Photos of former Czech Prime minister Mirek Topolánek naked at a garden party organized by Silvio Berlusconi, published on the eve of European elections, have failed to change either the outcome of the vote or Topolánek’s explanation: “It’s me, but the picture has been doctored.” Alluding to the victory of the right, Mladá Fronta DNES reports that “the political map of the Czech Republic has changed from orange to blue.” The ODS party has won 31% of the vote, out-distancing social-democratic rivals led by Jiri Paroubek by 9%. The European vote is considered as a warm-up for general elections to be held next October. The daily reports, however, only 28% of Czechs cast their ballots last weekend. Another Czech paper, Lidové Noviny, leads with the headline “22 Euromillionaires” in reference to the relatively high salaries enjoyed by MEPs who are paid “almost as much as the Prime Minister.”
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.