The summer of extremes is straining unity on two fronts at once. A migration surge presses the southern EU border while record heat and a collapsing Danube test CEE’s economic resilience with blackouts and industrial cuts.
In Hungary, the Paks nuclear plant – half the country’s electricity – has been forced into partial or full shutdown for the first time in decades as water levels hit historic lows; Romania has curtailed reactors covering a fifth of its power, Serbia’s hydro output has plunged to a fraction of capacity, and barges carry only 10–40 per cent of normal cargo.
What comes next? Hundreds of millions of euros in surging import costs, industrial demand cuts, drinking-water restrictions and stalled grain and fuel shipments.