ARTHUR BEESLEY in Brussels and DAMIAN Mac CON ULADH in Athens
More violence is anticipated in Greece today as the country's parliament holds a crucial vote on whether to submit the country to unpopular austerity measures demanded as the price for funds to prevent the euro zone's first sovereign default.
Scores of hooded rioters showered police with stones and bottles yesterday as workers staged a 48-hour general strike in protest at looming cutbacks and tax increases.
With the first of two votes expected this afternoon, European Council president Herman van Rompuy said the coming hours would be decisive for the Greek people, the euro zone and the stability of the world economy.
"The more unanimity there is, the more unity there is, the better for the people of Greece and our future," Mr van Rompuy told the European Parliament in Brussels.
Clad in gas masks and helmets, the protesters burned rubbish bins, smashed the facade of a McDonald's restaurant and set fire to a mobile telecoms van. Police responded with tear gas and, in some cases, stones.
Amid running skirmishes in central Athens, a succession of senior Europeans issued dire warnings to Greece about the consequences of a vote against the five-year austerity and privatisation initiative.
Weeks of turmoil in Greece have roiled markets, fanning concern in Dublin that the Government's plan to return to private debt markets next year could be derailed.
"Everyone has to demonstrate because in Greece nobody has a future. I think revolution is the only solution, not just in Greece but in the EU," said Elena Priovolou (37), an unemployed film editor.
The protests were generally peaceful until mid-afternoon when masked rioters, some bearing sticks, hurled missiles at police in the central Syntagma Square, opposite parliament. They attacked peaceful protesters, urging them to leave, and confronted reporters, cameramen and photographers.
The Greek government, which expects to win today's vote and another one tomorrow, insisted last night it would not cave in to protests.
However, there is no little anxiety in European circles that the relentless pressure on prime minister George Papandreou could jeopardise his five-seat majority in the 150-seat parliament or threaten the execution of the measures themselves.
"So far, nothing has changed the vote vis-à-vis the outcome," said a senior Greek government source. "As we talk, we still expect between 153 and 155 votes for the plan."
Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund have blocked the release of a €12 billion bailout loan - crucial to avert a Greek default next month - until such time as MPs back the measures.
Parliament's endorsement of the plan is also a key condition for a second EU-IMF bailout, which Greece needs because it has no prospect of regaining investor confidence. European officials privately acknowledge steps have been taken to develop contingency measures in the event MPs reject the programme.
They warn a rejection would trigger a backlash from Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. The second rescue pact would not proceed."The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic programme," said EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn. "To those who speculate about other options, let me say this clearly: there is no plan B."
The events came as French finance minister Christine Lagarde was named chief of the IMF. Euro zone officials are pressing German and non-euro zone banks to back a plan to extend the maturity on some of Greece's debt by up to 30 years.
Irishtimes
