory minimum reserves from Oct. 5, a move to reduce the costs of implementing monetary policy. The decision follows a similar move by the European Central Bank in July. Komercni Banka said its stipulated amount of required minimum reserves for the current maintenance period stood at approximately 19.6 billion Czech crowns ($861.12 million). Banks have been required to keep a portion of liabilities at the central bank as reserves. Mandatory minimum reserves are not used as a monetary policy instrument but can act as a liquidity buffer to ensure the smooth flow of interbank payments, the central bank said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Komercni Banka, MONETA, Banks, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Money Bank, Prague Stock Exchange, Czech National Bank, European Central Bank, Analysts, Komercni, KB, Thomson Locations: Komercni Banka, Komercni, BKOM.PR, Czech, Prague

REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 6 (Reuters) - Parts of what could be a Russian drone fell on Romanian territory, Romania's Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday, two days after Ukraine said Russian drones had detonated on the NATO member's land. Romanian officials had earlier denied reports of drones falling on Romanian territory and said Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine did not cause a direct threat. On Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said confirmation of the discovered parts belonging to a Russian drone would be a serious violation. "If it is confirmed that the components (found) belong to a Russian drone, such a situation would be inadmissible and a serious violation of Romania's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. Tilvar reiterated there was no direct threat and told Agerpres it was possible the drone did not explode upon impact but rather it simply fell or pieces landed on Romanian territory.

Persons: Andreea, Angel Tilvar, Klaus Iohannis, Tilvar, Iohannis, Agerpres, Alan Charlish, Luiza Ilie, Jason Hovet, Alexandra Hudson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Romania's, NATO, CNN, Wednesday, Three Seas Initiative, Thomson Locations: Izmail, Plauru, Romania, Russian, Ukraine, Moscow, Ukraine's, Bucharest, Romania's, Poland, Ukrainian

☆ Exclusive: CEZ plans to bid for Czech gas distribution network GasNet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Jan Lopatka | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Electricity transmission lines carry power from CEZ's Ledvice coal-fired power plant near the village of Ledvice, Czech Republic, February 9, 2016. REUTERS/David W Cerny/File PhotoPRAGUE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Czech electricity producer CEZ (CEZP.PR) plans to bid for the country's gas distribution network GasNet if it goes on sale, CEZ's deputy chairman said, as it would complement CEZ's expansion into gas, a transitional fuel in the shift from coal to clean energy. Pavel Cyrani told Reuters that CEZ would bid when a formal sale process is launched for GasNet, adding the unit would also be a good fit for CEZ's electricity distribution business. GasNet, owned through Czech Gas Network Investments by a consortium led by Macquarie Asset Management and including British Columbia Investment Management Corporation and Allianz Capital, covers 80% of the country's gas distribution through a network of 65,000 km of gas pipelines. "Having gas distribution in the hands of a strong local player would clearly help us in this effort," a spokesman said.

Persons: David W Cerny, Pavel Cyrani, Cyrani, Macquarie, GasNet, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet, Susan Fenton, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Czech Gas Network Investments, Macquarie Asset Management, Columbia Investment Management Corporation, Allianz Capital, Thomson Locations: Ledvice, Czech Republic, Czech, Prague, Ukraine

☆ Rescued white tiger cub finds home at German sanctuary
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Charlota, a white tiger cub, is seen inside its enclosure in Hodonin zoo in Hodonin, Czech Republic, June 6, 2023. FOUR PAWS/Handout via REUTERSJuly 27 (Reuters) - A rare white tiger cub rescued from a private owner in the Czech Republic has found a new home at a sanctuary in Germany this week, animal welfare group FOUR PAWS said on Thursday. The group, with the help of the Czech Environment Ministry, transferred the tiger, named Charlota, to its TIERART Wild Animal Sanctuary on Wednesday, from a Czech zoo than had been its temporary home after Czech authorities confiscated it last year. Authorities had seized Charlota from its private owner after the individual posted pictures of it on social media, prompting an investigation. Under Czech law, owners can keep a tiger if they can show legal origin and acquisition, FOUR PAWS said.

