Brussels begs $4 billion for gas-strapped Ukraine
Cold as a Kiev winter might well become a proverbial expression, as the EU currently pleads with the IMF to lend the Ukraine over $4 billion to buy Russian gas. It’s a loan that may ultimately decide whether Ukraine maintains its pro-western course or falls into Russia’s lap, writes Warsaw daily Polska. “Granting this loan is more important than the Eastern Partnership agenda and will confirm that Europe treats Ukraine as a serious partner,” says political scientist and publicist Jerzy Marek Nowakowski. Kiev desperately needs financial support – the economic crisis has left its coffers empty and unable to pay its Russian gas bill. Without IMF intervention, another gas war might erupt between Ukraine and Russia. Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, has given Ukraine until 7 July to pay what it owes.
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.