“Solidarity of the European poor,” headlines Gazeta Wyborcza. In the debate on CO2 emissions at the European summit in Brussels, the countries of the Old Europe want to divide the costs of reducing emissions evenly. But Poland, which leads the coalition of new EU members, is fighting to shift the burden of combating global warming to its more affluent European partners. As the daily remarks, the basic argument on the Polish side is as follows: “Our economy is still coal-based, so we have higher emissions, but we still can’t pay for our difficult history which doomed us to this state of backwardness.” Representatives of Central European countries also add that crisis-stricken Latvia should not have to pay for India, a rising economic power. However, not everyone is convinced by these arguments. “Today Poland is among the 50 richest countries of the world, but it hasn’t always been like that. In the past many countries of the world showed solidarity with Poland. Today Poland should help others,” writes Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in an open letter to EU leaders.
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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.