Unlike the real Pinocchio, Italy's Democratic Party (PD) should stop listening to its “Grillo” (Italian for a cricket), writes Il Sole 24 Ore. Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian once banned from Italian TV in the 80's for satirizing premier Benito Craxi's appetite for bribes, and whose career has recently been resurrected on the back a politically charged blog that has given rise to a grassroots protest movement, has tried to obtain a PD party card in order to run for the post of general secretary. Twice blackballed, first for bureaucratic reasons, then for being considered "hostile" to the PD, the verdict has provoked an outburst of criticism from all sides, and the issue seems bound to bring wreak havoc in the run-up to the party's congress.
"A democracy cannot work properly without an authoritative government and a mature opposition", summarizes Il Sole. "PD was born dreaming of becoming the modern liberal party that is standard elsewhere, but is now hypnotized by Berlusconi's hegemony and unable to deal with radicals. If it doesn't learn how, not even the Blue Fairy (another Pinocchio character) will be able to turn it into a ruling party."
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.