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Austerity and Anger: Protests Against Syriza's EU Deal

Facing backlash from its own supporters, Syriza’s deal with the European Union has sparked angry demonstrations in Athens. VICE News attended the protests and spoke to people disillusioned with the current situation and the party’s pre-election pledges.

On January 25, the leftist party Syriza emerged victorious in Greece's national elections. Days later, Alex Tsipras, the new 40-year-old prime minister, formed a coalition government with a strong mandate to renegotiate Greece's bailout terms and reduce its large debt pile, built up over the five-year financial crisis.

Tsipras and his team then engaged in bitter negotiations with the country's international lenders. Athens sought to scrap the harsh measures attached to the bailout by describing the plight of austerity-hit Greeks as a "humanitarian crisis." On February 20, a deal was clinched. The country's loan agreement was extended by four months, giving Greece more breathing space to negotiate a better pact in the future, but also forcing Syriza to climb down on its pre-election promises.

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Despite the deal, Greece is still broke and needs European loans to avoid bankruptcy. The new government's popularity is slowly declining and uncertainty as to how Syriza will live up to its many promises remains.

Facing backlash from its own supporters, Syriza's deal with the European Union has sparked angry demonstrations in Athens. VICE News attended the protests and spoke to people disillusioned with the current situation and the party's pre-election pledges.

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