"De Gucht can no longer go to the Congo," headlines De Standaard, the Flemish daily: the present European Commissioner for Development (and soon-to-be Commissioner for Trade) has been told by the Congolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he is at present persona non grata in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kinshasa reproaches Karel De Gucht for the comments he made in a debate in the European Parliament in December. The Commissioner in particular condemned the lack of an "appropriate return" by the Congolese authorities for the aid given by the European Commission. According to De Standaard, De Gucht could have been more diplomatic, but that "in fact, he is saying little more than the truth." Kinshasa's reaction was predictable, the Flemish daily opines, for the Congolese authorities already have an axe to grind with De Gucht "since [De Gucht] stated in 2004 that he hadn't yet met any competent politicians in the Congo."
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.