Eurotopics.net

Following a legal amendment last year, almost 20,000 permanent residents of Latvia with Russian citizenship must either prove by 1 September that they can speak Latvian at least at the A2 level, which means that they can perform routine tasks in the language, or present a psychiatric certificate exempting them from the test. Otherwise, their residence permit will not be extended. The national press is divided on the issue.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the Orthodox Christmas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has refused to give the order for his troops to stop firing, saying that the Russians just want to use Christmas as a pretext to stop the Ukrainian advance in Donbass. The press is also suspicious.

France has agreed to supply Ukraine with AMX-10 RC light battle tanks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced the deployment of Marder infantry fighting vehicles and the US plans to send Bradley tanks. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky sees these moves as a new level of support in the country's struggle against Russia. Commentators welcome these decisions but also call for more.

After eleven rounds of voting, the US House of Representatives is still without a speaker because of a blockade by 20 Republicans who view their party's candidate Kevin McCarthy as too moderate. Even a call by former President Donald Trump to vote for McCarthy failed to convince the "Never Kevins".