“Planning for the presidency” headlines Polska The Times, referring to Poland’s last-minute preparations for taking over the EU presidency on 1 July. The conferences, meetings, concerts and cultural events accompanying the presidency will cost several hundred million zlotys. “No one is saying this out loud, but it’s clear that Warsaw is aiming to organise the most impressive EU presidency since the Lisbon Treaty came into force”, writes the daily, noting that the presidency’s most important event will be the Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw on 29-30 September.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk went to Paris earlier this month especially to convince French President Nicolas Sarkozy to participate in the summit, reportedly with good effect. There is also a good chance that German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be attending too. Other possible highlights will be the signing of an accession treaty with Croatia and an association agreement with Ukraine. During the half-year, cultural events promoting Poland will be held in ten capitals, including Brussels, Warsaw, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. All that, concludes Polska The Times, to “prove Poland’s enthusiasm for the idea of European integration”.
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.