Melissa Davies
Greeks have reacted angrily to their politicians passing an austerity package to help save their country from bankruptcy.
They took to the streets long before their leaders put pen to paper.
Clouds of choking tear gas in the square outside the Greek parliament was not enough to deter protestors.
They are already feeling choked by the new raft of austerity cuts their government has agreed to; a government that feels the same way they do but sees no alternative.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos says the country must follow a “suffocating timetable” in order to solve the issue of funding and the bond swap before the public fund goes into the red.
Crucial austerity bill approved in Greece
He says without great sacrifices, Greece marches towards catastrophe.
A crowd of 30,000 Greeks announced they protest peacefully but it quickly turned violent.
This is a country which is already in deep recession and has endured two years of harsh spending cuts.
Some people feel democracy has been suspended.
Politician Kyriakos Mitsotakis says the latest tactic is a deal is of “specific logic” of German origin it is to an extent “punitive in nature”.
This rally is the largest and by all accounts the most violent in Athens to date. There was looting reported right across the city centre. But it makes no difference.
Greece has just over a month to pay a $23 billion loan.
Only the eurozone can help it come up with that kind of money and it is European leaders the Greek parliament has had to please, not the desperate people outside.
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