In response to an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit Berlin on 31 August to prepare for the G20 which will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 24 and 25 September. In the run-up to the summit, France aims to "muster European support for its bid to tighten regulations on bonuses," reports Le Figaro. Last week, the French President reached an agreement with the French banks for stricter controls on bonuses paid to traders. The German government has already announced that it is in favour of the French initiative. The issue will be officially discussed by the European Union's finance ministers on 2 September in Brussels. "And to ensure that Europe presents a united front, the Swedish Presidency of the EU is considering the possibility of organizing an extraordinary summit in preparation for the G20 in mid-September," notes the French daily.
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.