"Vive la Belgique" in French (Long Live Belgium), "Leve België" in Flemish. So runs the title of the new single by Flemish pop group Clouseau that since its release has sparked yet another national controversy in troubled Belgium. "Leve België", shortly to be sung at the King Baudoin Stadium in Brussels for an athletics event, calls in two languages for unity amongst the countries' squabbling French and Flemish speaking communities. "It's a piece of propaganda which makes me think of Communist countries," has stormed Geert Bourgeois, the French surnamed Flemish minister of the Interior (N-VA, Separatist). On the front page of Flemish language daily De Morgen, columnist Hugo Camps lambasts the minister, dubbing him "Minister of Jealousy" : "Who the hell does he think he is telling Clouseau what they should and shouldn't sing?" calling on the band not to let itself be walked all over by a politician "who doesn't even known how to sing properly". "Belgian mega stars (2 million albums sold in Belgium) defy the nationalists," optimistically chimes the headline in French language daily Le Soir.
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.