Eurotopics.net

In Russian cities from the far east of the country to Kaliningrad, people took to the streets on Saturday to call for Navalny's release and protest against the state leadership - defying a ban on public assemblies and freezing temperatures. Police arrested around 4,000 people across the country. Europe's press speculates on whether this is the beginning of the end for Putin.

First Pfizer and now Astrazeneca have announced that they are unable to deliver the planned number of vaccine doses to the EU. Frustration and criticism are growing in Brussels and the member states, especially when fewer or no such shortages are occurring elsewhere. But the EU needs to address its own shortcomings before criticising others, commentators write.

Millions of refugees in camps spread across northern Syria, Turkey, the Greek Aegean islands and Bosnia are forced to live in appalling conditions and freezing temperatures in the winter months in the midst of the pandemic. Journalists level harsh accusations at the EU and urge readers to show solidarity.

Delays in the coronavirus vaccination are piling up, and the two mutated strains of the virus from England and South Africa are so far proving to be more contagious than the original variant. This is prompting media from various European countries to demand tougher border controls and restrictions.

Czech supermarket shelves must be filled to 55 percent with domestic products as of next year, according to a parliament ruling that has yet to pass the Senate. That percentage is to increase to at least 73 percent by 2028. Criticism rains down - and not just from the EU. The Czech press is also dumbfounded.