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Even at the time when the reforms and the implementation of the recovery program began, it became clear that civil servants in Greece will not surrender without a fight against the cuts and structural changes and on Monday next week, Athens will once again wake up without public transportation. Buses, trolleys, trams, the underground and the electric train will not run for 24 hours as part of the protest against the introduction of the labour reserve and the unified payroll table for the remuneration of employees in the public sector.

According to the transport unions, the policy of the socialist government in Greece leads to mass unemployment and public sector wages become charity. National railways workers are expected to join the general strike. The only means of public transport that will run in the capital on Monday are taxis, and at 12 noon, discontented citizens will hold a protest procession from Kotzia Square to the Ministry of Finance opposite the parliament building.

At the same time, it became clear that the controversial fifth report by the supervisory Troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission would be ready by October 24 this year. The head of the tripartite mission Poul Thomsen told journalists that the assessment is expected to be positive. "We have noted significant progress, but some issues remain to be clarified," said Thomsen on the development of Greek reforms. The payment of the sixth tranche of the financial aid depends on the supervisors' report. Before the Greeks get paid, they should put into operation some pretty serious reforms that are already late under the austerity plan, which was adopted in late June and caused serious social unrest.

While Greece and the Troika are bargaining over which reforms can not wait and which can be implemented later, Brussels has begun to feverishly prepare a new programme to support European banks. The European Commission announced on Friday that it is collecting proposals to strengthen the banks in the coming days and urged European countries to cooperate in restoring investor confidence in the banking sector in Europe. Commissioner for Economic Affairs of the European Union, Olli Rehn, said that countries with higher credit rating have no problem capitalizing their financial system through capital markets and other countries may provide state aid as insurance in case of deepening debt crisis.

The idea of ​​a common European front to strengthen the banking system is expected to be thoroughly discussed at the summit of the European Union on October 17 this year. Until then, Paris and Berlin should clarify the different points of view on the role of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The Germans insist that the fund should be considered a last refuge and it should serve only to countries in dire need (like Greece, for example), and Frenchmen are fighting for a broader scope of the financial institution in order to cover some of their banks if required. On Thursday, the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel said that we should not hesitate to recapitalize European banks to strengthen them against the debt crisis. At the same time, she stressed that the use of EU funds is justified only if the stability of the euro area is at risk.