Eurotopics.net

Two months before the Russian presidential elections a major row has broken out among the opposition. Critics are accusing opposition candidate Ksenia Sobchak of being a Kremlin pawn and others are criticising Alexei Navalny, who has been banned from running for election, for calling on people to boycott the elections. With the opposition in such disarray Putin needn't fear for his job, commentators agree.

Virtually all cryptocurrencies have experienced a double-digit dip in their prices this week. The bitcoin's value dropped by 25 percent. Observers are not surprised by this crash of the digital currencies and propose a way to stop the downwards trend.

The two major independence parties in Catalonia have agreed on a regional government to be led by Carles Puigdemont, who was removed from office in October and faces prison if he returns to Spain. His investiture is to take place via video conference. Is this a real solution or will it only add further fuel to the fire?

The Czechs will vote in the first round of the country's presidential election on Friday and Saturday. Leading the polls is incumbent Miloš Zeman - who favours maintaining Andrej Babiš as prime minister although the latter is facing fraud charges. In the event of a runoff vote, however, the former head of the Academy of Sciences Jiří Drahoš also stands a fair chance of winning. Czech and Slovakian journalists describe the mood in the country ahead of the vote.

Islands of plastic in the oceans and a Chinese import ban on waste are forcing Europe to take action. The EU Commission has raised the possibility of a plastic tax to limit the use of the ubiquitous material. Not all commentators agree that this is the right step.

Germany's foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel has floated the idea of a step-by-step lifting of the EU sanctions on Russia should a UN-monitored ceasefire be established in eastern Ukraine. In the meantime the EU has tightened the reins on Ukraine and is holding back on financial aid for Kiev on the grounds that it hasn't fulfilled the terms. Commentators of the countries in question examine the situation.

Three Hungarian parties called for more autonomy in Romania on Monday. Observers note with interest that aside from two Transylvanian parties the established UDMR with seats in the national parliament has also joined the initiative. Is this just a PR stunt or a serious political programme?