Greece - Rioting youths clash with police after demo / Merkel and Greek PM Tsipras meet at EU Summit

(29 Jun 2015) On April 7th 2015 rioting youths clashed with Greek police in central Athens, damaging vehicles and property, following a demonstration by hundreds of anarchists seeking the abolition of a maximum security prison. Dozens of rioters threw petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas. Four people were detained in Tuesday's clashes, while no injuries were immediately reported. At least two cars were burned and one shop front was smashed. Anarchists have stepped up protests since Greece's new radical left-led government was elected in January 2015. They want authorities to close a maximum-security prison where many convicted militant anarchists are held - and have continued their protests despite government pledges to do so soon. Opposition parties have criticised the government for failing to take a tough stance on the protests. *** German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met on April 23rd on the sidelines of an emergency summit on migration in Brussels. Germany is the largest single creditor of Greece. Though Merkel has been immovable in her insistence that Greece reform its economy, she has always insisted there was no way the country could be allowed to fall out of the euro. The meeting came as Greece had an end-of-April date to agree to more reforms in exchange for rescue money its creditors had set aside. But as the country prepares to confront its European creditors on April 24th at a meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, all sides say an agreement is a long way off. *** Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said on May 7th he expects Athens and its creditors to reach an agreement "in the next days, mostly weeks" but he refused to speculate over the outcome of the next Eurogroup meeting on May 11th. Varoufakis was speaking in Brussels at a panel discussion hosted by the European Business Summit. Greece and its European creditors have been at an impasse for over three months on what reforms the country should make to get more rescue loans to keep it solvent. A potential Greek debt default could threaten Europe's joint currency and roil the global economy. The Greek government has been hesitant to make reforms that might hurt the living standards of Greeks, who have been through five years of brutal spending cuts and tax increases. The creditors want to make sure Greece's economy and public finances are on the right track so the country can pay its loans back. Greece is running out of cash and faces a repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on May 12th worth over 700 million euros (788 million US dollars). To make it, it will have to scrape together spare reserves from local governments and state entities like hospitals. *** Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrived at the European Commission in Brussels on June 25th to continue negotiations with lenders and European leaders. *** Thousands of people in Athens gathered for an anti-austerity rally on June 26th. Around 8,000 people turned out to Syntagma square for the protest, organised by the Communist Party. It came as Greece and its rescue creditors edged closer to a deal in Brussels on loans needed to avoid a potentially disastrous bankruptcy, but angry objections in Athens to some demands kept the talks on edge ahead of a key meeting this weekend. *** Greek parliamentary members convened for an emergency session on June 27th to discuss a contentious move called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to put to referendum a bailout deal with the country's creditors. *** Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...