“Saint Sebastian opens to the world,” headlines the Spanish daily El Correo, following the decision by the Minister of Culture to designate the Basque city as the 2016 European City of Culture (alongside the Polish town of Wroclaw). San Sebastian, or Donostia in Basque, was selected over five other candidates. The jury was won over by the city’s effort “to overcome violence and to have culture serve peace and cohabitation,” the Basque paper notes. This will be a genuine test for the city’s administration, led by the separatist coalition, Bildu, newly-elected last May 22, El Correo argues. The paper also stresses that the designation of the city marks “political change in San Sebastian,” formerly administered by the Socialist Party. Called "highly political", the decision was criticised by supporters of the other cities in the running. These included Saragossa and Cordoba.
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.