Photo Gallery Greece Slims Down
Thousands of protesters gathered outside of Greek parliament on Wednesday night as lawmakers passed yet more austerity measures. Elsewhere in the euro zone, though, there was relief. Thousands of public-sector workers are now to be laid off.
Michalis Tamilos is a parliamentarian with the conservative New Democracy party. Prior to Wednesday's vote, he said he was thinking about voting against the package of public sector layoffs. He is part of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' coalition government, which has but a razor-thin majority in parliament.
Konstantinos Doganis is a 78-year-old pensioner who is furious with the government's austerity course. He is also angry at the German government for promoting the cuts and for refusing to pay reparations to victims of World War II crimes. But, he says, he has nothing against the Germans, having lived in Germany for 17 years himself.
Thousands of people gathered on Wednesday evening in the square in front of parliament in the heart of Athens. The packages for the elimination of 15,000 public sector jobs by the end of 2014.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras (center) with Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras (left). Austerity measures brought down the government of his predecessor and has substantially weakened his own.
The cuts in Greece have been painful. It is still not clear which public sector workers will be eliminated under the package passed on Wednesday evening.
Greece has seen unemployment skyrocket in recent years and is now in its sixth year of recession. Some economic indicators have been improving, but the country has lagged behind on reforms.
Many of those that will be affected by the new cuts are teachers and police. Here, a municiple employee protests outside of Greek parliament on Wednesday night.
The reforms that have been pushed through in Greece have largely come at the behest of the country's international creditors.
Many in Greece are angry with Germany for being the leading voice in demanding that Athens and other highly indebted southern European capitals make deep spending cuts.
Parliament in Athens. The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has shown signs of instability in recent weeks.
