The flags were flown at half-mast at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels on Thursday 25 August, to pay tribute to the victims of the massive earthquake that devastated central Italy on Wednesday, leaving a death toll, still provisional, at more than 250 dead and hundreds more injured (EUROPE 11608).
On Thursday afternoon, the Italian authorities had not yet made a request for assistance under the civil protection mechanism of the EU, according to the European...