Just a week ago, before deadly floods swept through central Europe, the Czech Republic looked on track to become the first country in the region since COVID-19 to pull its budget deficit firmly below the 3% of GDP cap set by European Union rules.

Soldiers and volunteers in southwestern Poland have laid sandbags near swollen rivers around the city of Wrocław to protect homes and businesses after days of flooding across Central Europe. Poland joins Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania in being hard hit by floods following record rains in the region starting last Thursday.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Massive floods pounded Central Europe on Monday, killing four more people in Poland and one in the Czech Republic.