COVID-19

In cooperation with the Academy of Liberalism, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has just released a podcast devoted to the topic of \"Baltic Buuble: COVID-19\". The episode focuses on how much COVID-19 has influenced the economy of the Baltic countries and how dark or bright is the future?

It could be argued that the EU is now paying the price for the incomplete settlement of the rule of law dispute during the July summit, when the multi-billion euro Corona recovery package and the seven-year EU financial framework were agreed.

The Slovak agricultural sector suffers from several problems that hinder the competitiveness of farmers: complicated land ownership, due to which (young) farmers cannot access fields, an unpredictable business environment and bureaucracy and, last but not least, lack of investment in capital equipment.

The 2020 elections have been crucial in a number of coutries - from a forthcoming one in the United States, to most recent ones in Lithuania. The same is true also for Georgia. On November 3, the Georgian citizens need to decide and to opt for either Russia or the West.

COVID-19 reached Poland a few weeks later than Western Europe, to which the Polish government responded promptly by introducing a nation-wide lockdown. Administrative restrictions to constrain the spread of the virus coupled with reactions of wary consumers led to economic disruptions.

In mid-March 2020, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the almost complete government paralysis of economic activities put most of the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) into hibernation.

In times when public trust in traditional institutions is in decline in many countries and relations between countries are under strain, open channels of communication and willingness for cooperation across borders are more essential than ever.

Singapore ranked first in the 2020 edition of the Smart Cities Index, which aims to assess cities in terms of citizens\' needs. Bratislava ranked 76th out of 109 cities with a year-on-year improvement of 8 places.

While many countries in the CEE region have had a recent experience of a successful economic transformation, few are doing great in preparation for the new wave of the industrial revolution.

Lithuania’s tax system is ranked the sixth most competitive and neutral in the OECD according to the Tax Foundation’s International Tax Competitiveness Index 2020 which was released on October 15.