Greek clashes amid general strike

19 October 2011 Last updated at 10:15 ET

Greek riot police have fired tear gas and fought running battles with protesters, amid a 48-hour general strike that has paralysed the country.

Some protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at the police, as a march by tens of thousands of people in central Athens turned violent.

Many Greeks are furious at plans being discussed in parliament to cut thousands of jobs and raise taxes.

The government says the measures are needed to keep the economy afloat.

Greece is struggling to reduce a huge government deficit amid fears it may default and set off a eurozone crisis.

Gas masks

The EU and IMF have demanded tough cuts in return for two bailouts.

The government has so far introduced one round of austerity measures.

Parliament will vote on Wednesday and Thursday on a further round, including plans for temporary lay-offs of thousands of public sector workers.

The pace of protests in Greece has been increasing for several weeks, with lightning strikes across virtually every sector of the economy.

The latest strike was accompanied by huge rallies across the country organised by trade unions, who say the demonstrations are the largest this year.

More than 70,000 people gathered in Syntagma Square in central Athens, and thousands more in cities across the country.

But outside parliament in Athens, hundreds of riot police faced off against large groups of ths, and angry clashes followed.

Protesters threw smoke grenades, petrol bombs, bricks and stones at police, and fought scuffles and running battles with officers.

Some of the ths were wearing gas masks, others had scarves wrapped around their faces.

The police responded by firing stun grenades and tear gas as they formed a defensive ring around the parliament building.

‘Taxation Armageddon’

The strike for Wednesday and Thursday was called by the two big unions that cover public and private sector workers.

Government departments, businesses, offices and shops have all shut, with small business owners and shopkeepers taking part in strike action for the first time.

Air traffic controllers are staging a 12-hour walkout, with some 150 domestic and international flights cancelled. Trains, buses, taxis and lorries are not operating.

One striker, university lecturer Yannis Zabetakis, told the BBC: “We are now living in a taxation Armageddon and the economy is dying. Along with the economy, we are dying. The austerity measures are not working and our best people are being forced to go abroad.”

The BBC’s Chris Morris in Athens says the mood across the country is generally one of defiance rather than violence.

Legislators are voting on two bills on Wednesday and Thursday.

They include measures for higher taxes, further cuts to pensions and salaries and the suspension of collective labour agreements.

They will also suspend 30,000 public servants on reduced pay and introduce a new civil service salary system.

‘Agonising struggle’

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Pasok party has a four-seat majority but some of his backbenchers have threatened to vote against the measures.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who has this month been locked out of his office by protesting civil servants for several days, appealed for support, saying: “We are in an agonising but necessary struggle to avoid the final and harshest point of the crisis.”

Greece finds itself with rising unemployment and a stalled economy, with a government debt that is 162% of its gross domestic product.

The long-term bond markets have shut Greece out over fears that it can no longer meet its debt obligations.

The EU and the IMF have stepped in with two rescue packages but the second has not been finalised.

Meanwhile, Greece says it needs the next $11bn (£7bn; 8bn euros) instalment from the first package of bailout loans agreed last year or it will run out of money to pay its bills in November.

As part of the second bailout agreed to in July, Greece’s creditors agreed to a 21% loss – or “haircut” – on their loans to Athens, but there are suggestions this may not be enough.

With fears the problems besetting Athens might spread to other highly indebted eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy, EU leaders meeting this weekend are scrambling to forge a plan that will protect the region from a Greek default.

Measures could include propping up banks exposed to Greek debt and enlarging the eurozone’s rescue fund.

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