Articles
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25 May 201223Der Freitag Berlin
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25 May 201216The Times London
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Eurovision 2012
Baku intent on buying respectability
25 May 20129Eesti Päevaleht Tallinn -
Eurozone crisis
The end of all-powerful Germany
24 May 201287To Vima Athens -
EU summit
A way out of the crisis begins here
24 May 2012108France Inter Paris -
EU summit
Growth — the new magic word
23 May 201224Trouw Amsterdam -
EU summit
Hour of truth has come for Europe
23 May 201277El País Madrid -
Eurozone crisis
Don’t isolate the Germans
22 May 2012226The Independent London -
22 May 2012Die Zeit Hamburg
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21 May 201243El País Madrid
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21 May 20128Aftonbladet Stockholm
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18 May 201218El Mundo Madrid
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Eurozone crisis
Let’s be more American!
18 May 201225Hospodářské noviny Prague -
Eurovision
Rambo Amadeus, the cliché slayer
18 May 20121Tportal Zagreb -
Eurozone crisis
Listen to the cry of Athens
17 May 2012176La Repubblica Rome -
Debate
The European grand coalition
16 May 201215Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
16 May 20125The Guardian London
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Greek crisis
The euro exit is a bluff
15 May 201281La Stampa Turin -
15 May 2012Polityka Warsaw
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Greece
The comedy of power
14 May 201260To Ethnos Athens -
Eurozone
Banks could sink the euro
14 May 201244NRC Handelsblad Rotterdam -
11 May 2012230El País Madrid
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11 May 20122Die Zeit Hamburg
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Eurozone
The growth imperative
10 May 2012107Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Natural gas
Shale gas no longer popular
10 May 20128Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Europe day
A crisis and no fireworks
9 May 20129De Standaard Brussels -
Germany
Ossis return home
9 May 20122Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
8 May 201299Financial Times London
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Greece
Who will restore order?
8 May 201264I Kathimerini Athens -
Greece
On the road to chaos
7 May 2012141I Kathimerini Athens -
7 May 201295Libération Paris
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6 May 201277Financial Times London
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4 May 20122Público Lisbon
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Serbia
Brussels votes for stability
4 May 2012Jutarnji List Zagreb -
Contemporary art
Paintbrush factory brightens Cluj-Napoca
4 May 2012România libera Bucharest -
European Union
Will Europe vote Merkel out of office?
3 May 201264Die Zeit Hamburg -
Portrait
Economics with a human face
3 May 2012Respekt Prague -
United Kingdom
Bye bye Cool Britannia
2 May 201240La Repubblica Rome -
Germany
Far right in green packaging
2 May 20126Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
1 May 201245I Kathimerini Athens
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Romania
A fertile land of opportunity
30 April 20121Le Monde Paris -
Czech Republic
Revolving doors at the Ministries
27 April 2012Ekonom Prague -
27 April 2012229The Economist London
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27 April 20124Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich
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Eurozone
But austerity is necessary
26 April 201235Die Zeit Hamburg -
Eurozone
How do you say “basta” in German?
26 April 2012108El País Madrid -
26 April 201271De Volkskrant Amsterdam
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Netherlands
Wilders discovers Europe
25 April 20123Trouw Amsterdam -
Immigration
Work in Germany – a nightmare for Bulgarians
25 April 201244Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Frankfurt -
Debt crisis
End of the road for European austerity?
24 April 201244The Guardian London
The leader of Greece’s leftist alliance SYRIZA is the new bright hope of Greek politics. Steering a course between pragmatism and the rhetoric of class warfare, he has unsettled Berlin, and not just those who back Angela Merkel's austerity policies. 
Europe’s economic woes have forced us to try to understand the secret Olympian world of global finance. But now that we pay more attention to bond yields and stability mechanisms, isn’t it clear that the experts up on their lofty peaks don’t know what’s going on either? 
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is hosted by Azerbaijan, a country that is far from being a model democracy. An Estonian journalist takes a critical look at the deferential treatment enjoyed by the regime in Baku. 
The advent of a new administration in Paris has shifted the balance of power in the European Union away from Berlin and German austerity — a development that has been welcomed in Athens as a source of renewed hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for the Greek population. 
In their discussion on common investment and eurobonds at an extraordinary summit on 23 May, the EU27 set aside the opposition between “virtuous” and “spendthrift” states and took a further step towards economic integration. 
In recent months, EU leaders from all spectrums have embraced the notion of "growth". But how can it be generated? Although a practical discussion on this issue has not yet really arisen, infrastructure projects could perhaps be part of a solution to the crisis. 
