Europe

Europe

Greeks protest new austerity measures

30 June 2011 21:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. On the second day of the 48-hour general strike by the Greek unions, demonstrators have gathered outside the parliament in Athens to protest approval of a second austerity bill, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Outside the Greece parliament on Thursday, fierce clashes raged between anti-austerity protestors throwing stones and the riot police who fired tear gas from behind barriers, the Press TV correspondent in Athens reported.

The government has secured votes by a comfortable margin of 155 votes to 138 to implement the unpopular package of tax rises, spending cuts and privatizations.

The passage of the bill means the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will release EUR 12 billion to Greece -- the latest tranche of Greece’s EUR 110 billion bailout program -- to save the country from defaulting on its debt.

Prime Minister George Papandreou has said his austerity plan is the only way to get Greece back on his feet and avoid the country’s collapse.

However, the protesters insist the austerity measures will impose taxes on minimum wage earners and make living even harder for the poor.

One of the historic hotels in the battle-zone decided to evacuate all its clients and employees, fearing for their safety as violence got out of control.

Large numbers of people were injured overnight and many more were arrested.

Greece has a debt of over EUR 300 billion, which is worth more than 150 percent of its annual economic output.