News archive of May 2020

Courthouses in Turkey will start using thermal cameras at their entrances to screen for fevers to prevent anyone potentially infected with the coronavirus from entering the premises, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül said on May 29 as the country's judiciary is set to resume its work as part of its normalization phase.

Greece denounced on Friday a decision by Turkey to hold a "fiestas" outside Istanbul's Byzantine-era cathedral Hagia Sophia during Friday's prayers on the anniversary of the city's 1453 conquest by Ottoman troops.

He assessed that it is clear that this is about politics, and not about the epidemiological situation, as stated by the authorities in Podgorica.

The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided, in Friday's meeting, to reduce the monetary policy interest rate to 1.75% per year, from 2% per year, starting with June 2, informs the central bank.

The Government will reimburse employers, for a period of 3 months, a percentage of 41.5 pct of the monthly gross wage of each worker that has his/her previously suspended work contract reactivated, a release sent on Friday to AGERPRES by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, reads.

The citizens of Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Spain suffered biggest financial loss amidst the coronavirus pandemic. 

The nationals of Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria suffered least damages, a survey of the European Parliament shows. 58% of the surveyed said they experienced financial difficulties during he pandemic.

One by one, the children and adults line up for the centuries-old ritual of Holy Communion, trying to keep a proper social distance. The priest dips a spoon into the chalice of bread and wine, which the faithful believe is the body and blood of Christ, and puts it into the mouth of the first person in line.

A German academic who had been sailing in the Aegean Sea on his catamaran as the pandemic made its way into Europe and who eventually got stranded in the middle of the Aegean Sea, because both Turkey and Greece closed their borders, is now back home.

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras suggested on Thursday that the funds Greece expects to receive from the Next Generation EU recovery package as proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday could allow for a reduction in taxation.

Greece announced the list of 29 countries from which it will accept tourist when international flights resume Athens and Thessaloniki on June 15.