Greece: Athens Burns amid General Strike against Austerity

A general strike called in Greece to protest against austerity measures being imposed by the Syriza government turned into clashes between police and protesters on the streets of Athens, Thursday.

Greek Protesters Set Fire to Syriza Flag

Avji Voutsina, protester burning Syriza flag

THE TELEGRAPH: Protesters campaign outside the Greek parliament against the new EU bail-out deal

Greece's small left-wing anti-capitalist Antarsya party and affiliated trade unions staged a rally on Monday night outside parliament in Athens against Greece's new bailout.

The party has said "the hours are critical" for those who favour left-wing policies.

One protester burnt Syriza's party flag outside parliament, saying that the leftist-led coalition government had reneged on its pre-election pledge to put an end to austerity. (+ video) » | Robert Midgley, and agencies | Monday, July 13, 2015

Behind The Scenes Of Syriza's Election Victory

Greece: The End of Austerity - As the Greek crisis threatens to sink the euro, this report looks at the promises that brough Syriza into power.

What Does Syriza’s Victory Mean for Greece and the Eurozone?

Greece must bow to austerity or go bust, says EU » Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Monday January 26, 2015

Greece Poll: Pro-bailout Party's Narrow Win Hailed
BBC: World leaders have welcomed the narrow election victory of Greece's broadly pro-bailout New Democracy party and urged Athens to form a cabinet quickly.

The eurozone group said reforms were Greece's "best guarantee" to overcome tough economic and social challenges.

European markets reacted positively, rising in early trading after Asia had also recorded gains.

The Syriza party, which rejected the bailout terms and came a close second, said it would lead the opposition.

With 99.9% of ballots counted, interior ministry results put New Democracy on 29.7% of the vote (129 seats), Syriza on 26.9% (71) and the socialist Pasok on 12.3% (33). There are 300 seats in parliament and Greece has a rule that gives the leading party 50 extra seats.

Greek voters had gone to the polls on Sunday following inconclusive elections in May. New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said Greeks had chosen to stay in the euro and called for a "national salvation government".

Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras said his party would not take part in the government, and would instead become a powerful anti-austerity voice in the opposition. » | Monday, June 18, 2012

Greek Election Favors Pro-Bailout Party
THE NEW YORK TIMES: ATHENS — Greek voters narrowly favored a pro-bailout party in parliamentary elections on Sunday, a result that is likely to calm world markets and ease fears that the country will leave the euro zone.

Official projections showed the conservative New Democracy party as coming in first, giving it the chance to collect enough support to form a pro-bailout coalition and keep Greece in the euro zone.

Late Sunday night, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftist Syriza party, conceded the election and congratulated the conservative leader of New Democracy, Antonis Samaras. Syriza had called for a rejection of the loan deal that Greece had made with foreign creditors.

Though no party is expected to earn enough seats in the 300-member Parliament to form a government, official projections show that the two traditional parties — New Democracy and the socialist Pasok — would get enough seats to form a coalition. » | Rachel Donadio | Sunday, June 17, 2012

Greece's Far-left Party Gains Support
Syriza as Greece's number one party in the city of Chalkida and the surrounding regions - something that was unthinkable until the May 6 election. An estimated 6,000 jobs have been lost in the region - once a centre of industry - over the last nine months. And many voters now feel Syriza is the natural choice. On Sunday the far-left party is hoping to deliver a final knock out blow to mainstream politicians by winning the general election. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from the city of Chalkida.

Debt Crisis: Tensions Mount as Angela Merkel Attacks French Economy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Deepening splits between Angela Merkel and François Hollande erupted into the open on Friday as the German chancellor attacked Paris for allowing the French economy to stall.

Mrs Merkel warned the policies of the new Socialist president could destroy the eurozone by bringing the sovereign debt crisis to France itself.

The bleak assessment came on the eve of an important weekend that will see elections in Greece and France and a key G20 meeting of world leaders in Mexico.

"Europe must discuss the growing differences in economic strength between France and Germany," she said.

Tensions are running so high that Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, was forced to deny that Paris had broken off the Franco-German partnership, following Berlin anger at a Franco-Italian summit in Rome on Thursday.

There was a growing sense of crisis in European capitals after David Cameron, the Prime Minister, took part in a tense conference call with Mrs Merkel, Mr Hollande and Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister.

G20 leaders meet in Los Cabos on Monday afternoon for talks dominated by the deepening eurozone crisis and the result of close elections that could put Greece on course to leave the EU's single currency.

Eurozone finance ministers are on standby for an emergency telephone conference on Sunday night, if Greek exit polls put the radical Left Syriza coalition in the lead, to trigger contingency plans, including possible capital controls in the event of a run on banks in Greece, Portugal or Spain.