Persons: Charlota, Jason Hovet, Hugh Lawson Organizations: REUTERS, Czech Environment Ministry, Authorities, Police, Thomson Locations: Hodonin, Czech Republic, Germany, Czech, Europe, Prague

[1/3] Writer Milan Kundera is pictured in Prague, former Czechoslovakia, May 6, 1963. CTK Photo/Frantisek Nesvadba via REUTERSPRAGUE, July 12 (Reuters) - Czech-born writer Milan Kundera, author of the novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" who lived nearly five decades in Paris after emigrating in disillusionment from his Communist-ruled homeland, has died at the age of 94. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Kundera was "a writer and a voice that we will miss". "Milan Kundera's work is at the same time a deep, human, intimate and distant exploration," she said. Fellow Czech writer Karel Hvizdala told Czech Television he saw his friend last November and he was already in poor health.

Persons: Milan Kundera, Frantisek Nesvadba, Kundera, Petr Fiala, Petr Pavel, Pavel, Elisabeth Borne, Milan, Karel Hvizdala, Albert Camus, Daniel Day, Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Philip Kaufman, Timothy Garton Ash, Monde, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Czechoslovakia's, Jan Lopatka, Robert Muller, Elizabeth Pineau, Tassilo Hummel, Michael Kahn, Jason Hovet, Toby Chopra, Kevin Liffey, Mark Heinrich, Nick Macfie Organizations: CTK, REUTERS, Moravian, Prague Spring, Czech Television, Czechoslovak Communist, New York Times, Oxford University, Paris Mayor, Czechoslovakia's Communist, Thomson Locations: Prague, Czechoslovakia, REUTERS PRAGUE, Czech, Paris, Brno, France, Communist Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak, Europe, Central Europe, French, Western

☆ NATO makes membership pledge to Ukraine as Zelenskiy drums up support
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Robert Muller | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala visit the Velvet Revolution Memorial in Prague, Czech Republic, July 7, 2023. In Prague, he won a pledge of support for Ukraine to join NATO "as soon as the war (with Russia) is over", and in Sofia secured backing for membership "as soon as conditions allow". "There is strength in unity of NATO," he said, adding that undecided questions over Ukraine's future in NATO and Sweden's pending membership were "a threat to the alliance's strength". Zelenskiy has acknowledged that Kyiv is unlikely to be able to join NATO while at war with Russia. TALKS DUE IN TURKEYDespite Russia's anger, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala told a news conference with Zelenskiy in Prague that he expected all NATO allies to support Ukraine in its membership aspirations.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Petr Fiala, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Zuzana Caputova, Vladimir Putin, Fiala, Tayyip Erdogan, Jason Hovet, Pavel Polityuk, Timothy Heritage, Gareth Jones, Philippa Fletcher Organizations: Presidential Press Service, NATO, EU Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, European Union, Thomson Locations: Czech, Prague, Czech Republic, Ukraine, PRAGUE, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, Sofia, Bratislava, Vilnius, Lithuanian, Brussels, Russian, Russia's, TURKEY, Europe, Kyiv, United States, Istanbul

☆ US to send Ukraine cluster munitions, NATO makes membership pledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The cluster munitions "will deliver in a time frame that is relevant for the counteroffensive," a Pentagon official told reporters. Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries.Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed on to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons. BOTH SIDES SHOULD STOP USING CLUSTER BOMBS -HRWHuman Rights Watch has accused Russian and Ukrainian forces of using cluster munitions, which have killed civilians. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said after meeting Zelenskiy that Ukraine deserved NATO membership and that Ankara would continue working on a negotiated end to the war. "Our summit will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia's aggression will not pay," Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels.

