Two months after the general elections, a minority government consisting of liberals VVD and Christian democrats CDA with the support of the extreme-right PVV is looking increasingly likely in the Netherlands. But this morning Amsterdam daily De Volkskrant’s headline - “Commotion within CDA after pact with PVV” – suggests that all is not well with some members of the Christian democrat party balking at the idea of an alliance with Geert Wilders’ movement. Local politician Alaattin Erdal of the CDA has criticised “an enormous U-turn” after his party made a joint statement on Friday 30 July declaring that each of the potential coalition partners tolerated the other’s stance on Islam. Until recently, the CDA has consistently campaigned against what it considers Mr Wilders’ wildly Islamophobic opinions.
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.