Greece Slams Bailout Delay, Says Its Sacrifices Superhuman

World | February 15, 2012, Wednesday // 09:29
Bulgaria: Greece Slams Bailout Delay, Says Its Sacrifices Superhuman Greece has been hit for months on end by waves of strikes in protest against tough government measures, including salary freezes and tax increases. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A Greek minister says "superhuman" efforts have been made to comply with austerity demands, condemning the eurozone decision to cancel a meeting on the latest bailout for his country.

"Greece has made all the efforts that it needed to do, and the people cannot take any more,'' Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis said after a Cabinet meeting, as cited by BBC.

"The government is making superhuman efforts and we have reached the limits of the social and economic system. From now on, Europe has to take the responsibility.''

The angry comments came after eurozone finance ministers have cancelled at the last moment a meeting on the new EUR 130 B bailout package for Greece, which was due to take place on Wednesday.

The talks would be replaced by a conference call, as technical work with Greece was still needed in a number of areas, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker announced as quoted by BBC.

Finance ministers had not received assurances from leaders of Greek political parties on a program of proposed cuts, Juncker said.

As well as 17 ministers from nations that use the euro, the president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, had also been due to attend the meeting.

The latest bailout was agreed in principle by EU leaders in October, conditional on Greece adopting further measures to cut its deficit and restructure its economy.

On Sunday, Greek MPs approved extra cutbacks, but parties had to expel more than 40 deputies for failing to back the bill.

Thousands protested in Athens, where there were widespread clashes and buildings were set on fire. Violent protests were reported in cities across the country.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

World » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: greece, Greek, Eurozone

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria