Greek parliament passes austerity measures, waits for response from Europe

Austin Baragary
2/17/12

For nearly two years, Greece has been struggling to get a stable financial footing. In the process, they have elected a new prime minister and seen hundreds of thousands of protesters take to the streets. On Monday, however, amid rioting and protesting, the Greek parliament passed a plan which, if all goes according to plan, should serve to guarantee a financial lifeline from the rest of Europe.
According to the New York Times, on Monday the Greek Parliament passed a set of austerity measures as dictated by European officials in order to receive bailout money. The Times  said that the measures included a cut in minimum wage as well as a plan to downsize the government workforce by 150,000 by 2015. While some are concerned that what the Greek government is doing is not enough to prevent an economic meltdown, most Greeks believe that the government is going too far in its efforts. The Times reported that, following the passage of the austerity measures, protesters took to the streets, inflicting the most damage the city of Athens had seen since May of 2010.
Greece has now entered a waiting game. Having approved the conditions as set forth by Europe, Greek lawmakers must now wait for Europe to lend them the money, which, according to Jean-Paul Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg and chief of a consortium of European finance ministers, should happen Monday.
Before Greece can access the funds, however, Juncker indicated that he would like to see tighter monitoring of the way in which Greece implements its austerity measures. This is frustrating for some Greek leaders, who have resigned in protest of the way in which Europe is treating the nation.
Others, though, have put in writing their commitment to the measures. On Wednesday, former prime minister George Papandreou sent a letter to European officials confirming his commitment to the cuts that were made.
All of this waiting as well as the seemingly constant revision of the conditions of the bailout have worn on the Greek populace. According to both NPR and the New York Times, Greeks are very frustrated with their government and the way the bailout is being handled. Some older Greeks are even making comparisons to the Nazi occupation of Greece during World War II.
European leaders, though, are no longer united in the idea that they must save Greece in order to save the euro. Some have begun calling for allowing Greece to default on its debts so that leaders can move on to nations which are more likely to pull through this recession, like Ireland and Portugal.