Greek vote fails to convince Europe
Reuters
2012-02-13
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Greek residents venture back onto the streets after a night of riots in Athens.
Protesters clashed with police over a controversial but crucial bailout agreement.
(SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ARCHITECT, NIKOS MARKOU, SAYING:
"It's really sad to see what happened here. This is not the fault of the people. This is the fault of those people in there."
(SOUNDBITE) (Greek) EX-NAVAL OFFICER, PETROS DOGAS, SAYING:
"It wasn't enough what they did. There should have been one million Greeks out here. All the idiots like me who were not there, we should have left nothing standing. Not a stone, not the parliament, because they are traitors."
150 shops were looted - 48 set ablaze and 130 people arrested as Greece's parliament met to pass strict new austerity measures.
But Greece is still 325 million short of its 3.3 billion target.
EU finance ministers want to know where that's coming from and they want written assurances Greece will stick to the terms of the deal, even after an election.
EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, warned of "devastating consequences" if they don't.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS, OLLI REHN, SAYING:
"A disorderly default would be a much worse outcome with devastating effect on Greek society. It will also have very negative effect on to the whole economy."
As long as Greece finds the extra savings finance ministers should agree to a 130 billion euro bailout on Wednesday.
That will save the country from bankruptcy and keep it in the euro - for now.
But even some economists say Greece can't take much more.
Christian Schulz is from German bank Berenberg.
SOUNDBITE: Christian Schulz, saying (English):
"In the vote we've seen many members of the two ruling parties defect and they didn't vote for the austerity measures so it looks as though it's going to be more and more difficult for the Greek Parliament and the Greek government to get majorities in parliament going forward if there are more austerity packages they need to pass."
Even with a second bailout there are no guarantees.
After almost five years of recession in Greece it's also feared the extra austerity could condemn the economy to an ever-deepening downward spiral
Hayley Platt, Reuters.
Protesters clashed with police over a controversial but crucial bailout agreement.
(SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ARCHITECT, NIKOS MARKOU, SAYING:
"It's really sad to see what happened here. This is not the fault of the people. This is the fault of those people in there."
(SOUNDBITE) (Greek) EX-NAVAL OFFICER, PETROS DOGAS, SAYING:
"It wasn't enough what they did. There should have been one million Greeks out here. All the idiots like me who were not there, we should have left nothing standing. Not a stone, not the parliament, because they are traitors."
150 shops were looted - 48 set ablaze and 130 people arrested as Greece's parliament met to pass strict new austerity measures.
But Greece is still 325 million short of its 3.3 billion target.
EU finance ministers want to know where that's coming from and they want written assurances Greece will stick to the terms of the deal, even after an election.
EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, warned of "devastating consequences" if they don't.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) EU COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AND MONETARY AFFAIRS, OLLI REHN, SAYING:
"A disorderly default would be a much worse outcome with devastating effect on Greek society. It will also have very negative effect on to the whole economy."
As long as Greece finds the extra savings finance ministers should agree to a 130 billion euro bailout on Wednesday.
That will save the country from bankruptcy and keep it in the euro - for now.
But even some economists say Greece can't take much more.
Christian Schulz is from German bank Berenberg.
SOUNDBITE: Christian Schulz, saying (English):
"In the vote we've seen many members of the two ruling parties defect and they didn't vote for the austerity measures so it looks as though it's going to be more and more difficult for the Greek Parliament and the Greek government to get majorities in parliament going forward if there are more austerity packages they need to pass."
Even with a second bailout there are no guarantees.
After almost five years of recession in Greece it's also feared the extra austerity could condemn the economy to an ever-deepening downward spiral
Hayley Platt, Reuters.
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