RIOT POLICE MADE heavy use of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse youths throwing stones and petrol bombs at a large march through central Athens today to protest the Greek government’s harsh austerity measures.
The clashes came during a 24-hour general strike that brought most public services to a halt, idled all trains and island ferries, grounded flights for four hours and disrupted public transport.
The unions, like many economic experts, question the effectiveness of more austerity at a time when the economy badly needs growth — or possibly a debt restructuring — to emerge from its debt hole.
The country is expected to need more financial help, beyond the €110bn bailout that saved it from bankruptcy last year. But European officials, who have ruled out the possibility of Greece reneging on debt accords, say any new help would require more reforms.
After a year of belt-tightening, some experts wonder how much more Greeks can realistically take and whether Europe should not reconsider its long-term crisis strategy.
This month, the Socialist government is planning to pass further cutbacks aimed at saving an estimated €23bn through 2015.
Injuries and arrests
An AP reporter saw at least three demonstrators injured, while dozens of black-clad anarchists smashed bus stops, set rubbish bins on fire and smashed a shop window.
Police said 24 suspected rioters were detained, while two police officers were injured.
The fighting divided the 10,000 strong march — which was otherwise peaceful — into two. At one stage, choking clouds of chemicals fired by police sent demonstrators and tourists scurrying for cover past shops and banks that had their fronts shuttered in anticipation of trouble.
Thousands, many chanting “Finance Minister, leave the planet,” took part in the demonstration called by the two main labour unions. Previous protests have also been marred by violence, and three clerks died last May when their bank was torched by rioters.
Earlier, about 10,000 members of the Communist-led PAME union held a separate, peaceful protest, with banners reading: “We reject and condemn the new measures. We’re intensifying the fight.”
“Every day that passes, (the government) takes back what the working class has won through blood and struggles all these years,” retiree John Pavlidis said.
Another 8,000 people joined in two separate protests in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
In Photos: Riot police tackle protesters in Athens (All images from the Press Association)
More cutbacks
Greece’s crisis follows years of inept governance, widespread corruption and waste that created bloated budget deficits and a public debt considerably larger than annual economic output. For the time being, the country is shielded from insolvency by its billion package of rescue loans in a 2010-2013 programme from its EU partners and the IMF.
But despite drastic spending cuts — with reductions to pensions and salaries accompanied by an increase in taxes and retirement ages — the nation may need additional support to meet its financing needs next year, as the cost of borrowing from bond markets remains sky-high.
Parliament is expected to vote on the new round of cutbacks later this month. The governing Socialists have also committed themselves to an ambitious — but so far nebulous — privatisation programme worth a total of €50bn over the next few years.
However, many promised reforms have not yet been implemented, and there is growing skepticism in Greece and abroad over the government’s efficiency.
EU and IMF officials are currently in Athens for talks on the austerity programme — on which the continued release of the bailout loans depends. Greek unions say the protracted austerity, amid a two-year recession and unemployment at around 15 per cent, is unfairly targeting the less well-off.
- AP
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