Greek PM Offers Partially Reinstating ERT

Local Editor

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offered to partially reinstate the state broadcaster ERT on Friday after protests over its closure earlier this week.

"A temporary committee can be appointed to hire a small number of [ERT] employees, so that the broadcast of information programs can begin immediately," Samaras mentioned in a statement.

Greece has been without news broadcasts as journalists went on indefinite strike over ERT's closure, a move that also disrupted the reporting of school exam results.

"We ask the government to reverse this decision, we ask the government to reestablish the signal on TV, radio and web," President of the European Broadcasting Union Jean-Paul Philippot told a news conference.

Samaras made the offer ahead of a meeting on Monday with his socialist and moderate leftist allies - both of which have opposed ERT's closure.

"No means justify the ends, particularly when euthanasia is used as a cure," conservative European Parliament member Ioannis Tsoukalas said on his website.

"The government needs to find a solution, such as reopening ERT under a bare-bones format," said political analyst Thomas Gerakis.

"We are giving ERT a chance to be reborn.... The new entity will be reinstated very soon," Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras told parliament.

ERT is a founding member of the EBU, which aims to promote public-service broadcasting.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team