EU nations split on new divorce laws

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 8 (UPI) -- For the second time in two years, Sweden has said no to European Union proposals on cooperation in divorce laws, observers say.

Ministers of EU nations met Tuesday to consider new guidelines wherein spouses of different EU nationalities living in any EU country could choose which country's divorce laws they wished to follow, The Stockholm News reported.

Sweden has rejected the proposal, saying it could force courts in the country, which has relatively liberal divorce laws, to base judgments on stricter, harsher laws of other EU countries, Stockholm News said.

Twelve other EU member states, including Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, have said they will also opt out of the proposal, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported.