Bloomberg
By Maria Petrakis and Natalie Weeks - Jun 29, 2011
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s bid to avert the euro region’s first sovereign default will culminate today with a budget vote now under way in a Parliament besieged by protesters amid a wave of strikes.
Papandreou may scrape through approval as dissenters waver among the 155 members he commands in the 300-seat legislature to allow him to deliver a 78 billion-euro ($112 billion) austerity package that will determine if his indebted nation can receive further rescue funds. In a final speech to lawmakers he said that the measures are a “difficult, imperative step” and that they must rise to the occasion to pass the plan.
Outside, scores of police lined up to guard Parliament, facing down a crowd of thousands that has clogged Athens’ city center and made the legislature the focus of its ire during a 48-hour strike in protest against the austerity plan. Riot officers pelted tear gas in an attempt to disperse the throng and Molotov cocktails and stones were thrown back at them.
Full story HERE
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Bailout Battlefield: Greeks fight against foreign fiscal take-over
Uploaded by RussiaToday on Jun 29, 2011
It's make or brake today in Greece - as the government sits down to vote on tax hikes and spending cuts. It's viewed as the country's last chance to stave off default - something that could have ruinous consequences for the Euro. But public opposition has turned violent. Scenes from downtown Athens resemble a war zone as protesters clash with police amid volleys of tear gas. Hundreds of thousands of people nationwide walked off their jobs in the strike against austerity. They say drowning the country in debt at crippling interest rates has failed once - and it'll fail again.
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