Greek Government Remains Firm in Opposition to Troika, Greeks Demonstrate Against Austerity

Greece’s showdown with the Troika will come to a head this coming week. On Monday the Eurogroup will meet, chaired by Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, and then on Wednesday the ECB Governing Council will review the Emergency Lending Assistance (ELA) limits of Greek banks. The current Greek bailout expires at the end of February.

On Sunday morning, government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told the national Skai TV channel that

“The government is determined to abide with its commitment to the Greek people and its fresh mandate for ending austerity.

“[greece] will not continue with a program which has the characteristics of the program of previous governments.

“Greece’s new government won’t go against its own people when it comes to labor and pension issues just to fulfill orders from the outside,” Sakellaridis said.

He later said:

“The Greek people have made it clear that their dignity is non-negotiable. We are continuing the negotiations with the popular mandate in our hearts and in our minds.”

“We’re willing, where there are issues of privilege, to discuss them… but we’re not going to clash with society,”

Sakellaridis told Skai TV.

The country’s citizens held a demonstration on Sunday evening to express their support for the new government. As of 8 p.m. Greek time, police estimated that more than 20,000 participated in the rally in front of the parliament building, as the cabinet discussed the national debt situation with creditors. More were expected to join during the evening.

The demonstration was dubbed “Greek people against austerity.” Sixty-one percent of 1,015 Greek people polled by Kapa Research for To Vima newspaper this weekend said they approved of the government’s approach.