Page 3 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine April 2025

bne April 2025 Contents I 3
CENTRAL EUROPE
30 Poland’s Tusk outlines push for nuclear weapons, plans to expand army to 500,000
31 Viktor Orban warns against Ukraine's EU membership, says economic package with US is in the pipeline
33 Mass protests against PM Fico’s pro-Russian turn continue across Slovakia
34 Wild boars unearth World War 2 mortar shells in Polish forest
35 Hungarian lawmakers move legislation in fast-track vote to ban Pride March
SOUTHEAST EUROPE
36 Southeast Europe erupts in weekend of protests
38 Turkey invited to top table as Europe scrambles to rearm
39 Several EU countries back push to fund Prague-based RFE/RL in response to Trump axeing it
EASTERN EUROPE
40 Putin tells Russia's oligarchs that the return of Western business will not be easy or cheap
41 Russian official urges women to wear mini-skirts to boost birth rate
42 Lithuania links Russian intelligence to arson attacks in Vilnius and Warsaw
43 Trump proposes taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants
EURASIA
44 Azerbaijan and Armenia reach agreement on historic peace deal
46 Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan sign long-sought deal on border known for armed clashes
47 Afghan opium prices skyrocket amid ban, fuelling organised crime
48 Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s fifth president
50 Tajikistan again in spotlight as “terrorism hub” after New York arrest
58
OPINION
52 Being a Trump fan isn’t enough to get US support
54 What did we die for?
56 Bosnia becomes new proxy
for struggle between Russia and the West
58 Armenia, the last man standing
NEW EUROPE IN NUMBERS
61 European defence industry is the global growth laggard
30
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