After 20 years,"The coalition has reached an agreement on pension reform," headlines Lidové noviny. The “smart reform,” as the Prague daily dubs it, has a five pillar structure: 1) people under 40 years old will pay 3% of their social security charges to a private pension fund (participation in the private fund will be optional for those who are over 40); 2) VAT will be set at a standard rate of 19%; 3) families with children will be able to avail of tax breaks and reduced social security charges; 4) price increases will be offset by benefit payments for people on low incomes, and 5) pension payment increases for retired people. Lidové noviny voices its approval for the new system which will be both public and private, and argues that it is “common sense” to avoid putting “all of your eggs in one basket."
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.