The Wall Street Journal wrote that Tsipras ‘shook up’ the debate who was described as the only candidate outside the mainstream. “Although Mr. Tsipras, whose party is polling at around 7%, is unlikely to be the next commission president, he nevertheless mixed up the debate,” the newspaper writes.
 
Reuter’s also focused on the Greek candidate in its coverage of the debate running a story with the headline, “Greek bailout is no success story, EU candidate Tsipras says”. The article describes how “Tsipras reiterated demands for Europe-wide debt reduction and called for an end to bailout-imposed austerity policies across Europe to boost economic growth.”
 
Euronews writes of the leftist opposition leader’s debate appearance, “Once dubbed the rising star of the Greek left, Alexis Tsipras appealed to those frustrated with rising taxes and spending cuts: “If we want to get out from this crisis we have to invest in development and social cohesion, we have to stop with austerity,” Euronews quotes the Greek politician as having said.
 
The German News Agency DPA underlined how, “Tsipras is against austerity, not the European Union.”
 
Spanish El Pais ran with the headline, “Everyone against Juncker” noting that the European People’s Party candidate and former Eurogroup head during the financial crisis represents the model followed by the EU to solve the crisis in recent years. The Spanish newspaper writes that the debate became more interesting as time went on, particularly when the barbs started to fly. Schulz launched an attack on Angela Merkel while Tsipras asked Juncker about the attempts made in Cannes in 2012 to change the governments of Italy and Greece, replacing democratically elected leaders with Europe-approved ‘technocrats’. The article also refers to the issue of Catalonia noting that Jean Claude Juncker was the only candidate to clearly oppose a referendum for the self determination of the province.
 
The Belgian newspaper Le Soir writes, “Verhofstadt defended fiscal discipline.” The newspaper stresses the central role of the economy in the debate and notes the response of Belgian candidate (and former Prime Minister) to Tsipras’s attack on EU policies – that Greek politicians and the banks which funded the country’s parties are primarily to blame for the country’s woes.


The French press also noted the central role played by austerity in Europe in the debate whil the Brussels correspondent of Liberation, Jean Quatremer, noted the absence of slogans such as ‘out of the euro’, writing that it may be because, according to the author, all of the candidates recognize the negative consequences an exit from the euro would have. For Mr Quatremer the winner of the debate was Greens candidate Ska Keller, “but Tsipras did splendidly.”
 
According to the BBC's Simon Wilsons reporting from the European Parliament, Liberal candidate Guy Verhofstadt was the most animated candidate, even when he wasn’t speaking, while Martin Schulz was well situated in the center of the panel allowing him to ‘look presidential’. According to the correspondent, Ska Keller had “by far the most support in the hall with big cheers for each of her interventions.”
 
Deutsche Welle writes of the centrality of the issue of unemployment with all candidates to describing it as a priority with varying degrees of urgency. “Juncker, Schultz Keller and Verhofstadt all supported the programme to rescue the euro…Only one stood out from the crowd, Alexis Tsipras,” describing how he, “called for the end of austerity and more debts – i.e. the opposite of today’s European policy.”
 
Referring to his statement that, “the EU needs to change, that we need to offer a new vision with an alternative to austerity,” DW writes that, “he left it open as to what that would be, but neither was he asked.”
 
Other European papers were more critical of Tsipras effectively claiming that he had hijacked the debate to further his domestic goals. European Voice writes that Alexis Tsipras ‘stole the spotlight’ but that he ‘brought little European value to the discussion, focusing on his own national campaign.’ The newspaper was also critical of the fact that Tsipras had opted to answer questions in Greek.
 
That Tsipras had managed to draw attention (both negative and positive) was made clear by the announcement by Vigi Globe, the company running the debate, that Tsipras led among the five candidates in mentions on Twitter with 19,481. In second place was Martin Schulz (17,118) followed by Guy Verhofstadt (14,606), Jean Claude Juncker (13,693) and Ska Keller (11,071).