Ukraine demands faster accession into the West. For that, Budapest's blessing will be critical, although the EU will first hand the prize to Albania this Tuesday, which has already fulfilled the 'Fundamentals' cluster benchmarks. shorturl.at/6kvIV

Serbia will submit its proposal to MOL today regarding the Hungarian oil company’s bid to acquire NIS, Serbia's only oil refinery operator. The collapse of the Orbán model creates uncertainty, but also strategic openings for both Hungary and the region, writes Goran Buldioski: shorturl.at/wnoTG

'Babiš lets the far right and Kremlin-sympathising SPD party radicalise mainstream political discourse in the country' – @ASybera. The Sudeten German Congress in Brno this week exposes the rising radicalisation of the Babiš cabinet. shorturl.at/oII6R

Two Ukrainian drones crashed in an empty fuel depot in Rēzekne, hitting the final nail in the coffin of the Latvian government. Others should watch with caution – and not only in matters of air defence, writes Roberts Kits from @LaSERdomnica: shorturl.at/Egr6R

Hungary's @magyarpeterMP is coming to Poland today with a delegation comprising the @_OrbanAnita, Istvan Kapitany, Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi (PhD), Szabolcs Bona, Minister Dávid Vitézy and Zoltan Tarr. shorturl.at/FHzOG

The danger for small and middle powers is clear. Avoiding deadly confrontation is a good thing, but the terms on which the world order is being negotiated send shivers down the spines of Taiwan and CEE. shorturl.at/p7EUr

Orbán’s defeat exposed the brittle logic of the informal power system, where loyalty lasted only as long as elites believed the regime would outlive accountability. Over time, inflation, economic decline and growing insecurity eroded this bargain, writes Edit Zgut-Przybylska: shorturl.at/UDGAg

Poland's wanted former justice minister and his deputy got an airlift to America by the MAGA circles. But Trump's case for saving Polish fugitives Zbigniew Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski is built on misleading premises, writes Arslan Suleymanov: shorturl.at/XEQpD

Across Europe, Magyar's victory is often seen as proof that democratic backsliding can still be reversed through elections. Yet Hungary now faces challenges even more complex than those that emerged in Poland after the downfall of PiS in 2023, writes @K_Izdebski: shorturl.at/UwMby

Warsaw is looking for friends with benefits – in defence. shorturl.at/J19AV Poland signed EU’s first SAFE defence loan agreement shortly before the Bucharest Nine Summit co-chaired by @NicusorDanRO & @NawrockiKn. PL is exploring new defence deals with Hungary, ahead of @magyarpeterMP's visit to PL.

CEE countries are falling out of love with Israel. Yet opposition to atrocities in Gaza may not be the only reason, writes @arsuleymanov.

The current energy crisis is draining Europe’s LNG storage, including in Poland, a front‑line importer of US and Qatari gas. shorturl.at/y0fFx

After years of obituaries declaring the Visegrad Group too dead to revive, is a comeback now underway? Read the commentary by @wprzybylski: visegradinsight.eu/v4-moment-of...

Romania's PM Bolojan was ousted in a landslide by the ruling PSD and the opposition AUR party. 'An important faction within the party has been unhappy with PM's reform of public administration, which deprives local administrations of funds and power. shorturl.at/xumBk

How resilient are the V4 countries against the energy supply crisis? Poland’s LNG storage stands at around 40.4 per cent of capacity, placing it in the lower-middle of EU countries that have storage capacity. shorturl.at/y0fFx

Before leaving Yerevan, @donaldtusk said that he and @RobertFicoSVK discussed the participation of @ZelenskyyUa in the V4 summit as a special guest. Almost concurrently, Fico posted a photo of himself with Tusk and Babiš. What to expect? shorturl.at/l7uOM

The Middle East energy crisis is forcing Europe to draw down gas reserves faster than planned, with Bulgaria recording the steepest relative decline. Poland has seen the second‑largest depletion in the EU at 7.5 pp, yet still maintains one of the bloc’s highest fill levels. shorturl.at/y0fFx