Let Greece leave the euro? Save Spain’s banks? Continue to stand fast on austerity, or give growth a chance? Plenty of questions that the leaders of the eurozone, meeting at the extraordinary summit on May 23, will have to find answers to if they want to preserve Europeans’ faith in the common project. 
In helping to bail out struggling eurozone economies, Angela Merkel has already gone well beyond what her electorate wants. And the eurobonds France’s new president François Hollande is pushing for might just be a step too far. 
Revolt against data retention, distrust of Google and Facebook: in all things Internet, Germany is an “emerging nation”, says Sascha Lobo. The best-known blogger and Internet pioneer in the country is going through something similar. He is sought after – and hated. 
At the G8 in Camp David, the richest countries have agreed to boost growth, particularly in Europe. This requires a radical change in tack from the austerity policies pushed so far. Are the leaders ready? 
Triumphant a decade ago, today social democrats have been voted out office in most European countries — a change that is due to a lack of new proposals, but also and more importantly to the right’s appropriation of the language and ideas of social democracy. 
Faced with a further worsening of the financial crisis, Mariano Rajoy's government tries to give pledges to markets while demanding EU support. But when comparing his situation to those of Portugal and Greece, we realize that there is no alternative, says El Mundo. 
The Greek crisis and the lack of assertive action by European leaders has ended up clouding the greatest challenge to the future of the EU. The USA has the knack of finding effective solutions, and it is time to be inspired by the same spirit, argues a Czech columnist. 
The joyfully subversive turbo-funk singer will represent Montenegro at this year’s Eurovision with “Euro neuro” — a humorous and highly accurate enumeration of clichés about the Balkans and their relationship with the EU. 
Instead of treating Greek officials as outcasts and their constituents like the plague, European leaders, and particularly Germans, would be better off listening. Because, in attempting to prioritise the needs of the economy over those of democracy, they are undermining the Union’s foundations. 
Until now, ideological discussion has been off the menu in a Europe which lacked a genuine culture of debate. Now that we have a French President and a German Chancellor from opposing sides of the political divide, perhaps the EU can revive the interest of its citizens with public exchanges of views on important issues. 
A novel about a serial-killer in Athens is so realistic that its author, Petros Markaris, had to warn readers that it should not be imitated. The reason : it’s about the tax-dodging Greek elite and the victims of the corrupted system. 
As speculation rages about a Greek exit from the eurozone, we must grasp that the country cannot survive without the single currency and that Europe cannot afford to let it leave. That's why everyone should put their cards openly on the table. 
With less than a month left to go before the kick-off of the Euro 2012, the fate of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has poisoned relations between the EU and Ukraine — the co-organiser of the championship along with Poland. However, the issue of human rights is only one aspect of a story in which business interests have also played an important role. 
The Greeks, as well as everyone in EU, are waiting to see if the leaders of the three main parties can agree to form a government and avoid elections that would further aggravate the crisis. But for now, they seem rather more preoccupied with ensuring their own political futures. 
Forget the debate about austerity versus growth, the future of the single currency is being played out in the banking sector. As a result of the crisis, governments and financial institutions have become so interdependent that they have weakened each other. 
The spectre of a Greek exit from the Eurozone has once again been raised by the political crisis in Athens: a scenario that is all the more dangerous for Spain, which is now more vulnerable, and one whose consequences would be geo-political as well as economic. 
Reactions to the film Barbara show that 'feel-good' films worry German film producers. The director, Dominik Graf, implores filmmakers to dare to challenge the highbrow cinema strangehold. 
The elections of May 6 have revealed the dramatic split between politicians and citizens. To prevent it from degenerating, we must abandon the obsession with austerity and discussions in small committees and restart the engine through the solidarity and integration that are the hallmarks of Europe, according to one columnist. 
France, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic have decided to suspend the exploitation of their shale gas fields for environmental reasons. Now that the EU is under pressure to adopt a similar position, Poland may be the last European country to continue seeking to develop this energy source. 
While the EU celebrates its birthday on 9 May, European integration is in trouble: the euro crisis, the turmoil of enlargement and the financial crisis have stirred things up. Yet, says a Belgian political analyst, there is no reverse gear on the ship of Europe, only course corrections are possible. 
Having moved to the West in search of better jobs, residents of the former GDR are now returning home to take advantage of an up-turn in the economy of Germany’s eastern states, which has come in the wake of years of sluggish growth. 
Whether Hollande will maintain his anti-austerity stance and side with Greece or whether he will back German policy remains to be seen. No matter how much tweaking of EU fiscal agreements he can negotiate, the political storm brewing in Greece is likely test him sooner rather than later. 
