About 15,000 Greeks Take Part in Anti-Austerity Rallies in Athens

About 15,000 Greeks participated in two rallies in the country's capital on Wednesday against EU-backed austerity measures proposed by the country's government, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

On Wednesday, the Greek workers held a nationwide general strike.

The rally, organized by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), gathered about 10,000, according to the reporters' estimates.

A separate event organized by the GSEE and ADEDY trade unions was attended by 5,000 people.

In 2010, the debt crisis hit the Greek economy. Since then a number of international lenders, including the EU institutions and the International Monetary Fund, agreed to provide Athens with several bailout packages in exchange for large-scale economic reforms, mainly entailing sweeping austerity measures that have been bitterly opposed by the country's unions.

On Thursday, the...