Papandreou seeks to win back confidence

Greece is afraid that horror stories about its debt crisis could lead to increasingly strict constraints from Brussels, writes the portal SpiegelOnline with a view to today's general strike in the country: "Greece's powerful unions now want to fight back with a general strike. ... Above all it's the country's priviliged civil servants who are burdening the country with strikes. ... Many Greeks are angry that the Germans of all people are pushing for a rigorous austerity policy. ... Prime Minister Papandreou stresses that what Greece really needs from its European partners is political, not financial support. Only in this way, he says, can his country win back lost confidence - and attain lower interest rates on financial markets. And only in this way can the country have a much needed respite to make the strict austerity programme bearable for the people."

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