"Suspense for two days as Sócrates finishes new PEC [austerity plan] ", headlines Público, as the Portuguese parliament prepares to debate the Prime Minister’s series of harsh budget measures green-lighted at the Brussels summit of 11 March. Until Wednesday 23 March, when the vote is to take place, Jose Sócrates will meet social partners and main opposition figures, who are threatening to scupper his austerity plans. The Lisbon daily recalls that Sócrates has promised to resign and call a snap election if PEC is rejected. It notes that as outgoing PM he would nevertheless be present at the European summit of 24/25 March summit to discuss modifications to the European Financial Stabilisation Fund. This could be a bitter sweet week for Sócrates, notes Público: on March 26 he stands to be re-elected Portuguese Socialist Party (PS) leader for another two years, a post he has occupied since 2004.
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.