Antonis Samaras sworn in as Greek PM after coalition govt. agreed

PanARMENIAN.Net - Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party, which won Sunday's election, has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister, BBC News said.

The ceremony came shortly after he agreed a coalition government with the Socialists (Pasok) and the smaller leftist party, the Democratic Left.

Mr Samaras took the oath at a Greek Orthodox ceremony in Athens.

He vowed his government would do whatever it could to tackle an economic crisis that has shaken the eurozone.

"Tomorrow I will ask for the new government to be formed - [we will] work hard so we can give hope to our people," Mr Samaras said.

The coalition deal follows weeks of uncertainty, after parties failed to agree a government on the results of an election on 6 May.

But the new coalition is expected to come under immediate pressure from a Greek public weary of five years of recession and increasingly resistant to the tough terms of Greece's huge bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Syriza - the leftist party that came second in Sunday's poll - will be a defiant voice of opposition.