'relationships' - tagged features

No-one is thinking about the mechanics of splitting up when they get married but the reality of divorce in europe is causing extra friction for international couples. The whole process of separating can be even more traumatic than usual for them thanks to huge differences in divorce laws across the EU. If you marry a foreigner and then live in a country that isn’t the home-country of either of you – which country’s divorce law do you follow? And how do you decide what’s fair? Brussels wants to simplify this legal tangle but some countries are blocking the move saying it's causing even more problems than it’ll solve. 

When you think of online dating services you tend to imagine them serving lonely people in large cities. What need do religious people have of such a service when they have the church community to meet partners through? But two years ago, three single and Catholic students from Warsaw started Poland's first online Catholic dating service. Right now the community is 27 thousand strong and growing. So Catholic singles in Poland seem to need to go online to find a spouse. NE finds out how and why. 

Whether you’re greeting an old auntie or trying to make a pass at your aerobics instructor, the simple kiss is the most ubiquitous of all manifestations of affection. But kissing can be a minefield of social gaffs and getting it wrong in the Netherlands where you’re expected to give 3 cheek-kisses to everyone you meet, is a quick way to look like an oddball if you muck up the etiquette. The Dutch in particular it seems, have a fascination with the kiss. 

It’s cold in Sweden at this time of year and the Swedes have been practicing the warm embrace since Christmas. The Swedish Red Cross has launched a hugging campaign aimed at helping the lonely – and once the Swedes got past the initial awkwardness, there was no holding them back. 

Bureaucrats and Romance… wait, wait, don’t turn off your radio! It’s not as dull as it sounds: it seems there’s a dating service for European bureaucrats in Brussels, home to the European Parliament. And it also seems there’s trouble. Radio Netherlands' Vanessa Mock has this story. 

There's really no denying it - for many Paris, is "the" global capital of romance, where literature and art lead us to believe at least - that Latin lovers stroll along the banks of the romantic river Seine……   But hold on. Did you know that Paris is also home to hundreds of thousands of singles! And that according to statistics there could be as many as 15 million single people in France, That’s twice as many than thirty years ago! RFI's Nick Champeaux wanted to find out  why , despite the romantic backdrop,  so many people hadn't found their soul-mates... 

As work, study and weekend breaks take Europeans to the four corners of the continent, international romance is blooming. More than 100,000 Poles alone have moved to Ireland in search of jobs since it flung its doors wide-open to immigration from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe. Most of the Poles are young and...single.   For its part, Ireland has more young people per capita than any other European country.  So even if many Poles don't have romance on their mind when they leave for Dublin, Limerick or Galway, it often ends up that way. Polish Radio's Bogdan Zaryn caught up with Paul and Dominika, one of the increasing number of  Polish-Irish couples. 

Now speaking of the indirect effects of the EU On the streets of new member - Romania's capital Bucharest intergenerational couples are increasingly frequent - and visible.   But apparently as Radio Romania International's Iulian Muresan reports it's apparently not because Romanians have successfully bridged the generation gap.   Quite on the contrary... It's all about money. 

Across the border from Romania, There's a sea change in the way Bulgarians think about relationships and marriage - as well. And there's a new acceptance of variety.  Radio Bulgaria's Radostin Zhelev takes this personal look. 

Embracing the new is something Swedes like to think they're good at. Rightly or wrongly, this part of the world as long been associated with sexual freedoms but its also known to be at the vanguard of social legislation equating de-facto relationships and marriage under the law, promoting gender equality, and safeguarding the rights of children as unique from their parents.   But there are still some aspects of personal sexual and romantic freedoms that are controversial for some - Radio Sweden's Bill Schiller reports on the state of gay and lesbian rights in Sweden.