In a small glimmer of hope for the flood-stricken residents of Magnesia, the level of the water at Lake Karla appeared to be gradually subsiding on Sunday, eliminating fears of further flooding in villages close to the lake.

The restitution of Lake Karla in Thessaly, one of the major European environmental projects and the largest in the Balkans, was inaugurated on Friday by European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu and Interior Minister Alexis Charitsis.