Brussels, 18/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 February, the European Commission announced that the missing children hotline 116000 is now working in Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania and will also be functioning soon in two further countries (Belgium and Slovakia). Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner, said that it is good news that, 'the 116 000 EU missing child hotline works in five EU Member States'. The number has been assigned to service providers who must be able to handle calls appropriately, free of charge, 24/7, nation-wide. The Commissioner added that, “I would have expected a more ambitious approach from other Member States. There is no room or time for complacency when it comes to the safety of our children,", who also said that she was, “calling on Member States to live up to their responsibilities” and inform service providers of the availability of the 116 numbers so we can quickly get the hotlines running across the EU. The Commission explained that the implementation of the two other numbers, 116111 (helplines for children to call for assistance) and 116123 (emotional support lines), reserved in October 2007, is also progressing well. (B.C./trans/rh