The Iran war energy supply shock is rattling Europe’s gas markets. Among the V4 countries, Poland is the most prepared, with underground gas storage 43.2 per cent full – the fourth-highest level in the EU. shorturl.at/y0fFx

While the European Political Community is gathering in Yerevan, the Kremlin proceeds with the annual Victory Day parade on 9 May. The spectacle is more modest. Only a handful of the usual suspects are expected – Lukashenka, Dodik and Fico. shorturl.at/dYCuW

Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court ordered the registration of a foreign same-sex marriage certificate. The case makes a strong precedent for the rest of the CEE region, but the implementation is far from complete, writes @MikoCzerwinski from @KPH_official and Anna Dudek: urli.info/1u24c

As Orbán announced his resignation from the parliamentary seat after his party's landslide defeat, Ukraine is gaining a material advantage in the confrontation with Moscow. shorturl.at/ZToFu

Sometimes new female recruits think: I am a woman, in the worst case, they will spare me. When new girls arrive, I tell them: the Russians will not care whether you are a man or a woman. You are a target. You are the enemy'. shorturl.at/DGGMI

For the first time since the fall of communism, one party has won an absolute majority in Bulgaria. But there are two faces of the man who has served as Bulgaria's president for almost eight years – a pro-Russian dove and a former Air Force pilot turned reformer.

Bulgaria has its strongman now after the elections. But who will Rumen Radev turn out to be? Wojciech Przybylski spoke with Spasimir Domaradzki from the University of Warsaw less than 24 hours after the election results had been announced. youtu.be/BkbUM0HnP48

'EU is criticised from three directions. US sees it as a weakling that can be exploited. China does the same, as does the Middle East', argues Krzysztof Domarecki from Selena Group. Doubling down on the Three Seas Initiative is one way for Europe to seize the opportunity shorturl.at/eNASj

Lessons for Georgia – Roundtable and Action Points. We were pleased to join the final webinar by our partner Caucasian Journal and talk about how regional cooperation can survive in times of deep political polarisation. Watch the recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRe...

The Budapest Stock Exchange and bookmakers are already betting on an imminent change. Yet Viktor Orbán shows no sign of yielding. Read our special Easter holiday Weekly Outlook: shorturl.at/7XWyS

One year after Trump's 'Liberation Day' – is globalisation over? Tune in to @elisabethbraw from @AtlanticCouncil and @wprzybylski's conversation on tariffs, China and Europe's trade future. YT: shorturl.at/JHB8B Spotify: shorturl.at/qoYcj

Day 2 of the Resilient Futures Fellowship Masterclass - photo recap. In partnership with the @PZU Foundation.

'If you cannot defend yourself through defence, you need to resort to deterrence — and here, CEE is succeeding.' — @edwardlucas. No one speaks about action better than our fellows and the experts we bring into Day 2 of the Resilient Futures Fellowship Masterclass. shorturl.at/NvX6e

Those who are most susceptible to manipulation are not, as a rule, the credulous or the poorly educated. They are people whose distrust of existing institutions has been earned through their lived experience – a fertile ground for influence campaigns, writes Joanna Rohozinska: shorturl.at/dqihX

Hungarian elections will determine not only the country's domestic direction but also the coherence of V4 across the security, energy and EU enlargement domains. Read the analysis by @arsuleymanov with commentary by Andrej Nosko, Melinda Zsolt& @longhurstkerry. shorturl.at/xKWs5

Oil shocks have a new dimension in CEE. Russian Baltic and Black Sea oil infrastructure has been hit, temporarily halting up to 40 per cent of its oil export capacity. What will be the wider impact on CEE? Read the new Weekly Outlook: shorturl.at/Thg3c

The amendments to the Lithuanian Klaipėda State Seaport Law were passed with almost no debate and almost no press coverage earlier this month. Yet the final tally may turn out to be the most consequential moment in Vilnius-Minsk relations for years to come: shorturl.at/t4U2A

