The Greek crisis

'Greece on fire, to face disaster with or without euro'

Last week was a truly hectic one for the EU, with violent anti-austerity demos and political deadlock again casting doubts over the future of the euro. In Spain, as many as hundreds of thousands marched in nationwide protest. They chanted slogans and waved banners demanding an end to cuts and painful austerity. In Italy, violent anti-austerity clashes erupted in the city of Naples, after yet another suicide apparently caused by an aggressive government taxation program. But above all that, is the political turmoil in Greece. There, a last-ditch effort to form a coalition has all but collapsed over differences on austerity and bailout terms. The country now looks likely to stage new elections. For more on what lies ahead for Greece, and the implications for the EU, we can now cross to Athens. Panagiotis Sotiris is a journalist and lecturer on social and political philosophy at the University of the Aegean.