With the Greek election results heralding a massive rejection of the current EU/ECB/IMF austerity plans for that country, and of the two parties that have run Greece for the last two decades, I figured I’d post some photos of the clashes that contributed to this result.
The downside of the election results is a massive surge in popularity for the far-right, anti-immigrant, neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. The upside is that the dominant parties to emerge from the election are all progressive and leftist.
Back in February, Greeks battled police in central Athens to protest harsh austerity measures. Parliament members had approved an austerity plan in an effort to get $170 billion in bailout money from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund as part of a deal in which private creditors will take loses of up to 70 percent on the debt they hold.
For info and background…
- Greece | World news | The Guardian.
- Greece, in Chaos, Faces Possible New Elections – NYTimes.com.
- Those Revolting Europeans – Paul Krugman – NYTimes.com.
- 2010–2012 Greek protests – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- Greek protesters fight with police as parliament agrees cuts deal | World news | The Guardian.