Persons: Washington's, Vladimir Putin, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden, Anatoly Antonov, Antonov, Igor Ovcharruck, Clodagh, It's, Colin Kahl, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskiy, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Biden, Putin, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, Robert Muller, Jason Hovet, Pavel Polityuk, Mike Stone, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Michelle Nichols, Grant McCool, Diane Craft, David Gregorio Our Organizations: NATO, United States, Rights, United Nations, Pentagon, Cluster Munitions, White House, Watch, U.S, Washington, TASS, REUTERS, Treaty Organization, CNN, UN, Initiative, U.N, United, Thomson Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian, U.S, United States, Ukrainian, Kharkiv, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Zelenskiy, Ankara, Prague, Sofia, Brussels, Vilnius, Lithuanian, RUSSIA, Moscow, Odesa, United Nations, Kyiv, Washington

WARSAW/PRAGUE, July 6 (Reuters) - Central European currencies are expected to weaken over the next 12 months with the Polish zloty taking the biggest hit, a Reuters poll showed, as higher inflation compared to the euro zone and the prospect of interest rate cuts weigh. But with Hungary's central bank having already started to loosen policy and more rate cuts predicted in the region this year, analysts expect currencies to fall. The forint is expected to fall 1.3% to 380.0 against the euro, according to the poll. "Although consumer prices in Romania are largely sensitive to the exchange rate, it could soon allow the central bank to let leu depreciate slightly." The Czech crown is forecast to weaken the least of the region's currencies, falling 0.1% to 23.775.

Persons: Marcin Sulewski, HUF, Peter Virovacz, Jakub Kratky, leu, Jason Hovet, Alan Charlish, Sunil, Veronica Khongwir, Sarupya Ganguly, Conor Humphries Organizations: National Bank of Hungary, European Union, ING, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, PRAGUE, Poland, Romanian, Romania, Prague, Warsaw

PRAGUE, July 6 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy landed in the Czech capital Prague on Thursday as part of a tour to drum up support for a fast track to NATO membership for Kyiv ahead of a summit next week. "At the meeting, the presidents should coordinate their positions before the NATO summit in Vilnius, where it is expected to discuss, among other things, security guarantees for Ukraine." His arrival follows a visit to Bulgaria for talks on security and the NATO summit. Zelenskiy's diplomatic adviser Ihor Zhovkva said Kyiv had secured the backing of Bulgaria for its membership of the military alliance "as soon as conditions allow. " During the visit, Zelenskiy urged Sofia to continue military support and moved to dispel the notion that supplies of Western weapons to his country had expanded the scale of the war.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Petr Pavel, Pavel, Zelenskiy, Ihor Zhovkva, Jason Hovet, Robert Muller, Ronald Popeski, Alan Charlish, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang, Conor Humphries Organizations: NATO, Kyiv, Ukraine, European Union, Air Force, Thomson Locations: PRAGUE, Czech, Prague, Ukraine, Vilnius, Russia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Sofia

☆ Romanian prosecutors send Andrew Tate to trial for human trafficking
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Luiza Ilie | Thomson Reuters | Bucharest-Based General News Reporter Covering A Wide Range Of Romanian Topics Elections | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest (DIICOT) after being detained for 24 hours, in Bucharest, Romania, December 29, 2022. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS/File... Read moreBUCHAREST, June 20 (Reuters) - Romanian prosecutors sent social media influencer Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan and two other suspects to trial on Tuesday on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The brothers, former kickboxers who have U.S. and British nationality, are the highest profile suspects to be sent to trial for human trafficking in Romania. "Im sure this case has absolutely nothing to do with stealing my wealth," Andrew Tate said on his Twitter account. Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.

Persons: Andrew Tate, Tristan Tate, Ganea, Read, Tristan, Tate, Prosecutors, cryptocurrency, Luiza Ilie, Jason Hovet, Alexandra Hudson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Terrorism, REUTERS, Prosecutors, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: Bucharest, Romania, BUCHAREST

☆ OMV Petrom makes largest crude oil discovery in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BUCHAREST, June 13 (Reuters) - Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom (ROSNP.BX), majority-controlled by Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI), said on Tuesday it discovered new crude oil and natural gas deposits equal to about three quarters of its overall 2022 production. The deposits are the largest crude oil discovery OMV Petrom has made in decades, it said, and were found in southern Romania holding over 30 million barrerls of oil equivalent (boe) of recoverable resources. OMV Petrom has said it expected a decision around the middle of this year for the Neptun Deep gas project, estimated to cost around 4 billion euros ($4.32 billion). In May, Romanian lawmakers changed the law to enforce an additional tax on refined crude oil which applies to OMV Petrom. OMV Petrom shares were up 0.65% on the day on the Bucharest Stock Exchange by 1135 GMT.

