http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/16/greek-protests-menacing-new-phase
Greek protests enter menacing phase
As Greece's government wrestles with the prospect of more austerity, anger and fear are darkening the streets
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Military officers protest outside the finance mininstry in Athens on 12 September. Photograph: Aristidis Vafeiadakis/ Corbis
The banner said it all: "Imagine: disabled and poor." The sight of wheelchair-bound protesters demonstrating outside the Greek parliament against the latest round of cuts that Athens must enact in return for rescue loans reinforced the uncomfortable truth that, in the country whereEurope's debt drama first began, the crisis is far from over.
While politicians were fixated on Germany's constitutional court ratifying the eurozone bailout mechanism and the general elections in Holland last week, Greece's three-party coalition was locked in fraught negotiations over a new €12.5bn (£10bn) austerity package. The cuts in disability benefits, ordered by debt inspectors from the "troika" of lenders at the EU, ECB and IMF, threw into sharp relief the tough process that the weakest member of the eurozone is being forced to suffer.
For the first time in living memory, military personnel took to the streets alongside police officers, fire brigade officials, teachers and doctors as Greeks vowed to resist further pay and pension cuts that have already led to plummeting living standards.
This week, before a general strike scheduled for 26 September – the 17th this year – judges will walk off the job, shaking one of the central pillars of Greek society.
Nearly three years into the debt crisis, the mood among Greeks has shifted from one of bewilderment and shock, borne of seeing their seemingly robust economy collapse almost overnight, to fury and fear as poverty and panic spread.
Increasingly, ordinary people are speaking of "blood being spilled" and even "civil war". After the hiatus of a long summer, there are few who doubt that Greece is about to enter an autumn of mass discontent as the endless efforts to keep bankruptcy at bay move into a menacing new phase.
"The situation is terrible," says Vassilis Grillas, a cab driver. "Every day, I see people who are in an awful state, who can't pay their bills – who, like me, are afraid that their homes will be confiscated because we all owe so much more than we have. If they keep on pushing us like this, blood will be spilled. Everyone will revolt. There will be a mass uprising for sure."
With about 1,000 jobs reportedly being axed every day, the statistics agency Elstat announced last week that unemployment had reached an unprecedented 23.6% – compared with 16.3% a year ago. The surge mirrors the dramatic decline in GDP in a country that has been plagued by recession for the past five years.
On Friday, as eurozone finance ministers met in Cyprus, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, it became clear that Greece will have to wait at least six weeks before lenders decide whether it deserves the next €31.5bn instalment of aid, which is crucial to recapitalising Greek banks and the cash-starved economy. Deliberations over the loan, which was initially due in July, have put Athens's fragile coalition on tenterhooks.
Despite the IMF and EU both signalling that Greece will be granted the two-year extension it has called for to implement unpopular fiscal adjustment policies, the parties supporting the three-month-old government still find themselves in a difficult position: all three campaigned on refusing to endorse austerity measures that hit the most vulnerable members of society hardest.
As creditors continue to insist that painful cuts are the price of further aid, politicians from the Greek president downwards have voiced fears that Athens is being pushed too far.
Last week, President Carolos Papoulias decried the policies, telling visiting Canadian officials: "We've been given a merciless lashing. I think we have paid enough for our mistakes, and Europe must realise that it needs to help Greece."
The normally mild-mannered octogenarian expressed concern that the foundations of Greek democracy were being imperilled. The sight of police and senior naval and army officers taking to the streets last week prompted government officials to voice similar fears. Some spoke privately of "the quiet before the storm" amid anxiety that the prevailing uncertainty has prompted a rise in extremism. The far-right Golden Dawnparty is not only gaining in popularity but increasingly taking law and order into its own hands, with attacks on immigrants nationwide.
Although there has been a discernible change in attitude towards Greece among fiscal hardliners in the EU led by Germany, the death spiral in which the economy finds itself – Greek debt still accounts for 166% of GDP – shows little sign of reversing. That has added to the mood of fury and fear, provoking criticism even among reform-minded Greeks of the troika and its policies.
