The French Pravda says Macron is angry at slow pace of vaccination - but his presidency is one of the most centralised in French modern history and he knows the administration v well, so he should probably blame himself https://t.co/odtA3L4TFd

— Anne-Sylvaine Chassany (@ChassNews) January 3, 2021

Experts and politicians slammed the German government on Saturday for failing to ensure a sufficient supply of vaccine doses ahead of the country's coronavirus vaccination drive.

As a member of the EU vaccine procurement scheme, Germany is reliant on regulators at the European level granting authorization of the vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection.

But the EU has taken longer than countries like the UK, US and Canada to give the go-ahead.

So far, only the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine is permitted in EU member states, but the block as a whole only made an order for 300 million doses during the summer, in the belief that more vaccine alternatives would be available.

Frauke Zipp, a neurologist and member of the advisory Leopoldina Academy of Sciences, on Saturday slammed German lawmakers for their lack of foresight over vaccine procurement.

"I consider the current situation a gross failure," she told Die Welt newspaper. "Why didn't they order much more of the vaccine during the summer just to be safe?"

In the aftermath of the US Capitol storming, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has called for a wide-reaching pro-democracy initiative to be spearheaded by Washington and its European allies.https://t.co/DBmaknQ2pW

— DW News (@dwnews) January 9, 2021

Maas did not provide details on the idea. However, he pointed President-elect Joe Biden's call to create a network of democratic nations.

He warned that "the belief in cohesion, in democracy as the most humane form of government, and in the persuasive power of science and reason" can only be preserved together. In order to achieve this, there were "no better, closer, more natural partners in the 21st century than America and Europe," Maas told dpa.

But other officials said the cancellation was more a case of American snobbery being answered by European snubbery: Pompeo abandoned the trip because European officials balked at seeing him after last week's deadly riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Earlier Tuesday, before news of Pompeo's cancellation, the European Commission said that no EU official would meet the secretary of state. A spokesman declined to elaborate further on the reasons or decision-making process.

Pompeo had also planned to see Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, but European officials said that meeting was called off. A day after the violent uprising at the Capitol, Asselborn had told Luxembourg Radio that Trump was a "political pyromaniac who must be brought before a court."

A protest in Brussels over the death of a man while in police custody turned violent Wednesday as demonstrators clashed with officers and Belgian King Philippe's car was even caught in the cross-fire.

Protesters threw projectiles, while the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, which gathered outside a police station near Gare du Nord. According to De Standaard, 116 people were arrested and five police officers were injured during the protest.

The demonstration, which at its peak attracted some 400 people, according to police, was organized after a man identified as Ibrahima B., 23, died following his arrest on Saturday under circumstances that are still under investigation.

Police said they have opened an internal inquiry into the case.

Ibrahima's death has raised further scrutiny of Brussels police and complaints of police brutality following other high-profile cases in which young men, mostly of Middle Eastern or North African descent, have been killed while interacting with officers.

Angela Merkel's continuity candidate, the centrist conservative Armin Laschet, has beaten one of her longest-standing rivals in the contest to lead Germany's Christian Democratic Union.

In a digitally-held party congress, Laschet beat the conservative hardliner Friedrich Merz by 521 to 466 votes in a run-off vote, following a strong speech that emphasised social cohesion and held up recent scenes from Washington DC as a warning example of divisive leadership.

The third candidate on the ballot, the foreign policy specialist Norbert Röttgen, came last in the first round of votes.

Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel loyalist, is new CDU leader - DW

Now he is Merkel's second successor in the office of party chief. Whoever holds this position traditionally becomes the party's candidate for chancellor and, if the Christian Democrats can form a governing majority, has the first shot at the chancellery. But whether Laschet will also compete for that position has long been unclear.

"A state premier who successfully governs a population of 18 million can also be Germany's chancellor," emphasized Laschet a few days ago.

The candidate is due to be decided only after regional elections in two German states, a good two months from now. That decision will be made in coordination with Markus Söder, the head of the Christian Social Union (CSU). The head of the CDU's sister party in the state of Bavaria denies persistent rumors that he may want to be the conservative alliance's candidate for chancellor. But German bookmakers have Söder top of their list.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party is choosing a new leader this weekend in an online conference.

The person who wins will either run for chancellor later this year, or have a big say in who does. All we know for now - it won't be Merkel.

So, who's in the running? 🏃 pic.twitter.com/2G6icT9zcQ

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) January 15, 2021

Armin Laschet, Angela Merkel loyalist, is new CDU leader

Herzlichen Glückwunsch @ArminLaschet. Freue mich auf unsere Zusammenarbeit! Gemeinsam werden wir die Erfolgsgeschichte der Union fortschreiben.

— Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) January 16, 2021

With the agreement of almost all parties - the PSC being the major exception - Catalonia's parliamentary elections have been postponed for more than three months, due to the coronavirus situation. Catalan vice president Pere Aragonès this Friday afternoon signed the decree that replaces the original 14th February date with a new appointment with the polls on 30th May. "Maintaining the schedule as it had been planned was an unacceptable risk in terms of public health and an obstacle to getting voters to turn out as required for the elections," he said in an address. He also thanked the parties for their willingness and understanding to accept the new date.

In German exile, he got no headlines. Navalny is competing with Trump's exit now ..,

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who fell foul of the Kremlin, said that the arrest of Alexei Navalny was an attempt by President Vladimir Putin, whom he cast as an 'ageing autocrat,' to show that he is still Russia's top dog [_link]

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 18, 2021

From the diaries ...

Khodorkovsky - The Interpreter - Henry Jackson Society (UK)

'Sapere aude'

...Confusion over Pfizer/BioNTech vial volumes emerged in December, when U.S. hospital pharmacists realised that preparing the vaccine, by mixing it with saline solution [!], yielded enough liquid for at least six 0.30 ml doses.

They initially threw the extra dose away, since vials were labeled for five. ...

"I'm sick of all this stuff. I'm 19, Putin has been in power my entire life, and I don't see any hope for the country. There's poverty and state terrorism. And what they did to Navalny is outrageous and illegal."https://t.co/YHjXJbMOGf @FinancialTimes

— Henry Foy (@HenryJFoy) January 23, 2021