November 22, 2011
Greece's new technocrat prime minister said on Tuesday he was confident fractious politicians would soon provide a written commitment to painful austerity measures as demanded by the EU that will unlock funds needed to stave off bankruptcy.
But as Lucas Papademos tried to reassure EU officials in Luxembourg, the conservative New Democracy party reiterated its refusal to sign any pledge and Greece's main private and public sector trade unions called a 24-hour strike for December 1.
It will be the first major strike since Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, formed his three-party coalition to secure payment of an 8 billion euro aid tranche to avert default in December.
"Our partners demand written commitments. They want political leaders to send a letter of commitment over the policies which will be implemented in the coming years," Papademos told reporters after talks with Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg.
"I believe party leaders will fulfill their duty. I'm optimistic that a solution will be found soon. This must be done by the end of the month."
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