Formalities Aside: We Need a Real EU border

With external pressure long mounting, the EU border is not just an abstract idea but a point of common identity and policy moulding. As Romania continues its effort to enter the Schengen area Czech EU presidency is proposing a voluntary migrant distribution scheme.

This week on Visegrad Insight:

• Ognyan Georgiev breaks down the monumental shifts in Bulgaria’s gas industry.
• Bohdan Bernatskyi argues tech sanctions can help Deindustrailise Russia.
• Edit Zgut-Przybylska analyses how China is courting Hungary through clientelism.
• Visegrad Insight is partnering up with the annual Prague European Summit on 10-11 November 2022. Organised annually, the Prague European Summit is a platform for strategic dialogue about common responses to the EU’s challenges. The session “RePowering the EU – On the road to a truly cleaner, autonomous, and resilient EU?” moderated by our Magda Jakubowska will discuss how RePowerEU impacts the EU’s endeavours towards strategic autonomy and resilience.

EU/REGIONAL

• COP 27 UN climate conference began in Egypt on November 6 with scientists warning that the world has come close to the point of no return and that prospects of coming back to average pre-industrial era temperatures melted away. Climate activist Greta Thurnberg criticised the summit for being “held in a tourist paradise in a country that violates many basic human rights”, Reuters reports.
• China warns Russia against nuking Ukraine just after German Chancellor Scholz’s visit to Beijing which focused on the theme of international peace and trade.
• US midterms on 8 November. Republicans are poised to take back control of Congress amid threats they could defund the Ukrainian defence efforts. Read more here.
• The Norwegian military is on heightened alert in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said there is no danger of Russian invasion but the country still needs to be “more vigilant” and that “this is the most severe security situation in several decades”. Several Russian citizens were detained following the underwater explosions damaging Nord Stream pipelines.
• Finland calls on Hungary and Turkey to approve the Finish and Swedish bids to enter NATO.
• Drop in the ratings in the CE banking industry. Moody’s rating agency changes its outlook for banking sectors in Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovakia from stable to negative.
• Eurogroup meets on November 7 to exchange views on the latest economic outlook of the euro currency area.
• Sanction exemptions. The Dutch government issued 91 waivers to sanctions against Russian entities. Names of the entities or values of transactions are withheld.
• Israeli election results see Benyamin Netanyahu likely return to power by forming a coalition with far-right parties. While in office in the past, Netanyahu has forged relationships with strongman politicians including far-right Vitkor Orbán or has been praised by populist nationalists such as Janez Janša or Miloš Zeman.

Ukraine braces for tough winter ahead

UKRAINE