Greece has been in economic turmoil for almost a decade.
After the global economic crisis in 2008–2009, Greece was forced to seek bailout money or go bankrupt.
The EU and International Monetary Fund demanded tax hikes and service cuts in return for financing Greece’s bailout.
The Greek government passed the unpopular measures … and was voted out.
The new government promised to end austerity—but financial reality can’t be ignored.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wants to please eurozone finance ministers, who meet in Brussels on May 22, and could release a sizeable chunk of money. He also seeks further support from the IMF.
Tsipras claims that this will be “the final step.”
“Nobody is denying, nobody doubts, that this agreement has difficulties; however, it does open a path in front of us,” Tsipras said. “We finally have a comprehensive solution (to look forward to). And of course, with this agreement, we enter into a phase of stability and high recovery that the Greek economy has not seen in recent years.”
Angry protesters have swarmed the capital for the past few days, calling for Tsipras to resign.
“There is no other solution but revolution,” said one protester Antonis Stamatopoulos, who lives on a shrinking pension. “They have taken everything from us, and these pseudo-leftists are finishing us off. The only thing we can do is resist and revolt.”
Another protester, Mary Athanasiou, said, “The government must resign immediately, the people demand their resignation.”