FINANCIAL TIMES: Greece’s parliament on Thursday backed a slew of fresh austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors, clearing the way for talks to begin on a fresh €86bn bailout package to prevent the country crashing out of the eurozone…
“I was blackmailed, there were no good options and I chose the least bad, the MPs should recognise this and accept the same choice,” Mr Tsipras told lawmakers before the vote. “The government does not believe in these measures. We will do our best to protect people from measures we do not believe in but are forced to implement.”
Mr Tsipras prevailed with the support of 229 of Greece’s 300 MPs in a vote that took place in the early hours of Thursday morning, but was forced to rely upon the support of opposition parties to offset the mutiny in his own ranks, which could erode his parliamentary majority… (more)
