Protesters Gather for Anti-Austerity Rallies in Greece Prior to Bailout

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The protests, supporting the Greek government, are taking place across some 25 Greek cities, including Athens and Thessaloniki. People took to the streets with banners reading “Democracy can’t be blackmailed” and “Our lives do not belong to the lenders.”

In Athens, demonstrators who gathered on Syntagma Square hung a banner outside the country’s parliament, calling for an end to austerity and asking people to support Greece in its tough times.

According to the Guardian newspaper, some of the demonstrators believe that Greece should cut off ties with the European Union, while a number of schoolteachers who attended the demonstration said the government should toughen its stance in the bailout with Greece's international creditors.

Greece's total debt is currently estimated at $350 billion, with some $270 billion owed to the three of its biggest creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Athens is in talks with its creditors to unlock the final package of financial aid before the current bailout program expires on June 30.

The latest round of talks concluded in Brussels on Sunday, failing to yield any results. Greece’s multibillion-dollar debt to international creditors triggered speculation that the country might leave the Eurozone.