EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING Greeks fear the worst after PM's defiant speech

Record ID: 151672

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/MORNING Greeks fear the worst after PM's defiant speech
  • Date: 17th June 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JUNE 17, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING ALONG SQUARE, VIEW OF PARLIAMENT IN BACKGROUND GREEK PARLIAMENT BUILDING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN SQUARE FOUNTAIN IN FRONT OF THE PARLIAMENT GREEK FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) 40-YEAR-OLD SCHOOL TEACHER, LYDIA PAPADIMITRIOU, SAYING: "I think there is a lot of anxiety going around. Nobody knows what is going to happen.
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2LOXM9JKZQ1WWV2EVRY3D9UZ8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Greeks on Wednesday (June 17) were anxiously mulling over the consequences of a defiant address by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday (June 15) in which he accused creditors of trying to "humiliate" Greeks with more cuts.
    Greece and Brussels have been locked in an increasingly bitter war of words as the clock ticks toward the end of June, when the current bailout accord runs out, exposing Greece to potential default that could usher it out of the currency bloc known as 'Grexit'.
    In Monday's address Tsipras was defying the growing drumbeat of warnings that Europe was preparing for the Greek exit from the eurozone.
    The unrepentant address to lawmakers after the collapse of talks with European and IMF lenders at the weekend was the clearest sign yet that the leftist leader has no intention of making a last-minute U-turn and accepting austerity cuts needed to unlock frozen aid and avoid a debt default within two weeks.
    The White House warned that agreement was needed to avoid shaking financial markets further and Tsipras assured U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that Athens aimed to bridge the differences with creditors.
    But with senior German lawmakers now openly discussing the once-taboo prospect of a "Grexit" from the single currency area, Tsipras' fiery words suggested confrontation rather than reconciliation.
    On the streets of Athens on Wednesday, a day before a crucial Eurogroup meeting, Greeks were anxious about the prospects for a deal.
    "I think there is a lot of anxiety going around. Nobody knows what is going to happen. The situation is incredibly unstable. It's a gamble. I don't know what to say but of course I am very worried. As to what I want? I don't want to leave the euro," said 40-year old school teacher, Lydia Papadimitriou.
    Asked what she thinks will happen, Eleni, a 22-year-old student, expressed similar concern.
    "Grexit and the result of that will be really bad. I don't know what to say. We'll see," she said.
    "Undoubtedly it is very worrying. The situation needs to change immediately because the economy has dried up and I believe that next week we will have very critical developments that will be very bad for the country so it (the deal) needs to be sealed immediately," said Giorgios Parperis, a 38-year old bank employee.
    "I don't know what the future holds. What are we going to do? You can't plan for a job or for anything. They keep cutting and cutting and cutting and the result is zero. I don't know what we will do," said Panagiotis Passios, a 62-year old pensioner.
    Newspaper headlines spoke of the increasing threat of 'Grexit'.
    "Flirting dangerously with bankruptcy" read the Kathimerini daily. "New dramatic development with threat of 'Grexit' and capital controls: government creditors on the brink " was the headline in Ethnos. "Clash address with backdrop of drachma," read the Eleftheros, referring to Greece's currency before the euro.
    Elsewhere in Athens, municipality workers held a small solidarity protest near the prime minister's office.
    They symbolically occupied a European Union representation office for a few hours.
    They were protesting against stringent austerity measures attached to the bailout.
    "First we need to ensure the dignity of Greeks and the dignity of this country. For them (creditors) to look at us as equal partners. And not for them to think they can turn us into a colony," said Vassilis Gitako, the Vice President of the municipal workers union, the POE-OTA.
    Tsipras was due to hold talks with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann later on Wednesday morning in a bid to end the standoff.
    Faymann, a Social Democrat who has taken a relatively lenient line with Greece, told the Greek president ahead of the meeting that Europe must show solidarity towards any members that need it.
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