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40 I Central Europe
Jean-Claude Juncker together with the
caption saying: "You have the right to know what Brussels is planning to do”.
This was a clear reference to what the government has spread for years, that Brussels is promoting illegal migration with the help of Soros, who has been
The conservative party has remained divided for long on the status of Fidesz. Orban enjoyed the support of the French, Italian, Spanish and Austrian members, while smaller countries, such as Finland, Belgium and The Netherlands, have lobbied for the party's expulsion.
bne April 2021
Earlier this month, the EPP amended internal party rules with overwhelming support, allowing the suspension of
an entire party group and not just indi- vidual MEPs.
In a pre-emptive move, Fidesz left the parliamentary group before an eventual expulsion. Cutting off ties entirely with EPP was just a technical issue after that.
The 12 MEPs delegated by Fidesz will work as independent in the European Parliament. One MEP, delegated by the Christian Democratic People's Party will keep his post in the EPP.
As for the future Fidesz is likely to join like-minded nationalists and anti- immigration parties in the European Conservatives and Reformists Group led by Orban’s main ally, the Law
and Justice (PiS) of Poland. ECR also includes Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, with whom Orban has established cozy ties.
In a recent interview the Hungarian prime minister said his party is in no rush to find new partners but that there should be a home for Fidesz
in Europe with parties that share the same values, those that "do not want migrants" and want to "protect traditional families."
“Orban’s recent attempts to torpedo the EU’s seven-year budget and the recovery fund in December was seen as blackmail by many”
used as a scapegoat for the migration crisis by Orban.
The EPP suspended the membership
of Fidesz MEPs in March 2019. Orban avoided the most embarrassing scenario, expulsion as he had promised to keep to the rules.
Hungary’s illiberal prime minister then turned the 2019 European Parliamentary elections into a referendum on migra- tion and the future of Europe. But his position weakened further within EPP as anti-establishment parties failed to make a breakthrough as he had hoped. Never- theless, the Hungarian right-wing party remained one of the largest factions in the EPP with 12 MEPs.
But crucially he had the backing of Germany’s CDU and CSU even as had stepped over the red line numerous times.
Some observers attributed this lenient position to pressure from German business groups, which have established established assembly plants in the country, helped by
big incentives and low taxes. These economic ties are vital for Hungary,
as Germany accounts for some 30% of the country's exports.
Orban’s recent attempts to torpedo the EU’s seven-year budget and the recovery fund in December was seen as blackmail by many and did not help to improve his tarnished image in the EPP.
bne:Tech
Contents
Top stories
Russia’s top retail and tech companies
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A FREE newsletter covering technology, blockchain, ICOs, TMT and all aspects of the "new economy" in Emerging Europe, Central Asia and MENA.
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March 2020
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join forces to hunt for innovations in rest of the world
Ukraine-born startups raised more than half a billion dollars in 2019 Russian video streaming platforms gain speed
Cloud services take off in Russia SEMrush to SEO success
Leaders
Russia’s internet giant Yandex announces growing and more diversified revenues in 2019 Russian telecom major Rostelecom misses on earnings in 4Q19, cash flow solid
Investment
the
2
4
5 6 8
9
10 12
13
Russia’s top retail and tech companies
join forces to hunt for innovations in
the rest of the world
BAs Russia’s retail and tech sectors consolidate, the leading companies are turned their gaze outwards to hunt for
World Bank approves $35mn project
to modernise Kyrgyz tax administration and statistical system 13 Romanian online home decoration
retailer raises €3.5mn in bonds 14 Russian billionaires Abramovich, Gutseriev, said to invest in Telegram
crypto project TON 14 Russian fund Da Vinci Capital gets
€30mn from Germany’s DEG to invest
in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan 15
Fintech & E-commerce 16
Russian e-commerce major
Wildberries to add self-employed
vendor products to offering 16 Russian Dixy retailer to launch online sales with Ozon 17 Valuation of Sistema’s e-commerce
asset Ozon boosted to $1.8bn 17
Telecom 19
Makedonski Telekom’s net profit
up 6% y/y in 2019 19 Romanian telco Digi grows by double
digit rates in 2019 19 Russia could postpone 5G rollout
from 2022 to 2024 20
NIBs 21
bne:Tech
new technology and innovation.
See page 2
Ukraine-born startups raised more
than half a billion dollars in 2019
In 2019, the venture capital and private equity funding volume for Ukrainian and Ukrainian-founded tech startups reached $544mn (up from $323mn in 2018 and $265mn in 2017), says AVentures Capital’s latest industry report ”DealBook of Ukraine”,
reports Adrien Henni of Ukraine Digital News. See page 4
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