Greece calls snap elections for April

Greece will hold general elections in April, the government said on Monday, hours after parliament voted through tough new austerity measures aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. "This government has one to one-and-a-half months left," spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told journalists. "We will finish up in March and elections will be held in April." Greece took a big step towards a second bailout to avert bankruptcy on Monday after lawmakers approved radical budget cuts despite street battles, with the EU and Germany praising the vote. "Yesterday's vote in the Greek parliament is a crucial step forward towards the adoption of the second programme," Olli Rehn, the European Union economic affairs commissioner, told a news conference. He said he expected eurozone finance ministers to give their green light at talks in Brussels on Wednesday night, Greece having signalled its "determination" to end a "spiral of unsustainable public finances." "This programme will be supported by unparalleled financial assistance from Greece's partners," he said, "a concrete expression of their continued solidarity and genuine concern" despite "unacceptable" violence that left dozens injured and buildings ablaze. But German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler warned against euphoria, telling ARD public television: "It is good that the laws were passed and with a large majority but what counts now is the implementation of structural reforms." Markets in Asia and in Europe rose after deputies defied 100,000 demonstrators in its biggest cities to pass another round of stringent budget measures sought by Greece's international creditors in return for a 130-billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout. Amid concerns that the Greek crisis could infect other nations, the vote in Athens appeared to give Italy a boost as Rome raised 12 billion euros ($15 billion) in a bond auction, at improved borrowing rates. But economists warned that much still depends on how the measures are implemented -- especially after the general election in April. "Considering the explosive situation in Greece, it would hardly come as a surprise if those opposing the reforms were to take control of the country," said Lutz Karpowitz of Germany's Commerzbank. With thousands of police standing guard outside parliament, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned before the vote: "If we collapse, we won't be able to fix anything anymore ... the package is the country's only hope." The decisions taken, which include a 22-percent cut in minimum wage, "show the will of the Greeks to take difficult measures to put the country on a good path," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin. But China warned that the eurozone debt crisis was still at a "critical juncture." European leaders have called on China, which has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, to help resolve the crisis. Athens was coming to terms on Monday with scenes of devastation after the violent protests, which left 45 buildings burnt out or badly damaged, with 67 arrests made by police who said those behind the violence had operated for hours in small, highly mobile and highly organised gangs. Rioters attacked "emblematic buildings, about 10 neo-classical edifices," dating from the beginning of the 20th century, the deputy mayor in charge of maintenance Andreas Varelas told AFP. I am ashamed, it's hooliganism," lamented one of Sunday's demonstrators, a 55-year-old security guard. Officials put the injured at 54 while the police said 68 of their number were hurt in the disturbances, described as the worst for several years. On Syntagma Square, which adjoins parliament and has become the focus point for the protests, emergency workers on Sunday braved a barrage of rocks and tear gas in addition to petrol bombs. The protesters included trade unionists, youths with shaved heads waving Greek flags, communist activists and left-wing sympathisers, many of them equipped with gas masks. They denounced what they described as blackmail by the international troika of the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank. "It's not easy to live in these conditions," said 49-year-old engineer Andreas Maragoudakis. "By 2020 we will be the Germans' slaves." Civil engineer Anastasia Papadaki, 27, said it was a case of "the international community blackmailing us." An estimated 80,000 protesters gathered in Athens, police said, matching the biggest turnouts achieved against earlier austerity packages last year, while around 20,000 demonstrated in Greece's second city of Thessaloniki. The parliamentary deal paves "the way to further civil unrest and further strike action, and the Greek government now has to follow through with its promises," said London-based GFT analyst David Morrison. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament that Greece would be forced to default if lawmakers did not back the austerity measures needed to unlock fresh funding from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. Greek lawmakers also have to back a bond swap agreed with private creditors which will wipe out around 100 billion euros from Greece's debt mountain of 350 billion euros. Venizelos said the bond swap must be done by Friday in order to have enough time arrange payment of 14.5 billion euros in maturing debt on March 20.