How we cee it. – March 2025 Digest
This is the monthly recap.The real action happens weekly — subscribe to How we cee it. Week 10 Europe Plans To Rearm—If Pro-Russian Countries Allow It Kyiv, Ukraine.…
This is the monthly recap.
The real action happens weekly — subscribe to How we cee it.
Week 10
Europe Plans To Rearm—If Pro-Russian Countries Allow It
European leaders gathered in London on Sunday to devise a strategy to protect Ukraine—and themselves—from Russia, amid a dramatic U.S. foreign policy shift.
The urgency intensified after a disastrous meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, on Friday. The encounter laid bare the pro-Russian stance of the American commander-in-chief. Alongside his Vice President, J.D. Vance, Trump berated Zelenskyy, who desperately sought to defend basic truths about the aggressive war Russia has waged against his country for the past three years.
Following the meeting, Trump ordered an immediate halt to all U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Tuesday, blocking billions in crucial shipments—including equipment already en route to the battlefield. This decision leaves Ukraine’s war effort with a mere six-month window to realistically hold its front lines against the Russian invasion.
The diplomatic outburst prompted U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to swiftly organize an emergency summit of European leaders in London to reassess how Europe can safeguard Ukraine and form a coherent defense strategy.
“We will go further to develop a coalition of the willing to defend a deal in Ukraine. The U.K. is prepared to back this—with boots on the ground and planes in the air,” Starmer said at a press conference, underscoring Britain’s readiness to act in the event of a peace agreement. Shortly after the summit, the U.K. pledged a £1.6 billion (€1.93 billion) for missiles for Ukraine.
The crisis triggered a strong response from Brussels. By Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled an €800 billion plan to usher in what she called “a new era of rearmament” for Europe.
European defense stocks, already at all-time highs, surged in response. On Monday, shares of top defense firms spiked before slightly correcting on Tuesday, with the sector gaining 46% in the past year.
Beyond military funding, the EU is also exploring alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink, a critical communication system for Ukraine’s military.
However, a major obstacle to Europe’s defense ambitions is its inability to align behind a unified strategy. The EU doesn’t just consist of the “willing”; it also includes governments like those of Hungary and Slovakia, which lean firmly pro-Russian.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico—who visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow in December—has already signaled his intent to veto any EU effort to increase military spending and support Ukraine.
On the other hand, some CEE countries are more committed than ever to strengthening their militaries. For example, Latvia has announced plans to allocate 4% of GDP to defense this year.
Czech Engineers Bring Satellite Texting to Europe
A team of Czech engineers working for Deutsche Telekom has developed a network that enables peer-to-peer SMS messaging via satellite using regular phones.
The service, set to roll out across Europe later this year, is designed for travelers, adventurers, and people in signal blackspots. This project is part of Deutsche Telekom’s broader initiative to integrate satellite connectivity into everyday communication.
The next step is to expand the service to voice calls, and within five years, to enable full data transfer, creating a satellite-powered backup network when traditional infrastructure fails.
Additionally, Deutsche Telekom is part of SpaceRISE, a consortium building IRIS², a European satellite constellation aimed at providing secure communications for Europe by 2030.
Poland Rolls Out Another AI Model
The team behind Bielik, Poland’s homegrown language model, is preparing to release Bielik v3, aimed at Central and Eastern European languages. This follows Bielik v2, already trained on several other European languages, and ranked among the top 10 European chatbots in the EuroEval ranking. Bielik is part of Poland’s broader AI efforts, including PLLuM, a language model designed for public administration.
Week 11
Czechia Becomes a Hub for Europe’s AI Processor Development
Codasip, a company founded in Brno and headquartered in Munich, has been selected to develop a general-purpose, high-end processor as part of the large-scale European supercomputing project DARE. This initiative aims to produce chips (or chiplets) for supercomputers and AI applications, with one segment led by the Czech Republic
As Europe’s leader in designing RISC-V architecture for chips, Codasip specializes in processor core design and chip design software development. Outside its centers around the world, the company maintains two design centers in Czechia, including a development center in Brno.
Codasip’s processors will be deployed in European supercomputers under the EuroHPC brand, which will also support OpenEuroLLM, a European language model project spearheaded by Czech experts from Charles University in Prague. The processor will be based on RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture competing with ARM.
