Hungary’s vaccine drive, Turkey’s recovery teeters

Vaccination programmes gathered pace across the region this week and the Hungarian government's decision to side-step the EU and procure vaccines independently could allow containment measures to be lifted sooner than elsewhere. This will probably be exploited to strengthen support ahead of next year's elections, but it adds to a growing list of issues where Hungary has broken off from the EU. Meanwhile, Turkey's economic recovery remained strong in the middle of Q4 but more timely data point to a sharp slowdown as the effects of tighter monetary conditions and virus containment measures have taken a toll.