United States Environmental Protection Agency

Ljubljana – Parliament passed on Tuesday changes to the water act with 44 votes in favour and 38 against. One major provision has been scrapped from the bill in the wake of criticism by NGOs, but environmentalists warn that the legislation is still problematic with efforts already launched to place the law on a popular ballot.

Ljubljana – The parliamentary environment committee has passed amendments to the water act changes, under which hazardous substances could be used under certain condition by production facilities located in water protection areas. While the government says adequate safety mechanisms are envisaged, the opposition warns of harmful effects for water sources.

(Un)Happy Nationalists

Relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia have taken a turn for the worse over the last few months. At the heart of the worsening bilateral relations is a dispute over the Macedonian language, as well as interpretation of key figures and events from the joint recent past of the two countries.

People dance to the tune of a clarinet during a protest by musicians, actors and art workers outside Parliament in central Athens Thursday to demand more support for the culture sector, which has been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. A similar protest took place in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

A traffic police officer wearing a protective mask checks the documents of a driver at the Elefsina toll station, 30 kilometers west of Athens.

A woman wearing a protective face mask walks past a metro wagon during rush hour in Athens Thursday. While masks are not obligatory attire and some experts have brought their efficiency to guard against Covid-19 into question, many people prefer to err on the side of caution. [EPA]

Containers have been placed in a field in Zervou area near the capital of Samos island where the construction of a new, closed-type migrant camp has begun. [EPA]

Greece's civil protection agency issued a plan for addressing the consequences of a possible activation of the volcano of Santorini, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported Thursday.

An official from the General Secretariat for Civil Protection told the news agency the specific scenario, named "Talos," is part of an umbrella master plan to prepare for any natural disaster. 

Teachers and students protest on Tuesday outside Parliament where MPs were debating an education bill which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described as a "bold and cohesive set of reforms that liberate education from the suffocating control of the ministry" while establishing the evaluation of universities and linking their funding partially to performance.

Despite the cancellation of the main Surva festival in the town of Pernik this year because of a water supply crisis, Bulgarians took to the streets independently at the weekend in elaborate 'kuker' costumes for their annual winter carnival.