Another Czech player, the national supercomputing center IT4Innovations in Ostrava, will join the project, focusing primarily on power optimization. The first phase of the initiative has a budget of €240 million, with participation from 38 European partners. The broader goal is to develop a fully European software and hardware stack as part of the EU’s digital sovereignty strategy.
Czechia is becoming an interesting semiconductor hub, with investments bringing high added value for the industry:
Onsemi, an American chipmaker, plans to expand its Czech plant with an investment worth billions of dollars.
Taiwanese chip firms are beginning to establish operations in Czechia, driven in part by Brno’s new advanced chip design center, funded by Taiwan. Taiwanese companies aim to leverage Brno’s research capabilities while using Czechia as a base for their European operations.
Meanwhile, Prague is emerging as a center for cutting-edge chip development. The semiconductor firm Analog Bits, a key supplier of analog blocks for TSMC and other leading chipmakers, has opened a research center in the capital, bringing expertise in designing chips using the world’s most advanced microelectronics manufacturing processes—down to 2-nanometer technology and beyond.
Western Microchips Keep Fueling Russia’s War Machine
Despite stringent Western sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s defense capabilities, a recent investigation by the Kyiv Independent reveals that American and European microchips continue to flow into Russian military equipment.
We had the chance to see this with our own eyes in Kyiv last year at a special research center, which analyzes the debris, and the insights of Russian drones and missiles. The experts found hundreds of western chips and key parts inside them.
Posing as a Russian defense manufacturer, journalists successfully ordered U.S.-made chips through Russian suppliers, exposing a vast network of intermediaries circumventing export restrictions. These microchips are critical components in Russian weaponry, including missiles, drones, and self-propelled howitzers.
The investigation uncovered that Russian suppliers, often collaborating with Chinese and Hong Kong-based entities, have established complex supply chains to procure these components.
Poland Boosts Public Defense Literacy Along With Spending
With growing security concerns in the region, Poland is ramping up civil and military defense measures. The government is assessing and expanding bomb shelters, rolling out mandatory military training, and distributing a national crisis preparedness guide to all households. A new early warning system is also in development, modeled after Ukraine’s, to ensure swift alerts in case of emergency. As tensions rise, Poland is making it clear: it’s preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.
The country has also significantly ramped up its defense capabilities, with defense spending set to reach 4.7% of Polish GDP, more than any other NATO country.
Week 12
EU Industry Calls for a Radical Move to Buy European
Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January and began his tumultuous efforts to weaken American allies through trade wars and military uncertainty, European leaders and businesses seem to have finally awakened from hibernation.
Now, it feels like every week brings a new initiative or plan to reduce Europe’s reliance on an increasingly unstable business partner: the United States. This past week has been particularly eventful.
On Friday, around 100 European businesses backed the Eurostack initiative, which champions digital sovereignty and calls for a stronger role of European industry in digital supply chains.
Together, they sent an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen.
“Building strategic autonomy in key sectors is now a recognized urgent imperative across Europe,” the letter stated, adding, “It is time for radical action.”
According to the letter, which was also signed by CEE organizations, European dependence on non-European technologies will become nearly absolute within three years unless immediate action is taken.
Companies are ready to invest in projects that promote European self-reliance but claim that a pragmatic industrial policy strategy is essential.
The letter outlines key policy recommendations:
Creating demand: Public-sector procurement should have formal “Buy European” requirements, ensuring that European-led and assembled solutions are prioritized.
Pooling and leveraging existing assets: Core digital infrastructure should be unified into a networked, commercially viable offering.
Prioritizing infrastructure projects: Investments should focus on foundational needs such as hardware autonomy and sovereign cloud platforms.
Selecting the right participants: Funded projects should prioritize companies willing to contribute assets and collaborate in a federated model, with rewards tied to measurable market success.
Developing certification schemes: Public and private cloud users should have the option to choose sovereign cloud services for handling sensitive data.
Beyond this initiative, Project Europe was also announced—a new €10 million fund led by Harry Stebbings, which will invest €200,000 in European founders under 25.
