The Greek parliament approved a £25billion programme of tax rises and spending cuts that will allow a new £10.7billion European Union–IMF bail–out to save the country from defaulting – for now.
A second debate and votes are expected to take place today on the details of how cuts will be implemented. The austerity bill, which passed by 155 votes to 138, was greeted with fury by protesters outside parliament, who began a series of running street battles with police.
Several banks and shop fronts in the centre of Athens were wrecked. At least 31 police officers and 15 protesters were injured in the clashes, with several arrests being made.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to try to control the situation, with hundreds of rioters at one stage forced to seek refuge in an underground train station.European leaders on Wednesday rushed to congratulate the Greek government adopting a £25billion austerity programme drawn up in Brussels to secure EU-IMF payments that save Greece from default.
At the highest levels anxiety remains behind the warm words of relief that Greece could yet plunge the euro into crisis or crash by going bankrupt on 15 July and defaulting on £3.6 million in debt repayments.
Despite the immediate breathing place given by the vote, EU officials and governments are keenly aware that the battle to save Greece and the euro is not over and that victory is far from being assured.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of meetings of Euro zone finance ministers, signalled the way was clear for Greece to get its next cash fix at an emergency meeting to be held in Brussels in Sunday.
"I am very happy and relieved that the Greek parliament followed the government and voted in favour of the new budgetary adjustment program and structural reforms," he said.
"This now paves the way toward the payment of the fifth tranche of bilateral loans from the euro-zone member countries and the IMF."
Over the next two weeks cash-strapped EU treasuries must come up with a second Greek bailout which could be as high as £107billion on top of the £98billion in rescue loans agreed for Greece in May 2010.
If the EU falters  as it has done time and time again over the last six months - then the IMF will not give the green light to another bailout instalment in September and a new crisis will flare up.
EU and IMF officials are painfully conscious that, as in the past, a vote in the Greek is one thing and actual implementation of tax increases, lay-offs and privatisations is another. Also a major factor is the spread of political protest and opposition, unrest that many believe could trigger elections and a new government's demand for renegotiation in the autumn.
Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, admitted that while the battle over the vote had been won the war to impose the EU-IMF austerity programme had not been won.
"Now a consensus has to be found on the individual measures and to implement them decisively over the coming weeks, months and years," he said.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, gave a sign of the high stakes that the EU is playing for when she admitted that the vote had been as much about saving Europe's single currency as helping Greece reform its economy.
"It is an important step on the one hand for the future of Greece, but on the other hand also for the stability of the euro," she said.
Jan Kees de Jager, the Dutch finance minister, said the conundrum facing Europe's more solvent states was how to ensure that the vote marked a turning point.
"It is very important, because if it did not happen it would have been hugely problematic for the Greeks. It is also good news for the financial stability for the rest of Europe and the world," he said. "Now we can take steps to look after one another. We are in the same boat. We also have an interest in Greece fixing itself."