The Other McCain

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VIDEO: Violent Riots Break Out in Athens as Greek Parliament Faces Key Debt Vote

Posted on | June 28, 2011 | 6 Comments

Here is raw video of today’s riots in Athens:

Greece has no alternative to passing the austerity plan if it wishes to prevent default on its debt, Reuters reports:

Anti-austerity protests turned violent in Athens on Tuesday as the European Union warned Greek lawmakers the country faces immediate default unless they back an unpopular economic plan this week.
Hooded youths throwing stones and wielding sticks set fire to garbage bins and a telecoms truck outside parliament and riot police fired teargas to disperse them. Trade unions began a 48-hour strike against the EU/IMF-imposed measures. . . .
The EU’s top economic official, Olli Rehn, stressed that any further assistance for the debt-crippled nation hinged on parliament adopting a raft of spending cuts, tax rises and privatisations in crucial votes on Wednesday and Thursday.
“The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic programme … They must be approved if the next tranche of financial assistance is to be released,” he said in a statement.
“To those who speculate about other options, let me say this clearly: there is no Plan B to avoid default,” Rehn said, dismissing widespread reports that Brussels was working on a fallback plan to keep Greece afloat.

There is no evidence Americans are paying much attention to the critical situation in Greece, but — “unexpectedly”!  — U.S. consumer confidence has hit a seven-month low.

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Category: Economics, Europe, Greece

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