European Press Review

French newspaper Le Figaro expressed surprise at the events in Russia in the light of Putin's domestic support."The friends of Kasparov will not gain any popularity because their demonstrations are suppressed. The tough actions of the police will not trigger a wave of protest against those in power. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is showing an astonishing weakness by reacting so rigorously to the smallest sign of protest," muses the paper.

Austrian newspaper Die Presse also wondered why the Kremlin had acted so brutally: "You really ask yourself whether the people in power in Moscow are completely crazy. Apparently, President Putin continues to have the backing of 70 percent and more of the population. What are he and his technocrats afraid of?"

It added later: "If this small heap of civil and human rights campaigners, liberals, national bolchevists and anarchists really frightens the Putinists so much that they deploy a whole army of police against them, then their power base isn't looking rosy (…) In that case, this demonstration of power from the Kremlin has actually revealed its weakness."

Bulgarian newspaper Dnewnik described the beatings and arrests as par for the course. "Really no one should be surprised. It is enough to remember that the Russian President is a former KGB agent and that 90 percent of the leadership in today's Russia are a product of the former secret services."

Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung argued Putin was attempting to deter what had happened in parts of the former Soviet Union. "From the point of view of the governing regime of President Vladimir Putin this makes perfect sense. (…) The Kremlin has learnt its lesson from the peaceful revolutions in Georgia and the Ukraine where after blatant vote rigging, protest rallies quickly gained momentum and led to the toppling of the respective governments. He wants to keep the protests as small as possible and incite fear among normal citizens."

But the paper also questioned whether this approach would really work. "It may work in the short-term," it wrote. "But in the long-term this was rarely a healthy political strategy."

Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende was damning about Russia's political system. "You have to be completely blind or excessively tolerant not to see that there is something wrong with Russia. Just a year before the elections that mark the end of President Putin's time in office, he has this country so firmly in his grip that democracy is just a shell."

The paper calls upon the international community to do more. "The EU and the US could happily exercise more pressure than is the case at the moment. Putin can carry out his actions largely unhindered".

Finally, German newspaper Die Welt also urged the West not to beat about the bush. The paper says any misguided sense of respect or fear of having Russia energy supplies cut should not stop the international community from taking action. "The West owes it to the dissidents in Putin's empire to speak openly."