Financiële markten vrezen sociale onrust Griekenland (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Three people died in a fire-bomb attack on a bank in Athens on Wednesday (5 April). Protesters against an EU-IMF i loan package also attempted to storm parliament, with one analyst saying the developments are "very bad news" for market confidence.
The three employees of the Marfin Popular Bank suffocated at its building in Stadiou Street in the Greek capital, according to a statement issued by the city's fire brigade and comments from police. The ambulance service has yet to confirm the deaths.
The incident occurred as youths hurled molotov cocktails at shops and other businesses in the city centre. Even as the protesters battled police, marchers tried to storm the parliament where MPs are due to hold an emergency debate on the EU-IMF package. Riot police fired teargas and stun grenades at demonstrators.
Between eight and nine protestors were beaten by police near the parliament and taken to hospital, according to the Athens municipal workers' union. Two are reportedly in serious condition.
The unrest is part of a 48-hour general strike mounted to try and stop an EU and IMF-drafted packet of financial austerity measures designed to make Greece solvent over the next three years. According to organisers, some 350,000 people took to the streets across the country. Police put the figure at 100,000.
Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, expressed sympathy for the three casualties. "When it comes to Greece our first thoughts today are with the human victims in Athens," he told reporters after an EU-Canada summit in Brussels. He also indicated the austerity package should go ahead. "This effort is considerable, but it it is not without precedent and will restore competitivity and growth," the EU leader said.
Costas Isychos, the vice-president of the Athens municipal workers' union, blamed the bank deaths on "anarchists."
"These protesters were very angry. It was very stormy, but these were pensioners, women, young people," he told EUobserver. "But today's demonstration was actually mostly peaceful, and possibly the biggest in the history of modern Greece. We thoroughly condemn whoever was responsible for the firebomb attack."
"Everyone nearby was completely shocked by the violence. There are anarchist groups who adopt violence as the only means to protest, but there are provocations between the police and these groups," he added.
The country has screeched to a halt over the past 24 hours, with flights grounded, ferries blocked and public transport at a standstill.
On Tuesday night, municipal employee unions also occupied the town halls of Agios Dimitrios and Vyrona, two of the capital's suburbs. The night before, teachers crashed the ERT public television midway through a live broadcast of the evening news and forced the station to broadcast their demands. Some 50 teachers fought with the police before leaving.
The work stoppage ends at midnight on Wednesday, but further trade union marches are planned for Thursday and another 48-hour strike is likely next week. Some trade union confederations, particularly in the public sector, are contemplating an indefinite general strike, while pensioners are considering daily street demonstrations.
"The EU and IMF are turning the clock back a century in terms of the social conquests we have won," said Mr Isychos. "Greece is a neo-liberal experiment. It must stop in Greece. If it does not, it will roll across all of Europe as the people pay for the profits of the banks and big business."
Market worries
Carsten Brzenski, a senior economist with ING bank in Brussels, said that the social explosion is the very reaction to the EU-IMF deal that markets fear the most.
"This is definitely not a show of support for the government," he told this website. "The markets will view this as a sign that the government will not be able to push through its programme."
"It only contributes to worries that have been there since Sunday. The programme is very ambitions but it absolutely depends on whether the Greek people will accept it," he continued.
"If the situation continues as it has done in the last few days, markets will certainly begin to have doubts. This is not a good scenario for Greece at all. The plan stands or falls on two things: government stamina and public support. This is very, very bad news."