"The European Union was hoping that its voice would now be heard at UN General Assemblies, but it didn't happen", notes Le Soir. On September 14, the General Assembly rejected a resolution put forth by Belgium on behalf of the EU27 which would have allowed the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, or the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, a more active role. Currently, the EU has only "observer" status, and therefore does not participate in General Assembly debates and votes. "The EU was not (even) asking for a 'real' seat with the right to vote", continues the Belgian daily, but "the adoption of the resolution would have allowed the EU to further (the projects) of the new institutions that have come out of the Treaty of Lisbon". The paper quotes a European diplomat who observed, "Even if there is no particular anti-European sentiment, certain countries are hardly inclined to grant even more privileges to the Europeans, who are already quite well represented".
Diplomacy
UN General Assembly snubs EU
15 September 2010
Presseurop
Le Soir 
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.