The elections of May 6 have shaken the Greek political landscape to its core and a majority capable of governing cannot be reached. Yet, notes Kathimerini, the politicians discredited by the electorate and their European partners are supposed to find the path to recovery. 
On May 6, the Greeks heavily punished the two traditional parties, who implemented the austerity programme, and let the radical left and far-right parties come into force into the Parliament. This result could lead to a powerless government and even violence, fears a columnist. 
The Socialist candidate has become President of France with 51.62% of the vote, beating Nicolas Sarkozy. The leftist daily Liberation, which sees the outcome as a wager on the future, greets it with “great joy”. Faced with the crisis, though, the honeymoon may be short. 
A hope for some and a bogeyman for others. The socialist favorite for the May 6 presidential election has launched a debate on an alternative economic policy in Europe. But to deliver on his pledge for growth, he will have to adapt to the realities of the market economy, writes the Financial Times. 
Whichever party wins the May 6 elections, reforming the state will be one of its major challenges. Yet in a way that is as encouraging as it is surprising, it was a Greek who was elected ‘Best Official in the World’ by an American institution. 
On the eve of parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia, the EU officially supports neither side. But compared to less Europhile opponents, the outgoing president, Boris Tadić, seems to remain the best possible choice. 
Located in a former factory in Cluj, the Transylvanian capital, a contemporary art centre managed by several galleries and artists' collectives is trying to break into the European art scene. 
France, Greece, Holland and Germany: Europe is facing five new elections, each of which could not be more different. But all of them come down to the crisis policies of Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor may be voted out of office. 
A former advisor to Václav Havel and a member of the Czech National Economic Council, the 35-year-old Prague man is the author of the international best-seller on the history of economics from the perspective of the Bible, myths and literature. His secret: a remarkable ability to sell himself along with his ideas. 
It is official, the UK is in recession. Formerly cool and generous, London, which will elect a new mayor on May 3, has become inegalitarian and cynical, notes La Repubblica. Although it boasts a record number of billionaires, the prosperous years of the Tony Blair era seem very far off. 
Right-wing extremists linked to the far right NPD are increasingly making hay in politically innocuous organic farming, which they use as a means to spread neo-Nazi ideas in green packaging. 
Greek legislative elections scheduled for May 6, the first since the start of the financial crisis, could become a protest vote against austerity policies and the political parties that implement them. If so, this could benefit the far right, which, little by little, is gaining legitimacy. 
Attracted by the low cost of agricultural land, Farmers from elsewhere in the EU are taking the plunge to set up in Romania. In so doing they are contributing to a renewal of local agriculture which is increasingly oriented towards organic produce. 
Following the breakdown of the coalition agreement, the centre-right government of Petr Nečas asked for and got the confidence of Deputies on April 27 – though this doesn’t rule out early elections. Eventually, worries Ekonom, this ministerial instability that has gone on for some years may bring the communists into the government. 
The socialist candidate is set to become the next French president, but his refusal to reform would be bad for his country and most of all for Europe, argues the London weekly. 
A law student from Vienna is accusing Facebook of contempt for Europe’s data protection laws. For the company, which wants to go public soon, the attention comes at a bad time. 
The Netherlands, France, and the ECB: Europe's growing opposition to Germany's strict austerity measures is threatening the survival of the fiscal pact. Nonetheless, Berlin should continue to insist on discipline both for itself and for Europe, argues a German business journalist. 
Notwithstanding its social and political consequences, the Bundesbank and Angela Merkel's government are still advocating the austerity, which has been in force in Europe for the last two years. It is high time we stopped the damage, argues Spanish political analyst José Ignacio Torreblanca. 
Instead of dreaming about a federal union which would be at the mercy of countries that are democratic and economic underperformers, a Dutch political scientist argues that we would do better to reinforce the role of more efficiently functioning states and allow them to take care of business. 
Now that the Dutch Prime government has fallen, with elections likely for 12 September, political commentator Les Oomkes argues that Wilders’ railing against Europe might prove fortuitous: leading to Europe as the central theme of the election campaign and a shift in the political balance of power. 
With the promise of jobs and income, more and more Bulgarians are being lured to Germany. There, however, they run into race-to-the-bottom wages and illegal accommodation. Frankfurt has become the centre of the so-called “Bulgarian industry”. 
With France likely to vote in a socialist president critical of her fiscal pact, and a Dutch government collapsing on the issue of social reforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s austerity model is taking a battering.