"Where does the dirty customs money go?" wonders Gândul, reporting that "a quarter of the country’s border police have been charged with corruption" – an activity that drains an estimated average of 5,000 euros per day from each of the Romania’s customs posts. In the wake of a crackdown on the Vama Siret border post in early February, the Bucharest daily reports that the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) has closed two border posts and arrested no less than 140 customs agents working on the Hungarian border, who have been taken to Bucharest by helicopter. In view of the scale of the problem, Gândul wonders if the country should consider "importing honest customs agents and perhaps even honest politicians who would be appropriately paid," and questions the role of police unions and the Ministry of the Interior in the illegal dealing. EUobserver.com cites a press release that is critical of the crackdown issued by the Pro Lex police union. According to the union, the government’s approach is like a chess strategy "that attacks pawns" but ignores “rooks” (senior customs officials) and "queens" (politicians who make use of dirty money to finance their campaigns), as well as a largely anonymous “king”. The union further insists that "Romania is not ready for change. The press is unwilling to name the most important pieces in this chess game."
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.