Atrocities report spoils celebrations
Even as Belgium and its former colony seek to resume long-severed relations, a scathing UN report on atrocities committed by DR Congo armed forces has put a spanner in the works, notes De Morgen. The report, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 18 March, confirms that members of the armed forces, the police and intelligence forces are responsible for “summary executions, sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment” and that the Congolese authorities are doing nothing about the situation, which is getting worse every year. The report comes shortly after King Albert II announced plans to fly down to attend the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the DR Congo’s independence (on 20 June) and the Belgian defence minister suggested inviting Congolese army brass to attend the Belgian national holiday festivities on 21 July.
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.