Leading with the headline "Face-off between snowmen and Santa!", Lidové Noviny reports on a demonstration by members of the "Save baby Jesus" group who gathered outside the Czech parliament on 18 December. The activists are demanding more respect for Czech Christmas traditions, which usually attribute the bearing of gifts to the baby Jesus – a role they worry will now be usurped by Santa. As group leader Eva Fruhwirtová, explains: "The baby Jesus and other Czech Christmas traditions are an important part of our identity.” Fruhwirtová, who has also penned a petition against Santa addressed to Prime Minister Jan Fischer, wants her fellow citizens to resist cultural dominance from abroad. "We defended our traditions against 'Deda Mraz' (the Soviet Santa), now we're defending them against the American Santa," she adds. A large number of Prague shops, which are supporting the campaign, have decorated their windows with appropriately Czech Christmas symbols. Snowmen are encouraged, but Santa is not welcome.
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.