Greek PM seeks support on closed broadcaster

ATHENS -- Greece's prime minister has raised the stakes in a fight with key government allies over his decision to shut "sinful" state-run TV, offering a minor compromise while suggesting he would risk early elections unless they back him.

Antonis Samaras' remarks yesterday came just a week shy of his first anniversary in office. His fragile three-party coalition formed to save debt-stifled Greece from bankruptcy is now flirting with the political instability that has forced three changes of government in as many years.

Simmering disagreements came to a head with Samaras' surprise decision Tuesday to close Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., or ERT, with the loss of 2,656 jobs. Announced in the name of cost-cutting imposed by the country's bailout creditors, the closure has been condemned in Greece and abroad as a blow to media freedoms.

Early yesterday, the head of Europe's public broadcasters arrived in Athens to show support for ERT staff and demand the government put it back on the air. The European Broadcasting Union has helped sacked ERT workers maintain online and satellite broadcasts in defiance of the government.

Samaras wants to build a streamlined version of ERT from scratch in coming months, and insisted yesterday his two center-left minority partners -- Socialist PASOK and the Democratic Left -- abandon efforts to keep the current ERT alive.

But both minority partners want Samaras to rescind the decree closing ERT, and fully reopen it pending a waste-cutting overhaul. The three party leaders are due to meet Monday. -- AP