Journalists from across Poland came together yesterday to discuss how to build strong media networks. Using Visegrad Insight as a case study, the discussion formed part of our partner project – Journalism for Security. A round of applause to everyone who joined us. @LATO_LV (Latvia), NCDSA (Estonia)

We were pleased to join the third webinar in the Visegrad Lessons for Georgia series, co-organised by our partner, the Caucasian Journal, alongside Arnika, International Visegrad Fund, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and the Central European Forum. shorturl.at/jDCny

Iran's attack on the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean marks a pivot in threat perception for most European capitals. Tehran fired two missiles with a range of roughly 4,000 kilometres. The kinetic risk for EU is now real and CEE countries should change their calculus. shorturl.at/2IS18

An Israeli private intelligence firm allegedly meddled in Slovenian elections on behalf of Janez Janša's SDS, according to an investigation by Mladina d.d. If Janša wins this Sunday's vote, Slovenia may pivot into the sovereigntist bloc of Hungary and Slovakia. Read our analysis: shorturl.at/mHu6N

Kyiv now holds the complete package of conditions required for EU accession. Yet its parliament is approaching an institutional collapse, writes Valeriia Novak: shorturl.at/0LHQD

Russia will repeat the playbook it used in Moldova in Hungary's upcoming elections. But this time it may fail again, writes @LucaSoltesz, our contributing editor: shorturl.at/7urRh

EU Ministers @BenjaminHaddad, @ignacyn and a panel of experts joined a fireside chat co-organised by @VisegradInsight at the @PLintheEU in Brussels. Takeaway: Democracy in Europe faces a threat that no single government, institution, or expert network can address on its own. shorturl.at/G8Ufq

Vetoing SAFE puts the brakes on Poland's defence consensus, as we write in today's Weekly Outlook: shorturl.at/pkVd0 Others in Europe are watching with growing unease, unsure whether Warsaw can deliver strategic coherence on defence. That uncertainty is already feeding 'Polexit' narratives.

War in Iran will not save Russia's economy, argues Evgeni Klauber from Tel Aviv University: shorturl.at/YheQh. The impact of surging oil prices will be temporary, as Russia struggles to secure steady demand and faces a mounting floating‑oil congestion problem.

The @EUCourtPress decision in the Klubrádió case (C-92/23) signals that the EU is willing to defend pluralistic media against political pressure, but the gap between commitments and reality remains, writes @nowickazuz from @hfhrpl: visegradinsight.eu/orban-lost-l...

Poland's president new defence funding proposal (an alternative to SAFE) may have severe implications for Poland's standing in the EU, trigger a constitutional crisis and incur significant costs to taxpayers, write @wprzybylski and @KasprowiczT: shorturl.at/oj0C1

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia will visit Warsaw and Gdańsk on 10-12 March, bringing with them a significant business delegation that includes companies like Saab, Volvo Defense and Ericsson, among others. This is the first such visit by the Swedish royal couple since 2011. shorturl.at/yZYnt

As the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a global chokepoint in economic warfare, continues, the fallout is going to cascade and impact CEE's economic and democratic security.

As the CEE region will get the greatest slice of the pie from EU's 150 billion defence modernisation plan, Ukraine's defence sector has grown by 350 per cent since 2022. While some in the V4 realise the opportunity, a fog of restraint still remains, writes Tamas Csiki Varga: shorturl.at/2WbH2

When @dennikN announced in mid‑February that it acquired @euobs, the news came as a surprise. It is an exceptional story that contrasts with MAGA‑aligned @ParamountPics taking over control of @wbd and the Polish liberal @tvn24. shorturl.at/b1e04

There are at least three dimensions of the fallout from the US attack on Iran that CEE countries must be mindful of: depletion of air defence supplies for Ukraine, surging oil prices and strengthened populist narratives. Read the full Weekly Outlook: visegradinsight.eu/us-attack-on...