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| Greeks Go On Strike Over New Austerity Measures | Greeks Go On Strike Over New Austerity Measures |
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| ATHENS — Thousands of Greeks walked off the job on Thursday in a general strike to protest further austerity measures, while government officials wrangled with the country’s international creditors over economic policy and whether to extend Greece’s financial bailout. | ATHENS — Thousands of Greeks walked off the job on Thursday in a general strike to protest further austerity measures, while government officials wrangled with the country’s international creditors over economic policy and whether to extend Greece’s financial bailout. |
| The 24-hour walkout, the first general strike since April, shut down public services, forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted public transportation across the country. | The 24-hour walkout, the first general strike since April, shut down public services, forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted public transportation across the country. |
| At issue are proposed civil service layoffs and pension-system changes that the international creditors, known as the troika, have demanded. The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have bailed Greece out financially twice since 2010, providing a total of 240 billion euros ($300 billion) in loans to help the country cope with its immense debts. In return, they have insisted that Greece impose strict fiscal discipline, including deep spending cuts and tax increases. | At issue are proposed civil service layoffs and pension-system changes that the international creditors, known as the troika, have demanded. The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have bailed Greece out financially twice since 2010, providing a total of 240 billion euros ($300 billion) in loans to help the country cope with its immense debts. In return, they have insisted that Greece impose strict fiscal discipline, including deep spending cuts and tax increases. |
| Household incomes have since fallen by one-third and unemployment is running at 26 percent, while the country’s debt burden remains proportionally the highest of any country using the euro currency. | Household incomes have since fallen by one-third and unemployment is running at 26 percent, while the country’s debt burden remains proportionally the highest of any country using the euro currency. |
| When Greece unveiled a draft 2015 budget last month that included proposals to ease the economic pain and stimulate the economy with a range of tax cuts, the government appeared to be riding a wave of popular opposition to austerity, which Germany has championed for all of Europe’s struggling economies. Popular protests against austerity policies have been seen in France, Italy, Spain and other countries, and government leaders have begun to push back against the European Union’s fiscal rules. | When Greece unveiled a draft 2015 budget last month that included proposals to ease the economic pain and stimulate the economy with a range of tax cuts, the government appeared to be riding a wave of popular opposition to austerity, which Germany has championed for all of Europe’s struggling economies. Popular protests against austerity policies have been seen in France, Italy, Spain and other countries, and government leaders have begun to push back against the European Union’s fiscal rules. |
| But as the international lenders took a hard line in recent talks with Athens, a sense has grown among Greeks that their country is being punished, and that Greece is being held to tight restrictions while countries like France and Italy were allowed to adopt 2015 budgets that bend or break the rules. | But as the international lenders took a hard line in recent talks with Athens, a sense has grown among Greeks that their country is being punished, and that Greece is being held to tight restrictions while countries like France and Italy were allowed to adopt 2015 budgets that bend or break the rules. |
| The European part of Greece’s bailout program is currently set to expire Dec. 31, and the monetary fund’s part in March 2016. At the Greek government’s request, face-to-face negotiations between Greek officials and the creditors over economic policy and a possible extension to the program resumed in Paris on Tuesday after a six-week hiatus. But the talks ended on Wednesday without an agreement. | The European part of Greece’s bailout program is currently set to expire Dec. 31, and the monetary fund’s part in March 2016. At the Greek government’s request, face-to-face negotiations between Greek officials and the creditors over economic policy and a possible extension to the program resumed in Paris on Tuesday after a six-week hiatus. But the talks ended on Wednesday without an agreement. |
| To meet the creditors’ demands, Athens would have to modify some legal protections for workers and overhaul pensions as well as raising more tax revenue and suspending a program that helps financially struggling Greeks with their tax debts. | |
| For its part, the Greek government maintains that the 2015 budget it has presented is already nearly balanced, for the first time in decades, and that further cuts are unnecessary. It bases its view in part on a forecast that the economy will grow by a solid 2.9 percent next year. A parliamentary vote on the budget is scheduled for Dec. 7. | For its part, the Greek government maintains that the 2015 budget it has presented is already nearly balanced, for the first time in decades, and that further cuts are unnecessary. It bases its view in part on a forecast that the economy will grow by a solid 2.9 percent next year. A parliamentary vote on the budget is scheduled for Dec. 7. |
| Tensions between Greece and its creditors appeared to peak on Thursday. The country’s finance minister, Gikas Hardouvelis, told members of Parliament that the International Monetary Fund “appears indifferent to the political climate in Greece.” | Tensions between Greece and its creditors appeared to peak on Thursday. The country’s finance minister, Gikas Hardouvelis, told members of Parliament that the International Monetary Fund “appears indifferent to the political climate in Greece.” |
| He was apparently referring to growing antagonism between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s coalition government and the leftist Syriza party. Syriza opposes any more austerity, and said it would block a scheduled presidential election in February, a move that would almost certainly lead to an early general election that recent polls indicate the leftists would win. | He was apparently referring to growing antagonism between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s coalition government and the leftist Syriza party. Syriza opposes any more austerity, and said it would block a scheduled presidential election in February, a move that would almost certainly lead to an early general election that recent polls indicate the leftists would win. |
| The leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, speaking at a protest rally in Athens on Thursday, said the crisis with the creditors “confirms in the most dramatic way that the strategy of submission and servitude to the irrational demands and desires of the troika is a dead end.” | The leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, speaking at a protest rally in Athens on Thursday, said the crisis with the creditors “confirms in the most dramatic way that the strategy of submission and servitude to the irrational demands and desires of the troika is a dead end.” |
| Evangelos Venizelos, the deputy prime minister, said on Thursday that Greece’s exit from the European part of the bailout program might be delayed by “a few days or weeks” due to “technical reasons.” But he insisted that there would be “no new European program,” and that if necessary Greece could continue to draw on the monetary fund’s assistance. | Evangelos Venizelos, the deputy prime minister, said on Thursday that Greece’s exit from the European part of the bailout program might be delayed by “a few days or weeks” due to “technical reasons.” But he insisted that there would be “no new European program,” and that if necessary Greece could continue to draw on the monetary fund’s assistance. |