Hungary
Financial Times reporter covering Hungary, Romania and Western Balkans. Formerly based in Brussels bureau.
Contact: Aqbyrne (at) gmail.com
Dmitry Melnichenko's wife had doubts about his plan to quit his stable, nine-to-five job to work from home as a freelance web developer; there was the uncertain income stream, the lack of interaction with colleagues and their young daughter to think about.
National leaders and media across Europe mobilised on Monday to persuade British voters to remain in the EU, with Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban buying a full-page ad in Monday's Daily Mail urging Britons to choose "Remain".
Three portly cameramen struggle up the steps of the courthouse in central Bucharest, brushing past smokers sweating in the midsummer heat as they push their way into its cool marble halls. Inside, dozens of prosecutors in black gowns glide in and
For more than two weeks, thousands of demonstrators have gathered nightly outside the offices of Katica Janeva, supporting a woman who has become the scourge of Macedonia's corruption-riddled elite and an unlikely icon of protest in the country's
Hungary is preparing to impose the world's first tax on internet usage in the latest example of the unorthodox economic policies being pursued by prime minister Viktor Orbán and his increasingly dominant Fidesz party. Mihály Varga, economy minister,
Chaos on Hungary's railways The drama of Budapest's Keleti station entered a new, more chaotic phase on Thursday as hundreds of exhausted migrants boarded trains they mistakenly believed were bound for Germany, only to realise they were on their way
Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has criticised the EU's policy of sanctions against Russia, questioning their effectiveness in influencing Moscow's behaviour while warning that central European exports were suffering the consequences. Mr
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban on Friday abandoned a controversial plan for the world's first internet tax following the largest mass demonstrations in Budapest in recent memory. The prime minister's u-turn was hailed by internet campaigners
Serbia will on Thursday roll out the red carpet for Russian president Vladimir Putin, greeting him with its first military parade in 30 years, in a move some western capitals see as jarring with Belgrade's commitment to joining the EU. The Russian
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, could not mask his frustration after a meeting with his European counterparts in March. "America is from Mars, Europe is from Venus - get used to it," he sighed, leaning back in his chair and folding his
Viktor Orban presided over commemorations of Hungary's 1956 uprising against Communism last week as the country's longest-serving prime minister since the fall of the iron curtain. Fortified by a trio of electoral victories this year, the prime
Greece will still need an additional €14.9bn in financial help through next year despite holding its first successful bond auction in four years and posting a primary budget surplus in 2013, according to an EU report on the rescue. The report is the
Three years ago, 28-year-old Fatima Donaire thought she was living the European dream. Born and raised in the Andalucían town of Jaén, Ms Donaire took advantage of the EU's promise of a borderless European labour market in 2011 to leave crisis-strick
The EU's mission to war-torn Central African Republic will be deployed within days, despite delays and difficulties in raising infantry contributions, its French commander told the Financial Times. General Philippe Ponties, commander of EUFor CAR,
Brussels is drawing a line under its protracted fight with regional airports that offer sweeteners to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, with revised rules that phase out public subsidies but give lossmaking airports a decade to adjust. The reforms
The EU has given Russia an ultimatum to recall its troops in Crimea back to barracks by Thursday, when the bloc's 28 leaders meet in an emergency session in Brussels, or face "targeted measures". But Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that
Dozens of giant light-sticks illuminate the path to Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre at night, glowing red and flashing in dazzling rhythms. Landscape architect Martha Schwartz's "neon red carpet" offers a new kind of Irish welcome. It announces to
Chinese president Xi Jinping has called for the EU and China to "actively explore" a bilateral trade agreement, arguing that such a move would make the pair "the twin engines for global economic growth". Mr Xi's call, made during a speech on Tuesday,
An independent Scotland would be an "enthusiastic, engaged and committed" member of the EU - in sharp contrast with the UK's often "sullen, disengaged" approach, Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has told an audience at the College of Europe. In
The European Commission has launched an inquiry into stakes held by foreign investors in four European airlines, warning that EU rules prohibit foreign companies from exercising "effective control" of airlines registered in the 28-member bloc. The
Greece's creditors are to begin talks over whether it should be granted additional debt relief, after Brussels confirmed that Athens had achieved a primary surplus for the first time since the eurozone crisis. Although Athens has been relying
Haulage trucks criss-cross the continent all day and night and have redefined the map of Europe. Andrew Byrne jumps aboard with Turkish drivers Arap, Aziz and Hurşit for a seven-day, 3,000km trek, hauling textiles from Istanbul to Dartford, UK Day 1, Thursday: Turkey Our three-truck convoy - carrying socks and flowers for Istanbul hauliers Integral Logistics - sets off for Bulgaria, 280km away.
EU foreign ministers are on Wednesday expected to freeze the assets of Viktor Yanukovich and 17 of the ousted Ukrainian president's closest allies, as authorities in Kiev investigated the misappropriation of billions of euros of state funds. If
EU foreign ministers agreed to impose targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for spiralling violence in Ukraine and enact an embargo on equipment that could be used against protesters. The EU did not immediately produce a list of
Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb army chief, dismissed the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague as a "satanic court" and refused to testify in defence of his wartime leader Radovan Karadzic. In an unprecedented joint appearance before the
©Richard Saker/The Guardian When Sir James Dyson took the bag out of the vacuum cleaner in 1983, he was dismissed as an oddball with dangerous ideas. Manufacturers and distributors saw his designs as a threat and shut him out of the British market.
EU foreign ministers on Monday approved a six-month suspension of certain sanctions on Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Tehran has halted its most sensitive nuclear activity. Q: Which sanctions have been lifted?
The discovery The morning of December 8th, 2001, was unusually bright in the southeast of the country. A lorry driver collected a freight container, supposedly carrying furniture from Milan, from Belview Port in Waterford. He drove it 60km east to Wexford Business Park in Drinagh, a neat complex on the road to Rosslare, where he stopped for a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant.
EU lawmakers approved a deal on Wednesday on stricter tobacco rules that require bigger health warning on cigarette packets and cap the amount of nicotine in so-called e-cigarettes . The deal, struck between negotiators for the EU's 28 member states
A man convicted of the manslaughter of eight illegal immigrants found dead in a shipping container in Wexford in 2001 was released from custody in Belgium last week. Bekim Zogaj (33), a Serbian national, was arrested in 2012 after 10 years evading police following his conviction.
European foreign ministers have approved a 500-strong EU military mission to assist international forces in quelling unrest in the Central African Republic, but questions on the composition of the force remain unanswered. Catherine Ashton, the EU
EU foreign ministers are expected on Monday to approve the deployment of troops to the Central African Republic following factional violence that has displaced almost 1m people and triggered fears of genocide. The EU force, likely to number between