Persons: Austria's OMV, Petrom, Cristian Hubati, Romgaz, OMV Petrom, Luiza Ilie, Jason Hovet, Alan Charlish Organizations: Bucharest Stock Exchange, Thomson Locations: BUCHAREST, Romania

☆ Kosovo open to new elections in municipalities hit by unrest, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRAGUE, June 6 (Reuters) - Kosovo is open to the possibility of new elections in four northern Serb-majority municipalities following unrest, but other steps need to be taken before then, Kosovan Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz said on Tuesday. Gervalla-Schwarz, speaking after meeting the Czech foreign minister in Prague, said an end to the violence was the first condition to consider new elections. "Yes, we are open to elections in those four municipalities but to have new elections we need steps in between," she said. Reinforcements for NATO's peacekeeping force began to arrive in Kosovo this week following the unrest. Kosovo declared internationally recognised independence from Serbia in 2008, although it was rejected by Belgrade.

Persons: Donika Gervalla, Schwarz, Joe Biden, Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Robert Muller, Jason Hovet, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Kosovan, Thomson Locations: PRAGUE, Kosovo, Czech, Prague, Serbia, Serbian, Belgrade, Kosovo's

☆ Czechs cancel Soviet-era decrees giving Russian embassy free land
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PRAGUE, May 17 (Reuters) - The Czech government on Wednesday cancelled Soviet-era decrees that granted the Russian embassy free use of land in Prague and other cities, a further step in a more than two-year diplomatic spat with Moscow worsened by the war in Ukraine. The Russian embassy in Prague did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Russia will now have to pay leases to use of the land, the foreign ministry said. Prague has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 2022 and has supplied it with military aid. The Czech parliament designated "the current Russian regime as terrorist" in November.

☆ Slovak caretaker PM quits months before early elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Heger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker prime minister, later on Sunday. Heger has faced opposition calls to make way for a technocrat administration to lead the central European country until early elections to take place in September. Polls find the public favours the biggest opposition party, which is led by former prime minister Robert Fico and has opposed increasing military aid to neighbouring Ukraine. Heger lost a no-confidence vote in December last year and in January he agreed to early elections as the best solution, leaving him in a caretaker role. It was not certain whether Caputova would name a new prime minister on Sunday.

☆ Slovak's caretaker PM quits after political wrangling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 7 (Reuters) - Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger said on Sunday he had asked the president to relieve him of his duties, after ministers' resignations weakened his cabinet that is serving in a caretaker capacity before elections in September. Heger is due to meet President Zuzana Caputova, who has the power to appoint a new caretaker prime minister, later on Sunday. Heger has faced calls from the opposition to make way for a technocrat administration to lead the central European country until early elections to take place in September. In common with other European states, Slovakia has provided households and companies with payments to mitigate the impact of high energy costs and wider inflation. Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VW's Skoda aims for six electric vehicle models by 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PRAGUE, April 26 (Reuters) - Czech carmaker Skoda Auto, part of German group Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), wants to expand its electric vehicle range to six models by 2026, the company said, further boosting its ambitions in the shift to e-mobility. The company had previously aimed to launch three new electric models but said in a Tuesday evening release it will launch four new e-vehicles and two updated models in the coming years. The launches fall under Skoda's 5.6 billion euro ($6.16 billion) investment plan into e-mobility by 2027. ($1 = 0.9086 euros)Reporting by Jason Hovet, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Slovakia hands over all 13 promised MiG fighter jets to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Slovakia has handed over all 13 MiG-29 fighter jets it had pledged to Ukraine, the Slovak Defence Ministry said on Monday. Slovakia joined Poland in promising the planes in March to aid Ukraine as it battles Russia's invasion, and had delivered the first four planes last month. Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Thousands of Czechs turn out for anti-government protest
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Demonstrators take part in an anti-government protest rally in Prague, Czech Republic, April 16, 2023. REUTERS/Eva KorinkovaPRAGUE, April 16 (Reuters) - Thousands of Czechs demonstrated in Prague's central square on Sunday, calling on the government to quit as they protested over high inflation and energy prices. Police did not give estimates of the size of the protest, named "Czechia against poverty". The Czech Republic, like other countries in Europe, has been hit by rising inflation that has soared into double digits in the past year and high energy prices that are cutting into household budgets. Reporting by Eva Korinkova, writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The Black Sea and its Ukrainian coast have been crucial theatres of war since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. "The Black Sea is instrumental for making the whole of Europe peaceful and future-oriented," Kuleba, speaking via video link, told a Black Sea security conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest. It's time to turn the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become, a sea of NATO." The remarks were brushed aside in Moscow, where Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing: "The Black Sea can never be a NATO sea." Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said a strong NATO foothold in the Black Sea going forward was a "must."

