Prime Minister Papandreou's speech to parliament regarding the tragic events of May 5

Ladies and gentlemen, we are all deeply shocked by the unjust deaths of three workers- our fellow citizens- who today became victims of a brutal assassination. This is where uncontrolled violence leads and this is where political irresponsibility takes us.

These are moments of responsibility for all of us. These are difficult times for the country and we have to be clear on that. We must come to the defence of our national interest. We must come to the defence of democratic institutions. We must defend the social cohesion of this country and the lives of our citizens.

We must defend the credibility of our country's image abroad, at the very moment that we are under attack from markets and speculators.

We all must take responsibility. The Government shares the pain with those who are suffering- of each pensioner who sees a cut in pension and of each worker who sees reducing earnings.

No one was happy with the new measures. We have compassion for every family who has seen their plans for the future slip seemingly further away. But we took these measures to secure a future which might not exist otherwise.

In this state of emergency, in the difficult situation that we face internationally, we took responsible decisions in order to save this country.

We took these measures to save jobs, protect deposits, families, households, and workers.

The other option was failure: bankruptcy of the country. And bankruptcy would not touch the lives of the rich, only the working class, the pensioners who are already suffering. This scenario was very real and very frightening.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are a free and democratic country. We fight, and have fought, for the right to live in a democratic Greece. And each citizen has a right to demonstrate. But no one has the right to resort to violence, especially violence leading to the murder our citizens. And we know that violence produces violence. Protest is different than murder.

We will, of course, stand alongside the families who lost loved ones. This is the least we can do. But three families today are living this tragedy without reason.

To those who now mourn the loss of three children we say that the perpetrators will be identified and held accountable for what they've done. There can be no shelter, no direct or indirect political support for them. And it is absolutely necessary that all of us, today, condemn all forms of violence.

And you know very well that the commentary in recent days has not helped. Comments like the country is allegedly under a dictatorship. Or the challenges to the legitimacy of the Constitution. Today it is absolutely necessary that all political forces send a strong message of historical, political and social responsibility. A message of democratic accountability and the protection of civil rights.

Unfortunately, this message is not shared by all. But no one has the right to play with the destiny of the country and its citizens. Nobody can endanger human life. Now is the time for responsibility and consensus.

No one can evade responsibility for this situation. The question is: what we do from this point onwards- To change the course of the country and make a new start. And no one is entitled to resort to indifference and certainly not to violence.

This government has taken responsibility. I urge all political forces to take their own. And I think the meeting between political leaders with the President of the Republic that has been cancelled, should take place in the coming days. We must take the critical initiative- to send the message that, although there may be disagreements between us, on key issues facing democracy and violence have one united voice.

Thank you.