On the eve of the 2nd European Summit on Actions and Policies in Favour of the Roma Population which opens in Cordoba (Spain) on April 8th (the International Day of the Roma), Amnesty International’s Brussels office is calling on the EU and member states “to take concrete action to break the cycle of discrimination, poverty and exclusion experienced by Roma communities in Europe”, a population of almost 8 million people. Romanian daily Adevărul quotes Claudio Cordone, Amnesty’s interim general secretary, who considers that “the EU is failing to hold national authorities accountable when they do not meet their responsibilities.” “There cannot be second-class citizens in Europe, and European leaders must develop a coherent EU framework policy,” he concludes.
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.