Furthermore, a €485 million EU-backed initiative to establish AI factories is moving forward, with site selections finalized—placing Central and Eastern Europe at the forefront. Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovenia will host cutting-edge supercomputer centers.
Slovak PM Calls for “Peace,” Yet the Nation’s Arms Industry Booms
While Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico publicly opposes military aid to Ukraine and calls for “peace”, Slovak arms exports have increased tenfold since Russia invaded its neighbor.
Last year, arms exports reached €1.15 billion—slightly surpassing the total of the Czech Republic, which has long held a strong position in the industry. With Europe’s large-scale rearmament plans, they may grow even higher.
The two dominant players in Slovakia’s defense sector are the state and the Czech oligarch family Strnad, with ties close to the Slovak governing party Smer. The Strnad empire in Slovakia includes: VOP Nováky, ZVS Holding, MSM Land System, Vývoj Martin, and ZVS Armory.
Romania’s Druid AI Valued at Nearly €300 Million
Romanian conversational AI startup Druid AI has raised €46 million in a Series C round, pushing its valuation to €276 million. The company, which develops AI-powered virtual assistants for enterprise systems like CRM, ERP, and HR tools, has been rapidly growing, with an annual recurring revenue reaching $20 million in 2024. This fresh funding will fuel its international expansion, strengthening the region’s role in AI-driven enterprise solutions.
Week 13
Brussels Acts to Protect EU Steel and Aluminium
The European Commission has released a plan to protect the EU’s metallurgical sector from the 25% U.S. import tariffs on steel and aluminum, which took effect on March 12.
Europe’s steel and base metals industries have faced mounting challenges in the past years: high energy costs, unfair global competition, regulatory pressure, and the need for green investment. The EU’s share of global steel production has dropped to 7–8%, with aluminium at just 3.8%, while countries like China and India have rapidly expanded output—often backed by subsidies.
In Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are home to major steel hubs in Košice and Ostrava.
With U.S. tariffs raising fears of a Chinese steel glut, the European Commission has tightened its safeguard measures as part of the EU’s broader Steel and Metals Action Plan.
Other measures in the EU’s Steel and Metals Action Plan include:
Supporting steel and metals companies with high energy costs
Making sure that imports from countries with weaker climate policies face similar costs as EU producers
Promoting the use of recycled steel and aluminium to reduce reliance on imported raw materials
Providing funding and support for carbon-reducing industrial projects
As tariffs take effect—and others loom—CEE countries are starting to calculate the damage.
Slovakia’s central bank has lowered its forecast for year-on-year GDP growth by 0.4 percentage points to 1.9% for this year, with the same rate projected for 2026. If trade wars intensify and the U.S. imposes additional tariffs on Europe, the slowdown could deepen significantly. After years of steady job growth, the country could see a reversal—tens of thousands of jobs are at risk.
If trade tensions escalate, Czechia and Slovakia will be the most affected countries in Europe, with Hungary coming in third.
On the other hand, nations like Latvia and Croatia are expected to feel the impact of the tariffs the least.
Europe Still Tied to Chinese 5G – CEE Among the Most Exposed
Back in early 2020, the EU launched its 5G Security Toolbox. A coordinated plan to reduce dependence on “high-risk” suppliers like Huawei and ZTE. The idea was to secure Europe’s telecom networks before critical infrastructure and services start relying on them. But four years later, not much has changed.
A new report shows that 17 EU countries still haven’t meaningfully reduced their reliance on Chinese suppliers. Among the most exposed are Cyprus (100% of 5G equipment from Chinese vendors), Austria (67%), Bulgaria (65%), and Hungary (62%).
For all the talk of digital sovereignty, Europe’s follow-through is weak—and the CEE region is especially behind. As 5G becomes the backbone for everything from defense tech to AI to energy systems, the stakes for action are only getting higher.
Czech Braiins to Become Country’s First TSMC Customer
Prague-based Braiins is on its way to becoming the first Czech company to have its chip manufactured by TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, whose clients include Apple, Nvidia, and AMD.
Braiins aims to build full-scale Bitcoin mining hardware centered around a custom advanced chip—its first test batch has already arrived in Prague from Taiwan.
This is the monthly recap.
The real action happens weekly — subscribe to How we cee it.
