The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word SLOVAKIA
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
L
O
V
A
K
I
A
More clues leading to the result SLOVAKIA
- Heading out of capital, a king enters 6A country
- Killed in action leading under wild salvo in European republic
- In play Viola’s stopped by a knight in the country
- Troubles over collecting fine around Virginia state
- Eggs on king during revolutionary troubles here in Europe
- Ska’s played with viola in this country
- British author with a passion largely hidden for nation
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "European republic" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case european republic = slovakia.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.