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Victoria Mindova

The municipalities this year received budgets cut by 40 per cent according to the Central Union of Municipalities and town halls. More specifically, the organization states that 2.6 million euros, which had to be deposited in the accounts of municipalities in the country from the state budget have only received about 1.6 million euros. Due to lack of funds the organizations in the local government now find it difficult to pay current expenses and salaries of municipal employees.

The financial problems of the municipalities were also the reason for the emergency meeting of the union of the municipalities with the Minister of Finance George Papakonstantinou. According to the Mayor of Athens Nikitas Kaklamenis the meeting was unsuccessful, giving a particularly pessimistic picture for the future of Greek organizations for local government. "We came to this meeting with a concern for the immediate future of municipalities until the 31^st December this year, and we are leaving truly scared," said Kaklamenis to reporters after the end of the conversation with the Minister of Finance. He said that the government is not interested in the needs of municipalities in Greece. This will lead to a series of protests and strikes since September, if the necessary funds at least to cover the costs for salaries are not found. Nikitas Kaklamenis stressed that municipalities in the country have contributed for the necessary reductions in the costs of the state institutions since the beginning of the year, by cutting a total of about 20% of the planned expenditures.

In late June, a joint working committee of representatives of the National Audit Office and the municipalities will be set, which will seek to answer the cherished question "Where to find more money?" Regardless of this, the mayors in Greece do not expect results and are preparing for protest action by early autumn. The Mayor of Athens stressed that the Greek municipalities have the smallest share in the general government deficit of the country with shortages of 0.7% of GDP.