With increased incursions into EU countries' airspace amid Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the EU hopes to implement an anti-drone shield.

Elsewhere, V4 “relaunches” at meeting of PMs in Hungary; Slovak government frames criticism of its economic management as a media problem; Czechia’s top court orders government to ensure president can participate in NATO summit.

Four people linked to an OnlyFans management agency run by Czech influencer Adam Kajumi have been charged with human trafficking and pimping. The arrests came after a 2025 investigation by BIRN and Page Not Found into alleged exploitation in the digital sex industry.

Behind the glitzy facade of the World Cup... there's a darker side to the world of football.

Elsewhere, Robert Fico is the great political survivor as he celebrates 20 years since winning his first election; strike by Czech public media staff called after government unveils reforms to funding model; and Hungarian PMs current and former in Brussels.

The legislation, which includes the setting up of deportation centres located outside the EU, is designed to increase the low removal number of failed asylum seekers from the current 28 per cent.

Peter Magyar’s Tisza party campaigned on a promise to take Hungary into the eurozone, but delivering on that promise would entail blood, sweat and tears – and likely an accompanying loss of popularity.

To speed up deportations of migrants whose asylum claims have failed, the EU is set to authorise detention centres beyond its borders. But will they help to resolve the issue?

Elsewhere, Slovak president urged to halt controversial ambassador pick for Cyprus; Czech defence minister calls for increase in defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP; and Hungary's government submits omnibus bill designed to unlock frozen EU funds.

Drone incursions have heightened fears that the war in Ukraine is spilling into Romania, exposing vulnerabilities in the NATO member’s air and maritime defences.

Repairing Polish-Hungarian relations is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for resolving the broader challenges facing the V4 regional alliance of Central European states.

Black market Botox clinics and DIY injections are putting people’s health at risk.

Elsewhere, Czech police charge four in OnlyFans human-trafficking case; Hungarian PM raises pressure on president to quit; fresh dispute over wartime history frays Polish-Ukrainian ties; Slovak government defends overdue package of measures to support growth.

Nuclear power remains attractive from an energy security and decarbonisation perspective, but Hungary illustrates how such projects have become more complicated economically and geopolitically to build than a decade ago.

Across the region, corruption is shaking the highest levels of government. How is Europe tackling the issue?

Elsewhere in the region, Hungarian parliament revokes planned withdrawal from the ICC; speculation explodes over possible sale of Czech maker of Semtex; Poland and UK sign a new security and defence treaty.

In her latest despatch from Washington, Jovana Djurovic dissects official State Department policy on the Balkans.

Political pressure and dwindling public funding mean that Europe’s museums are struggling to stay afloat - and fundraising via corporate sponsorship has brought its own issues.

Elsewhere, Hungary’s new government seeks to limit PM’s mandate to a maximum of two terms; EU Parliament steps up pressure on Slovakia by urging freezing of EU funds; Czechia’s three-party coalition starts to show signs of division.

Six weeks after his Tisza movement upended Hungarian politics, Peter Magyar arrived in Poland on his first official foreign trip – a visit carefully designed to signal both democratic realignment and regional ambition.

Rene Karabash tells BIRN how the ancient Albanian custom of women becoming ‘sworn virgins’ became the subject of her acclaimed novel – which put Bulgarian literature in the spotlight as a contender for the International Booker Prize.

Orban turned Hungary’s public service media into a propaganda machine after taking office in 2010. Now out of power, questions are being raised about what to do with the state media and the journalists who supported the system.

Elsewhere, Magyar sworn in as new Hungarian PM and holds first cabinet meeting; Trump ally tipped as new US ambassador to Slovakia; Czech president and PM still at odds over who should attend NATO summit in Ankara.

Poland's largest crypto exchange has a missing founder, suspected ties to Russian organised crime and a CEO who made large payments to right-wing politicians – all while the president blocked the law designed to regulate the market.

Pro-Israel Czechia may provide US rapper and ‘reformed antisemite’ Kanye West oddly favourable ground to return to the European stage this summer.

In Romania, the Social Democrats joined forces with the far right to bring down the pro-EU government. Elsewhere, some mainstream parties are considering deals, or already cooperating with, parties they previously saw as too radical.

Elsewhere, Poland’s institutional crisis continues to disrupt workings of state; a Congress of Sudeten Germans set to take place in Czechia prompts protests; and Slovak judges issue warning over political attacks on judicial independence.

While Tisza’s landslide election victory offers an opportunity to rejuvenate press freedom after 16 years of backsliding, unwinding Fidesz’s media capture model will be complex, but essential for achieving wider democratic reform.

Despite living in a hyperconnected world, Gen Z is stuck in a loneliness crisis. What is to blame - and what can be done about it?

Elsewhere, Slovakia under increasing EU scrutiny as tensions grow over reforms; first prisoner exchange on Polish territory since WWII frees Belarusian-Polish dissident; talks underway to choose next chief of General Staff of Czech Armed Forces.