“Germans push Czechs: accept the euro and pay up,” headlines Lidové noviny on 11 December. According to the Prague daily, Angela Merkel has proposed to the Czech and Polish prime ministers, Petr Nečas and Donald Tusk, that they trade in the crown and the zloty for the euro. “The entry of ‘fiscally responsible’ countries into the eurozone would bolster the position of the northern nations (Germany, Austria, Netherlands) in the debate over the future of the euro, against the southern countries, headed by France, known for being the most spendthrift.” Poland and the Czech Republic have yet to respond to the proposition, notes Lidové noviny, adding that “the days when the eurozone was a prestigious club with strict rules of admission are now over”.
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.