"They don't seem to care about the country, all they seem to care about is balancing the current account and budget, re-financing debt that is non-sustainable," says Theodore Pelagidis, professor of economic analysis at Piraeus University. "No attention is given to improving competitiveness or the production markets. These are home economics, not the economics that should be applied to a country."
and Spain and Portugal march against austerity......
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/09/2012915122531724847.html
| Spain and Portugal march against austerity | ||
Protesters descend on Madrid and Lisbon as governments introduce tough new measures to avoid financial bailouts.
Last Modified: 16 Sep 2012 07:08
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Demonstrators gathered in groups along the streets of central Madrid on Saturday [AFP]
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Thousands of Spanish and Portuguese protesters have taken to the streets of Madrid and Lisbon to rally against new anti-austerity measures aimed at avoiding international bailouts.
Organisers estimated that 50,000 people turned out in Lisbon on Saturday, where demonstrators threw tomatoes and fireworks at the local headquarters of the International Monetary Fund as anti-riot police stood guard.
In Madrid, the demonstrators assembled in groups at noon along the central streets of the capital city in a rally against spending decreases and tax increases - designed to avoid a financial bailout.
"We want to say loud and clear to the government that we do not agree, that its policies cause too much damage, that we will not resign ourselves because there are alternatives," CCOO trade union head Ignacio Toxo told the rally.
The march came as Luis de Guindos, economy minister, said that Spain's borrowing costs still do not reflect the country's economic and fiscal adjustment, despite their recent easing.
Adequate interest rate level
Following an informal meeting of European Union finance ministers in Nicosia, Cyprus, De Guindos asked what would be an adequate interest rate level.
He said: "We believe that with the effort that Spain is making in terms of the commitment to fiscal adjustment and the commitment to economic reforms, the risk premium should be below [current levels]."
In July of this year, Mariano Rajoy's conservative government eliminated annual Christmas bonus for public workers, which amounted to a seven per cent reduction in annual pay.
These measures were part of austerity measures worth 102bn euros ($126.5bn) to be implemented by 2014 to reduce Spain's public deficit.
Demonstration organisers have argued that the government's austerity measures are hitting mainly the middle and lower classes and spare the wealthy, as well as large companies.
They want the austerity measures to be put to a referendum.
Over 1,000 buses ferried people to Madrid for the protest, which was co-ordinated by two of Spain's leading trade unions, CCOO and UGT, along with roughly 150 smaller organisations.
The head of the UGT, Candido Mendez, said Spanish people should be given the chance "to clearly say whether they are in agreement or not" with the spending cuts.
"It is not inevitable that that the markets govern us, that Spain gets a bailout for its economy," he said.
'We want our life back'
and ....
http://news.sky.com/story/985696/spain-and-portugal-hit-by-austerity-protests
Spain And Portugal Hit By Austerity ProtestsTens of thousands of people have staged rallies against punishing austerity measures brought in to stave off financial collapse.
Video: Anger At European Austerity Measures
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Gallery: Cuts Protests In Madrid And Lisbon
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Tens of thousands of people have staged rallies in Spain and Portugal to protest against punishing austerity measures.
Demonstrators threw tomatoes and fireworks at the Portuguese headquarters of the International Monetary Fund in Lisbon and two people were arrested.
In Madrid, buses transporting protesters blocked several major roads on Saturday before a march began in the Spanish capital.
The Spanish and Portuguese governments have both implemented austerity measures to prevent their countries from financial collapse.
Spain is stuck in a double-dip recession with unemployment close to 25%.
The conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has introduced stinging cuts and raised taxes to reduce the deficit and reassure investors.
That situation could get worse in coming weeks.
At a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Cyprus on Friday, Spain revealed it will present a new set of economic reforms by the end of September - raising concerns it might ask for financial help from the ECB.
In Portugal, another package of recently announced government austerity measures could spark further angry protests.
One man was taken to hospital with burns after reportedly attempting to set himself on fire in the northern town of Aveiro.
Last week, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho announced an increase in workers' social security contributions from 11% to 18% of their monthly salary - equivalent to a month's wages.
Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said income taxes will go up next year and public employees will lose either their Christmas or holiday bonus.
Tax hikes and spending cuts imposed since last year's bailout have contributed to record unemployment in Portugal above 15% and pushed the economy into its worst recession since the 1970s.
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