Work
European Parliament out to mother mothers
24 February 2010
Presseurop
Dagens Nyheter 
Dagens Nyheter, 24 February 2010
“The EU has a finger in every pie,” editorialises Dagens Nyheter, reacting to the European Parliament Women’s Rights Committee proposal to extend maternity leave. Varying from 14 to 28 weeks in the EU, this figure could be fixed at a minimum of 20, with six of them obligatory after giving birth. “The idea of a law requiring women to take six weeks off after giving birth does not go down well. Maternity leave is not an obligation but a right. There may be good reasons for a woman to go back to work, and it’s up to her to decide, not the EU.” The fact that MEPs from southern Europe are championing this bill, adds the Dagens Nyheter, goes to show “they are trying to use the EU to put reforms across in their own countries”.
In a time of crisis with high unemployment, young Lithuanians are following in the footsteps of their emigrant ancestors. Tens of thousands have left the country in search of a better life, mainly in the British Isles and Scandinavia. The weekly Veidas reports: 
The new Eurogroup meeting on February 9 is not enough to banish the spectre of a Greek bankruptcy. While Athens may largely be responsible for the crisis, the EU and its partners are not blameless themselves. La Stampa argues that their confused messages and the absence of any strategy have transformed a resolvable problem into an explosive chaos. 
Two camps, two theories, and two visions of France: 18 years after the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the precise role played by Paris is still the subject of heated debate, fueled by the findings of successive criminal investigations.