Welfare state

The rationalization of social benefits should not be attempted with the goal of saving money, but rather of providing transparency and justice.

Aid should go to those who really need it. And, above all, it should not to serve as a disincentive for (declared) work, as is often the case today, especially with seasonal allowances.

By Pavlos Geroulanos *

The Government endorses the increase of minimum wage, but it doesn't want this increase to cause "negative economic consequences," Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has said on Thursday, adding that he also wishes for pensions to increase, while bringing to mind that the pensions fund has a deficit of more than 2 billion lei at this point.

Police said on Thursday the metro station on Syntagma square will close as of 4.30 p.m., ahead of a planned protest rally against the Prespes accord which is being discussed in Parliament.

The train will pass through the station without stopping.

Anti-establishment activists belonging to the groups Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki and Rouvikonas entered the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace on Tuesday morning to protest Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's upcoming appearance at the northern port city's annual trade fair.

Greek riot police in central Athens have fired tear gas at protesting youths as anti-austerity protests turned violent, according to Ekathimerini.

Several dozen protesters hurled rocks and fired flares at police outside Parliament after peaceful marches involving around 12,000 people ended.

Nearby, protesting police officers blocked the entrance to a Finance Ministry building.

The Bulgarian government and representatives of the trade unions and the employers' organisations reached an agreement on the conditions of retirement in the forthcoming years.

The proposal for a pension reform will be tabled to parliament and all three sides said that compromises were made, daily Dnevnik reports.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government's team for social inclusion and poverty reduction, Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy and the Office for Cooperation with the Civil Society called on all interested organizations to submit comments on the draft of the first part of the Employment and Social Reform Program (ESRP) until March 26.