“Harsh warning for Nicolas Sarkozy’s party,” headlines La Tribune, in the wake of the UMP’s poor performance in the first round of French cantonal elections, which saw votes cast in half of the country’s administrative regions. The Socialist Party topped the poll at 25%, however media attention is mainly focused on the upsurge in support for the Front National. The far right party led by Marine Le Pen finished only just behind the UMP with a score of 15%. “Marine’s blue wave sweeps across France,” remarks the business daily, which also notes that the turnout of just 45% “was the lowest ever recorded for cantonal elections.” In the event of a duel between the left and the Front National in the second round of elections scheduled for 27 March, the UMP has no plans to issue instructions to its supporters to vote for a “united republican front” against the extreme right.
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.