Brussels - Shares in troubled Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis plummetted Thursday after shareholders rejected a plan to break up and nationalize the bank, one of Europe's highest-profile victims of the global financial crisis.

The share price quoted on the Brussels stock exchange fell 17 per cent as markets opened Thursday. By mid-morning shares were trading at 1.19 euros (1.54 dollars), some 10 per cent below Wednesday's listing.

Brussels  - Shareholders in Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis on Wednesday rejected its emergency nationalization, throwing into chaos state plans to split up the crisis-hit lender.

In two votes, 57 per cent of shareholders rejected the sale of the Dutch parts of the bank to the Dutch state, while just over half of shareholders rejected the sale of the bank's Belgian arm to the Belgian state, and thence to French banking giant BNP Paribas, local media reported.

Brussels/Vienna  - The European Commission on Wednesday launched a probe into claims that Germany's Lufthansa may not be paying enough for Austrian Airlines in its bid to create Europe's largest carrier.

In a statement, the European Union executive in Brussels expressed "doubts that the price to be paid by Lufthansa reflects the market price for what is being sold."

Brussels - The European Union's executive is keen to help fight piracy in the Straits of Malacca and the waters of Singapore, the bloc's maritime-affairs commissioner told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday.

The European Commission "is currently looking at how it can address security issues more broadly, not only in the Horn of Africa region, but also in the Straits of Malacca and off Singapore, where we want to help build on recent successes in reducing the incidence of piracy," Joe Borg told dpa.

Brussels - The European Union executive in Brussels on Wednesday welcomed the formation of a power-sharing government in Zimbabwe and urged new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to bring about "positive change" to the poverty-stricken country.

"I welcome today's inauguration of Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister of Zimbabwe. All parties within this power-sharing government must now work - without delay - to immediately improve the social and economic conditions for the people of Zimbabwe," said Louis Michel, the EU's aid commissioner.

Brussels - European Union finance ministers were locked in talks on how to dispose of banks' toxic assets Tuesday, with the bloc's presidency confirming it would hold an "anti-protectionist" summit later this month.

"The biggest risk at the moment is protectionism," said Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, at the start of the talks in Brussels.