Greek police have fired tear gas to disperse anarchists throwing petrol bombs near Athens’ parliament on a day-long strike against austerity measures.
Clashes erupted during the first trade union-led action since a conservative-led coalition came to power in June.
The protest is against planned spending cuts of 11.5bn euros ($15bn; £9bn).
The savings are a pre-condition to Greece receiving its next tranche of bailout funds, without which the country could face bankruptcy in weeks.
Greece needs the next 31bn-euro instalment of its international bailout, but with record unemployment and a third of Greeks pushed below the poverty line, there is strong resistance to further cuts.
The Greek protest follows a series of demonstrations in Spain and Portugal, which are also facing stringent austerity measures.
- On Tuesday, 38 people were arrested and 64 injured in demonstrations in the Spanish capital, Madrid, where police fired rubber bullets outside the parliament building – two days before the government is due to announce further austerity measures. The Bank of Spain says the country’s recession is deepening at a “significant pace”
- Portugal is holding an extraordinary cabinet meeting after big protests forced the government to withdraw a plan to raise employees’ tax rates
An estimated 50,000 people joined Wednesday’s protests, including doctors, teachers, tax workers, ferry operators and air traffic controllers.
BBC has the full article
