Le Figaro, 10 December 2010
“Sarkozy and Merkel determined to save the euro,” reassures Le Figaro on the day of the 13th Franco-German Ministers Council in Freiburg. “Widely criticised for her handling of the debt crisis, Angela Merkel can at least count on Nicolas Sarkozy to back her up,” adds the French daily. The French president is seconding the chancellor’s opposition to the creation of “euro-bonds”, an idea championed by Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker and Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti to mutualise European debts. Luxembourg PM Juncker calls the objections “anti-European”. These jousts between eurozone leaders “bode ill for the upcoming European Council meeting on the debt crisis” to be held on 16/17 December, fears Le Figaro.
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.