Pressure is rising on Greece's
national unity government to agree tough reforms demanded by the country's
lenders.
The EU, IMF and European Central
Bank have made further spending cuts, labour market reforms and bank rescues a
condition of extending a new bailout.
European Commission Vice President
Neelie Kroes told a Dutch newspaper that there would be "absolutely no man
overboard" if Greece left the euro.
Greek party leaders are meeting on
Tuesday amid a general strike.
A previous meeting on Sunday night
proved inconclusive, leading to further last-minute talks between Prime
Minister Lukas Papademos and the troika of official lenders on Monday.
The leader of the left-wing Syriza
party coalition, Alexis Tsipras, repeated a call on Tuesday either for Greece's
debts to be written off, or else for the country to pause its debt repayments
for three years.
Meanwhile, public transport and the
country's ports ground to a halt as two of the largest Greek public-sector
unions began a strike on Tuesday in protest at continuing austerity.
Police had to use tear gas to
prevent some protesters on Syntagma Square from breaking a cordon around the
parliament building.
The Greek economy is expected to
suffer a fifth consecutive year of recession this year, and has already shrunk
12% since 2008.
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