Nationwide strikes and protests against austerity measures seized Greece on March 5 2010 even as prime minister George Papandreou was scheduled to meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to seek support for his government’s steps against Greece’s excessive deficit.
 
On the eve of Papandreou’s trip, there were some encouraging voices at international level, adding to the support for his government’s cost-cutting measures already expressed by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund.
 
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said that the Greek crisis represented no threat to the euro zone and wrote off any suggestion of a country being expelled from the common European currency as an absurd idea.
 
Trichet said that the way that the Greek crisis had been handled so far was proof that EU institutions and the EU fiscal policy framework were functioning.
 
Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries – and Greece’s appointee to the commission – said on March 4 that the EC was working with the Greek government to get Greece "out of this difficult situation".
 
Meeting Greek president Karolos Papoulias and Papandreou, Damanaki said "the European Commission is not here to punish Greece".
 
"Greece is confronted with a very difficult situation but the road out if this is strongly embedded in Europe. There is no future, no viable solution for the actual situation beyond the Eurozone and the European Union. The euro is more than a currency alone, it is Europe's answer to globalisation, now strongly linked to Europe's identity. The euro is a great achievement for Greece," Damanaki said.
 
The 4.8 billion euro plan adopted by the Papandreou cabinet on March 3 2010 involves salary cuts in the public sector, a freeze on pensions, and tax increases.
 
Greece has held a successful bond sale, part of its plan to stabilise government finances and reduce the deficit.
 
Bulgarian financial daily Pari said that the expected rate of return of 6.5 per cent made the bond emission one of the most expensive in the EU.
 
Meanwhile, after street protests on March 4 that saw clashes with police, the March 5 strike was scheduled to government departments, municipal offices, banks, hospitals, schools and transport services all shutting down.
 
The three-hour strike and demonstration called by Greece's largest private and public sector labour unions will force the closure of government ministries, state services, municipal offices and banks beginning at noon, while schools will remain closed for the day, Bulgarian news agency Focus said.
 
Greece will be left without transport on March 5 as a sign of protest against the government’s additional economic measures, Greek media said, quoted by Focus.
 
The trade union of the railway workers announced a 24-hour strike. The workers in the electric and suburban railways, OSE railway company, streetcar, trolleybus and bus transport will join it. Air traffic controllers will be striking between 12pm and 2pm local time.