Greek protesters vow to blockade Parliament
Greek riot police officers confront a protester during a strike against government austerity plans in Athens on Wednesday.
Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of protesters are preparing to form a human shield around the Greek Parliament here to prevent lawmakers from debating new austerity measures ...
Wednesday afternoon.
Police fired tear gas at demonstrators as they gathered. It was not immediately clear what provoked the police action or whether there were injuries.
Labor unions are holding a 24-hour strike to protest the measures and will be marching to Parliament to join forces with the protesters.
The strike has brought public services to a grinding halt and kept most transport networks at a standstill, although flights have not been affected.
Rallies have also been scheduled to take place in other Greek cities.
On June 9, the Cabinet approved a tough five-year plan for 2011-2015 and introduced a bill in Parliament to put the measures into effect.
The government has said that the passage of these additional measures is essential to Greece's securing the fifth tranche of a 110 billion euro ($158 billion) bailout package that Greece signed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.
Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou has said the country hopes to secure a second bailout deal this month.
The search for a second bailout comes after it became evident that Greece is extremely unlikely to raise capital from private markets in 2012 due to the prohibitively high interest rates it would face.
Papaconstantinou has also indicated that European Union members may support calls to get the private sector involved.
Despite the harsh austerity measures that the Greek government has imposed, it is failing to close its budget deficit as quickly as hoped. The country is in recession amid its fiscal restructuring program.
The finance minister has defended the five-year austerity plan, saying it is needed to keep Greece solvent. The new measures will include a number of additional taxes and job cuts in the public sector by a further 20%.
Protesters have been gathering outside Parliament for more than three weeks as part of an ongoing peaceful demonstration against austerity measures, with some camping in the square facing Parliament.
They call themselves "The Indignants," a grass-roots movement which takes its name from the Spanish campaign of "Los Indignados" who have been holding similar mobilizations against austerity across Spain.
In a statement the group has said it would keep going until the politicians and technocrats it blames for what is happening in Greece "go away."
The credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Monday cut Greece's rating to just two notches above default, among the lowest in the world. The agency has said a default on some debt appears "increasingly likely."
Unemployment in Greece has skyrocketed to above 16 percent in May, a 40% rise since last year.
The European Commission has said Greece's economy was expected to shrink by 3.5% this year.
Prime Minister George Papandreou has pledged to continue with reforms no matter what the political cost. He has said that the alternative, a default, "would be a catastrophe."
The five-year austerity plan is expected to face a vote in Parliament in before the end of the month.
Greek strikers hurl yoghurt and stones at Athens police
Police are preventing demonstrators from encircling the parliament building
Greek police have fired teargas at protesters outside parliament as MPs prepare to debate new austerity measures required for the EU and IMF bail-out package.
Demonstrators around Syntagma Square in Athens responded by throwing yoghurt and stones.
Thousands are taking part in a general strike, the third in Greece this year.
Ports, public transport and banks are badly disrupted as the main public- and private-sector unions go out on strike.
Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking support for a new austerity programme of 28bn euros (£24.6bn; $40.5bn) in cuts to take effect from 2012 to 2015.
State-run companies have also joined the walkout, while hospitals are only offering emergency care. However, airports are operating normally after air traffic controllers called off their strike.
A top credit agency has cut Greece's rating, making it the least credit-worthy nation out of 131 countries it monitors.
The Greek government said the downgrade by Standard & Poor's - from B to CCC - ignored its efforts to secure funding.
In order for the next tranche of rescue loans to go through, parliament must adopt the new austerity plan by the end of June.
'Fight the battle'
Police thwarted protesters who were attempting to blockade parliament and stop MPs getting in for the debate.
They sealed off the roads leading to Syntagma Square and created a pathway for deputies.
The Greek demonstrators are calling themselves the "indignants", linking themselves to Spanish anti-austerity protesters who set up camps in Madrid and Barcelona until they were removed by police last month.
The square is awash with Greek and Spanish flags, as well as banners reading "Resist" and the battle cry from the Spanish civil war, "No pasaran" (they shall not pass), the AFP news agency reports.
Mr Papandreou faces the risk of a revolt in his own Pasok party over the plans.
One MP defected from the party on Tuesday, leaving it with only 155 of the chamber's 300 seats.
"You have to be as cruel as a tiger to vote for these measures. I am not," George Lianis, a former sports minister, said in a letter to parliament's speaker announcing his departure from the parliamentary group.
At least one other Pasok MP has threatened to vote against the new programme of cuts and privatisation of state assets.
Another 14 MPs are wavering in their support for the austerity plan, our correspondent says.
Meanwhile, eurozone finance ministers have failed to agree on how to make private creditors contribute to a possible second Greek bail-out.
Ministers meeting in Brussels continued their discussions late into the night on Tuesday on ways of making private bondholders share the cost of a second rescue package without throwing financial markets into turmoil.
As a result of their failure to reach a deal, the cost of insuring Greek debt against default shot to an all-time high.
The Greek government has appealed for consensus over its proposals, which would see 6.5bn euros (£5.7bn; $9.4bn) in tax rises and spending cuts this year.
"Every Greek, particularly the new generation, demands that we fight the battle with all our power, a battle to avoid a disastrous bankruptcy which will undermine the future of the country," government spokesman George Petalotis told reporters.
"We are fighting the battle to serve the common good, in the most crucial moment in the country's modern democracy."
In a sign of possible contagion from the Greek crisis, credit rating agency Moody's said it might downgrade the three largest banks in France because of their exposure to Greek debt.
Share prices for BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale all fell as a result.
France appealed for calm, saying it opposed a Greek restructuring which could entail write-offs for private banks.
"The French position is voluntary - no restructuring, no credit event and in line with the ECB," government spokesman Francois Baroin told reporters in Paris.
The EU and IMF are demanding the measures in return for the release of another 12bn euros in aid next month which Athens needs to pay off maturing debt.
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