☆ ECB rates will need to rise but possibly at a slower pace - policymakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FRANKFURT, March 29 (Reuters) - European Central Bank interest rates will likely have to rise further to contain inflation, policymakers said on Wednesday, but at least one outspoken conservative floated the idea of a slowdown in the pace of increases. ECB chief economist Philip Lane, who makes the formal policy proposals to his 25 colleagues, said that his baseline is for the turmoil to dissipate and then rates would need to rise several times. "If the financial stress we see is non-zero, but turns out to be still fairly limited, interest rates will still need to go up." Slovak central bank chief Peter Kazimir, a proponent of rapid rate increases, meanwhile made the case for slower rises following three straight 50-basis point hikes. Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet and Robert Muller; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Slovakia gets U.S. helicopter offer after sending jets to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Bell helicopter Ah-1Z Viper helicopter is seen outside a hall at the 30th International Defence Industry Exhibition in Kielce, Poland September 5, 2022. REUTERS/Kacper PempelMarch 22 (Reuters) - The United States has offered to sell Slovakia 12 new Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopters at a two-thirds discount after Bratislava sent its retired MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Wednesday. Last week it became the second of Ukraine's allies, after Poland, to provide fighter jets, which Kyiv believes are crucial to repel Russia's year-long invasion. Alongside the offer of U.S. equipment, Slovakia will receive 250 million euros ($269 million) in European Union compensation, Nad said. Nad said the helicopter offer was partly due to its support for neighbour Ukraine and also indirect compensation for the delayed delivery of F-16 fighter jets which the country ordered in 2018 that are now due to arrive in 2024.

[1/5] An employee prepares online grocery orders in the storage area of Czech online grocer Rohlik Group in Prague, Czech Republic February 1, 2023. HUGE GROWTH POTENTIAL Rohlik, founded in 2014, leads the Czech market by mainly targeting customers in big cities through its string of distribution warehouses. "Competition is still mainly driven by stationary retail but a small number of online grocery players are gearing up in each market to become leading e-grocery platforms." KOSIK TURNS EASTAs Rohlik bets on Germany, Kosik is looking eastward, entering the Slovak market and expanding in Bulgaria. CEO Ivan Utesil said the company would also seek to cut into Czech market share by capitalising on its tie-in with German wholesaler Metro (B4B.DE) in some regional areas.

☆ Hungary starts process to ratify Finland, Sweden NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Gergely Szakacs | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A general view as the Hungarian parliament starts debating the ratification of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership in Budapest, Hungary, March 1, 2023. Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the transatlantic defence pact after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With Hungary's ratification process stranded in parliament since July, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban aired concerns about Sweden and Finland's NATO membership for the first time last Friday. "Finland and Sweden's NATO membership serves our foreign policy, security and economic interests and it also strengthens NATO." Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday Hungary intended to send a parliamentary delegation to Finland on or around March 9 to discuss the Nordic nation's bid for accession to NATO.

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