Recession deters sea-crossing migrants
Público reports that the number of migrants in open boats and other improvised craft landing on the Spanish coast has reached an "all-time low." In January and February of 2010, 126 people made use of unauthorized sea crossings to enter Spain, "a reduction of 91%" on the figure for the same period in the previous year. The record drop in numbers is due to the difficult situation in the Spanish labour market and an increase in the interception of migrants by Spain's SIVE (Integrated System of External Vigilance) and the EU's FRONTEX (the European agency for external borders). The Spanish government has also emphasized the role played by "cooperation agreements with Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal." However, several NGOs have criticized the EU for not including provisions for the respect of basic human rights in these agreements, which "offer development aid in exchange for tighter controls on craft putting to sea."
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.