Clashes at Greek protests over budget cuts

http://www.timesofearth.com/Worldnews/?NT=0&nid=21402 Athens - The Greek government is preparing severe austerity measures to secure a multi-billion-euro aid package and avoid a financial catastrophe, with the prime minister vowing to "do whatever it takes to save the country".

But many Greek citizens are up in arms over proposed cutbacks, and protesters clashed with police when they tried to break through a cordon guarding the finance ministry on Thursday.

"The immediate emergency measures will be a strong bridge to cross over to great changes, secure the life of every citizen and have dynamic growth in a more just society," George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, said on Thursday.

"We will do whatever it takes to save the country."

But he has his work cut out as Greek unions have called a series of strikes in the days ahead, with a general strike on May 5, saying the involvement of the EU and IMF was a disaster and that the government had crossed the line.
Greek trade union officials voiced outrage at the conditions for the loans after a meeting with Papandreou, saying the IMF wanted the government to raise sales taxes, scrap bonuses amounting to two extra months of pay in the public sector, and accept a three-year pay freeze.

"They want Greece to cut the deficit by 10 percentage points in 2010 and 2011 ... so that Greece can go back and borrow on markets in the third year of the programme," said a union official who requested anonymity.

Officials from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank are in marathon talks in Athens over bailout plans, hoping to have a deal by early next week in a bid to prevent the crisis from spreading to other debt-burdened EU countries.

Economists said eurozone states could end up footing a bill of half a trillion euros ($650bn) to save several nations if they failed to engineer a Greek bailout that calmed markets.

But markets appeared confident the deal would work on Thursday and Greek shares jumped 7.14 per cent by the close of trading and the interest rate that Greece has to pay to sell new debt fell back to below 10 per cent.

New signs that Germany could back the deal also helped global stocks and the euro stabilise after days of losses caused by the demotion of Greek debt to "junk" status and the downgrading of Portugal and Spain's credit ratings.

Germany has expressed deep reservations about handing over loans to Greece, which previously misled the EU over its catastrophic finances, and is demanding fierce budget rigour in return for any cash.

But Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, said there was no alternative to aiding Greece to protect the euro, in apparent reference to growing fears of a domino effect of the debt crisis across the EU.

"We have to go this route," Schaeuble said in Berlin on Thursday. "We are not defending Greece, we are defending the stability of our currency."

Meanwhile Germany's opposition accused Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, of political manoeuvring by delaying a decision on aid for Greece until after the May 9 polls.

"The chancellor tried to put off the Greece problem until after the NRW election," Hannelore Kraft, head of the Social Democrats (SPD) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany's largest opposition party, told the Westfaelische Rundschau in an interview to run on Friday.

Merkel's conservatives, who need to win in NRW to retain their majority in the Bundesrat, or upper house of parliament, are concerned that funding a Greek bailout will cost it votes in the polls.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Greece received some reprieve when ratings agency Moody's Investors Service said it would hold off on a possible downgrade of the country's credit rating until it can consider details of a rescue package.

It warned, however, that a "multi-notch downgrade" remained likely, which would make Moody's the second major rating agency, after Standard & Poor's on Tuesday, to downgrade Greece's ratings to "junk" status.
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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Athens
• clash
• at
• finance
• ministry
• over
• budget
• cuts
• combat sports

[sawyergod]

Can u live friend with a salary of 700 euros? Let me know. i am greek, i have a bachelor's degree in biomedical science, a ms degree in biomedical informatics and now i am doing a phd. The chances of me finding a jod are minimum and if i find one i will get 700 euros. they cut from my salary and increase the taxes? I've studying since i was 5 very hard! and what do i get? only very very rich people or politicians have a nice life in greece. the others do not friend.

[SaharaForce]

The corrupt worldcartel must be kicked off from this world. The time has come for all peoples to find solidarity with each other. Solidarity with Iceland and Greece.

Together worldwide at the same time we can break the cartel!

[OPL21stJS]

we need to do this here in America. are we so blind with the TV showing us FOx,CNN,ABC all the time and with stupid reality shows. We all need to stand up to make a change. we need to start riots all over America and end this NOW!!

[OPL21stJS]

@sawyergod much respect, but dont worry the revolution is coming soon worldwide.

[RicardoNeil]

big respect for this people! the best of europe! GREECE!! from Portugal

[elZonke]

0:30 holy shit, its the riot dog. Hes in every damn riot footage ive seen

[Iyoulikeyoutoo]

They brought this missery on themselves by not wanting to pay their fair share of taxes. There is a reason why communism and socialism are so much more popular in that country than elsewhere in Europe. You cannot expect a government to provide expensive wellfare services without paying a descent amount of money for it to cover the expenses.

[nekrothaftis88]

the balls he writes the Greek people, what he says and what the traitor wants jeffrey "george" papandreou. when the Greek people banish the traitor will cancel the memorandum and despicable except that it would seize all that stole the moneylenders (oil, gas, mines, etc) will never get the supposedly debt, so long our swell.

[am1966ath]

@sawyergod thats true..Greece is something of a EU-Bangladesh..and the small greeks get fucked everyday by a political elite.

[VampireIchiho]

those politicians should be assassinated,same situation in our country,corruption rules in my country,bestards

[jean30m]

i wont maltese peaple protest again like greece i dont like malta ad thise moment ;

[SajukkTheEternal]

this is the ministry of economics. The demonstrators are trying to enter to have a "word" with the minister.

It sucks being a minister in Greece after all