Greeks still fear bankruptcy despite bailout

ATHENS: The winter sun shining over this city did little to dispel the gloom among Greeks Tuesday as they greeted a bailout deal by warning it was still only a matter of time before the country goes bust.

"Instead of collapsing right away, it will happen a bit later and in any case, there is no future," said Dimitri, a civil servant, summing up a commonly held view among those gathered on the landmark Syntagma Square.

The 56-year-old's despondency is hardly surprising given the civil service will feel the brunt of the cuts demanded by Greece's EU partners in return for the cash needed to save it from bankruptcy and keep it within the euro.

Syntagma Square has become known as the front line in recent months of the battle over the austerity cuts which the government says it has no option but to accept in order to prevent the country from going bust.

Pitched battles in and around the square on February 12 saw dozens of buildings set ablaze in a graphic illustration of the sense of anger and despair felt in particular by the country's youth.

According to the most recent jobless figures, nearly half of all Greeks aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed.

Unemployment as a whole breached the one-million mark in November, or over 20 per cent of the workforce.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos greeted the 237 billion euro rescue deal struck in Brussels with delight in the early hours of Tuesday.

But back here, few of his compatriots could understand his enthusiasm.

"All this is just a political game, no one knows exactly what has happened. There is no one to tell us," said French language teacher Marina Voutsina, unemployed for several months.

"They say this is good. Are they sure? I believe that this is a game that will take us to bankruptcy," said Soula, a 48-year-old clerk, adding that she could not understand how Papademos could welcome the deal.

Under the terms of the bailout, Greece has to adopt even more austerity measures, agree to close EU-IMF oversight of its economic policy and change its constitution to ensure debt is repaid.

The tough conditions have led to charges that Greece is giving up sovereignty to Brussels, a highly sensitive issue made even more so ahead of elections expected in April.

All the time too, there is the slumping economy, which contracted 7.0 per cent in the last quarter of 2011 and has been mired in recession for five years.

Student Giorgos Pipikakis said the austerity cuts would only lessen Greece's prospects of coming out of recession.

"I believe the issue should have been approached differently... a bigger part of debt should have been written off," he said.

"They should have adopted measures to support growth, like in other countries, based on cutting of taxes."

Much of the anger in recent months has been directed towards Germany and its leader Angela Merkel whom many feel has bullied Greece into submission.

But for pensioner Aspotolos Maliakos, who returned to Greece after living for more than 40 years in Germany, that anger is misdirected and people should be looking closer to home when it comes to handing blame.

"Greeks do not know to work together and with others. They only know to live in chaos," said Maliakos.

Source: MOLE