Germany piles pressure on Greece ahead of key vote

Feb 12, 2012, 15:43 GMT

Athens - Greek politicians were set to hold a key vote on a new round of austerity measures Sunday as Germany piled the pressure on the country to deliver and angry protesters clashed with the police outside parliament.

Lawmakers are widely expected to approve the measures - along with a bond-swap deal with private creditors allowing Greece to shave off at least 100 billion euros (131 billion dollars) of its 360-billion euro debt - in a vote scheduled for 2200 GMT.

Ahead of the vote, thousands of demonstrators from both public and private sector unions gathered outside parliament.

Greeks, young and old, could be seen carrying national blue and white flags and anti-austerity banners and posters as the made their way towards Athen's Syntagma Square.

Authorities deployed more than 6,000 policemen in the city centre, buy failed to prevent clashes. Youngsters hurled petrol bombs at the police, who responded by firing tear gas.

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Greeks should be aware of the fact that there was a need for dramatic change.

'That's why now promises are not enough anymore,' Schaeuble said in remarks carried by the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

Greece will default on its debt on March 20 if it fails to secure the 130-billion-euro bailout from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary fund.

The austerity measures include a 22-per-cent cut in the minimum wage, public sector layoffs and pension cuts.

The two biggest parties in the coalition government, the Socialist PASOK and the New Democracy party, have 236 deputies in the 300-member parliament. Some 13 conservatives and seven Socialist lawmakers have declared they will vote against the legislation.