Police shield Greece's parliament
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2012, Monday
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RIOT police shielded Greece's national parliament yesterday as demonstrators gathered to protest against austerity measures on the eve of talks in Brussels on a 130-billion-euro (US$171 billion) bailout needed to avert bankruptcy.
Hopes for a deal at the meeting of eurozone finance ministers have risen after Athens on Saturday detailed new budget cuts. But skeptics, led by Germany, are wary about Greece's determination to shrink its debt mountain.
Only a few hundred protesters had assembled outside the national parliament by early afternoon but authorities were on guard after demonstrations last Sunday degenerated into looting and torching of buildings in central Athens.
"Maybe some people are scared after last week's rioting," said retired state electricity worker Costas Xenakis.
"The austerity measures are really hurting pensioners - we can't just sit and take it," said Costas, 70, whose monthly pension will be hit again by new cuts approved by caretaker Prime Minister Lucas Papademos' cabinet late Saturday.
Banners such as one reading "Down with the memorandum of hunger" bore testimony to the anger many Greeks feel toward a political elite that allowed the country over the years to rack up a national debt worth 160 percent of national output while the super-rich took advantage of lax tax collection.
One survey by pollster MRB showed that while 73 percent of Greeks want the country to stay in the euro, just 49 percent believe it will manage to do so in the next two years.
After months of often acrimonious negotiations, Greek hopes are nonetheless rising that today's meeting in Brussels will endorse the rescue which Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy on March 20 when major debt repayments fall due.
Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said yesterday it appeared a deal was finally taking shape.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Papademos voiced optimism about a Greek accord during a conference call, according to Monti's office.
Hopes for a deal at the meeting of eurozone finance ministers have risen after Athens on Saturday detailed new budget cuts. But skeptics, led by Germany, are wary about Greece's determination to shrink its debt mountain.
Only a few hundred protesters had assembled outside the national parliament by early afternoon but authorities were on guard after demonstrations last Sunday degenerated into looting and torching of buildings in central Athens.
"Maybe some people are scared after last week's rioting," said retired state electricity worker Costas Xenakis.
"The austerity measures are really hurting pensioners - we can't just sit and take it," said Costas, 70, whose monthly pension will be hit again by new cuts approved by caretaker Prime Minister Lucas Papademos' cabinet late Saturday.
Banners such as one reading "Down with the memorandum of hunger" bore testimony to the anger many Greeks feel toward a political elite that allowed the country over the years to rack up a national debt worth 160 percent of national output while the super-rich took advantage of lax tax collection.
One survey by pollster MRB showed that while 73 percent of Greeks want the country to stay in the euro, just 49 percent believe it will manage to do so in the next two years.
After months of often acrimonious negotiations, Greek hopes are nonetheless rising that today's meeting in Brussels will endorse the rescue which Athens needs to avoid bankruptcy on March 20 when major debt repayments fall due.
Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said yesterday it appeared a deal was finally taking shape.
On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Papademos voiced optimism about a Greek accord during a conference call, according to Monti's office.
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