A victory for Syriza could prompt a default and Greek exit of the eurozone. Read on and comment » | Bruno Waterfield in Berlin | Friday, June 15, 2012

Greeks Face Stark Choice at Ballot Box
Greek voters return to the polls on Sunday, after a previous election in May failed to produce a goverment. The result could determine whether Greece sticks to the terms of its international bailout, and remains in the eurozone. Polls suggest the two main parties are running neck and neck, and neither is likely to win enough seats to rule alone. On the one hand conservative New Democracy is experienced but also accused of years of mismanagement. On the other, the left-wing Syriza bloc is an untarnished opposition, but lacking any experience in government. How the two parties are going to reconcile contradictory positions is anybody's guess - and the prospect of failure carries the risk of bankruptcy. Al Jazeera's John Psaropoulos reports from Athens.

Griechenlands Linken-Star Tsipras: Der Mann, der Europa Angst macht
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Alexis Tsipras lehnt das Sparen ab - und hat gute Chancen, Griechenlands Premier zu werden. Vor der Wahl am Sonntag inszeniert sich der Linke als Antipolitiker, als Vorkämpfer der Demokratie. Doch wenn er gewinnt, droht der Wirtschaft der endgültige Absturz und dem Land das Euro-Aus.

Zum Glück sind die Kunstledersessel im Zappeion halbwegs stabil. In dem klassizistischen Veranstaltungszentrum im Herzen Athens herrscht am Dienstagabend solcher Andrang, dass sich Kameramänner kurzerhand auf die Stühle stellen, um alles ins Bild zu bekommen. Einer platziert sich mitsamt Stativ sogar auf einem Tisch. Als ihm Kollegen trotzdem noch die Sicht versperren, schimpft er in wüstem Englisch los und ist kaum zu beruhigen. Und das alles wegen eines freundlichen jungen Mannes am anderen Ende des Saals. Alexis Tsipras sorgt mal wieder für Aufruhr.

Der 37-Jährige erregt die Gemüter wie kein anderer europäischer Politiker. Er führt das Linksbündnis Syriza an, ein Sieg bei der Parlamentswahl am Sonntag könnte zum Euro-Aus für Griechenland führen. Schließlich lehnt Syriza die Sparprogramme ab, denen sich Griechenland unterwerfen musste, um Finanzhilfen seiner Euro-Partner zu erhalten.

Diese Haltung reicht, um Tsipras für viele zur Persona non grata zu machen. Außer BundeskanzlerinAngela Merkel (CDU) verweigerte ihm auch Frankreichs neuer Präsident François Hollandebislang ein Treffen, obwohl er Tsipras' Kritik am harten Sparkurs eigentlich teilt. Die "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" bilanzierte, Tsipras' Äußerungen seien "eine einzige Abfolge von leerem Gerede, Gewaltverharmlosung und peudorevolutionärem Geschwätz". » | Aus Athen berichtet David Böcking | Mitarbeit: Lamprini Thoma | Mittwoch, 13. Juni 2012

Troubled Greece: Fears of 'First Domino' to Fall as Austerity Is Counted a Failure

THE GUARDIAN: Greek's leftist party Syriza says recovery depends on a renegotiated bail-out and access to European structural funds

The soup kitchen opens at noon but long before then the queues start to form in the hot Athens sun. A couple of streets away from where sardines, red mullet and squid are piled high in the fish market, those down on their luck line up. While elsewhere life goes on seemingly as normal, students, jobless people, single parents and pensioners swallow their pride and wait patiently. They get two meals a day, at midday and 5pm. This is what a depression looks like.

At first blush, Greece seems no different from any other developed country. People sit in the city centre cafes sipping their iced coffees; yellow taxis cruise the streets; the shops are open for business. But different it is, and it is not hard to spot the signs that this is an economy that has contracted by 20% since the downturn began three years ago and that it is still falling.

You don't need to know that spending in the shops is down by a sixth over the past year; it is obvious from the empty cabs and those shops open but with no customers. You don't need to know that the official unemployment rate is well above 20% and youth unemployment is nudging 50%: it's obvious from the young men idling on street corners and openly dealing drugs.

Greece is broke and close to being broken. It is a country where children are fainting in school because they are hungry, where 20,000 Athenians are scavenging through waste tips for food, and where the lifeblood of a modern economy – credit – is fast drying up.

It is a country where the fascists and the anarchists battle for control of the streets, where immigrants fear to go out at night and where a woman whispers "it's like the Weimar republic [sic]" as a motorcycle cavalcade from the Golden Dawn party, devotees of Adolf Hitler, cruises past the parliament building. Graffiti says: "Foreigners get out of Greece. Greece is for the Greeks. I will vote for Golden Dawn to remove the filth from the country." » | Larry Elliott, economics editor | Thursday, May 31, 2012

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