Eurotopics.net

Former prime minister Andrej Babiš and the former Nato general Petr Pavel are heading into the second round of the Czech presidential election after each received around 35 percent of the vote in the first round. In third place, with just under 14 percent, was economics professor Danuše Nerudová, who will back Pavel in the second round on 27 and 28 January.

First Poland and now Finland has also signalled its willingness to supply Ukraine with Leopard battle tanks. But because the tanks are produced in Germany, they cannot be exported to other countries without prior approval from Berlin. A glance at the European commentaries shows how the pressure is growing on Chancellor Scholz ahead of the planned meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday in Ramstein.

Whether it is due to health reasons, an imminent revolution or a lack of success in the war against Ukraine, Putin's imminent departure is being discussed as a real possibility for 2023 in certain circles. Europe's press also examines the question of whether the Russian president's seemingly eternal rule could soon end.