Will Greece's emergency elections spell the end for European recovery?

Greece has faced a struggling economy for the better part of a decade, since the worldwide recession hit back in 2008 and 2009, though amplified starting in 2010. Through these turbulent years, unemployment, government corruption and welfare requests have skyrocketed, while government services and businesses have been highly limited or absent.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - These problems have not gone away, and while the United States and much of the rest of Europe have managed to pick themselves up from the recent economic slump, Greece continues to suffer.

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The capital, Athens, has seen thousands of protesters marching against austerity measures which they claim are only prolonging the recession, despite the fact that Greece has been unable to take in much of its owed taxes, or provide numerous services like emergency and maintenance.

Syntagma Square, the heart of the Greek capital, has seen so many riots, protests and demonstrations that the shops and buildings which have been closed and boarded for years are permanently marked with pro-left and liberal graffiti.

On January 25, these protesters will have an opportunity to enforce their demands, voting in a sudden general election which could mark an end to austerity measures.

Greece's Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, had intended to see through his austerity plan which would reduce the public debt of his country to about 110% of national income by 2020, but other members of parliament failed to choose a new president, forcing a new election.

Samaras is the leader of Greece's center-right New Democracy Party, which advocates austerity measures as a means of get a handle on the debt and bringing Greece out of the recession.

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Samaras has imposed harsh cuts to social services in exchange for nearly $220 billion in bail-out money from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. He has been adamant that these policies are the only manner in which Greece can recover its health, but continues to see opposition from the liberal portions of the Greek political spectrum.

If the left wins in the late January election, it is unclear if Greece will still manage to pull itself up, or will slip back into the pits of financial woe.

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