Andrej Plenkovic

Several countries have announced this week that they will start to gradually lift some of the measures they introduced to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, but slowly and in stages.

Messages of support and offers of help have poured into Croatia after Sunday's earthquake of at least 5.3 magnitudes, which hit the capital and injured dozens of people as well as damaging buildings.

The epicenter of the earthquake was seven kilometers north of Zagreb at a depth of ten kilometers.
Index.hr first announced that an earthquake had killed a 15-year-old child. An ambulance took to the field but the child showed no signs of life. However, the latest information is that the child is alive and doctors are fighting for her life.

Croatia

Alemka Markotic, head of the Fran Mihaljevic Infectious Diseases Hospital in the Croatian capital Zagreb. Photo: Courtesy of N1

After Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that Croatia was ready to take in some child refugees trapped in refugee camps on Greek islands, hostile comments on social networks condemned the idea, some claiming that parents and wider relatives would then accompany the children - some of whom might be extremists.

Heating Up

In a statement on March 3, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles warned against inflammatory language.

"Refugees seeking protection should not be treated as a security threat, with heavy-handed military tactics and language," the organisation said.

Undoubtedly the visit of the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament (accompanied by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis) to the Greek-Turkish land border at Evros constitutes a strong message of solidarity with Greece.

The top EU officials made declarations of solidarity and support for Greece at a critical moment.

The presidents of the executive European Commission, the European Council (which represents national governments) and the European Parliament - Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel and David Sassoli - have arrived in northern Greece for a planned tour at the country's land border with Turkey.
The EU officials were met at the airport by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to hold multilateral talks on easing the migrant crisis that would involve Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has claimed according to reports.