WOMAN: "I'm a student. I am absolutely sure I will not be employed once I'm done with my studies. I am also pretty sure I will never get a pension in my life. So at the moment we are just waiting for some gift from God."
Lazaros Maloutas is the mayor of Kozani. He says government cuts will end up hurting the Greek economy.
LAZAROS MALOUTAS: "5.5 billion euros are being cut from the real economy, of what is a fairly small country," he says. "If we stick only to such austerity measures, the country will plunge deeper and deeper into recession. We need investment."
Leaders of the world's biggest economies held two days of talks late this week in Cannes, France. French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted the Group of 20 meeting to discuss ways to strengthen the world economy. But the Greek political crisis became a top issue.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister George Papandreou made a surprise call for a nationwide vote on the European Union’s latest financial rescue plan. The EU had reached agreement on the plan just days earlier. The plan would reduce Greece's debt by nearly a half if the government approves big spending cuts.
On Thursday, Mr. Papandreou withdrew his proposal to let voters decide whether to approve the EU plan. Mr. Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had pressured him to drop the idea.
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Mr. Sarkozy says Europe's two biggest economies had a duty to intervene to defend the seventeen nations that use the euro.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25