How UAE defence giant EDGE Group plans to double its exports
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
Wizz Air has declared that it is to call on the European Commission to investigate the Hungarian government’s decision to put financial resources into Malév, the country’s struggling national airline.
Wizz Air will challenge the legal basis of what it describes as Malév’s re-nationalisation. Wizz Air claims there are serious questions over the legality of the transaction. “The decision is clearly another case of illegal state aid, this time €90 million worth of additional capital,” the low-fare carrier stated. There has been no decision from the European Commission approving this transaction, therefore if the Hungarian government implements the recently announced recapitalisation of Malév, it would likely be an unlawful state aid as it clearly violates the state aid rules, it is discriminatory, distorts competition and provides no benefit to the consumer.”
Wizz Air also claims that with this move the Hungarian government is wasting tax payers’ money. “It is deeply concerning that the Hungarian state is wasting further tax payers’ money in these difficult economic times on an ‘investment’ that makes no economic sense as clearly no private investor was prepared to make it. The same money could have been used on measures to alleviate the negative consequences of Malév's bankruptcy instead of pouring the money into prolonging the existence of the problem,” Wizz Air declared. “Civil aviation is a sector where market liberalisation has resulted in intense competition, to the benefit of consumers. Competition law (including state aid law) is there to protect such competition and the Hungarian government should respect the rules and guard – if not promote – competition instead of distorting it.”
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
The US Congress has raised concerns about how inflation rates and cuts in main acquisition programmes could affect the US military.
Washington’s ageing inventory and the pace Moscow and Beijing have been modernising their capabilities put in check the US Nuclear deterrence.
The Pentagon has been operating under temporary funding since October 2023, which has impacted its main acquisition and development programmes, increasing the capability gap between the US and China.
In 2023, defence spending increased by an unprecedented 11% across European NATO countries and Canada. Since 2014, the group has spent an additional US$600 billion on defence.
The DoD requested nearly US$850 billion to fund operations over the next fiscal year. Despite the amount being 1% higher than the FY2024 budget request, it has not covered the 3% inflation rate, which could impact the DoD’s main programmes in the medium and long term.