…from the fringes to the front benches of the European Parliament. A bunch of garden gnomes, those perennial objects of popular ridicule, are now marching across the front page of the Frankfurter Rundschau, brandishing the newfound clout of the Lightweights in the Realm of the Heavies. “When Europe goes to the polls, the greenery starts sprouting up on every side,” marvels the German daily. In Germany, France, Scandinavia and Greece, “Europe got a fresh coat of green” on the 7th of June. The ecologists have every reason to take heart, seeing as “they’re making headway and gaining the stature of a major party in urban areas”. All told, tallies the FR, “they are reporting a net growth of 120,000 votes in Europe, and even those who used to cold-shoulder the party have changed their minds: the over-60 contingent”.
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.