A man waves greek flags while thousands rally outside the Greek State broadcaster ERT headquarters in Athens, during a 24-hour strike to support ERT employees and the state television network on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to defuse a political crisis over the government's abrupt closure of state broadcaster ERT as trade unions staged a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at what was officially called a cost-cutting measure.

Samaras, who has branded defenders of ERT hypocrites, invited two left-wing junior coalition parties opposed to the shutdown to talks next Monday, his office said, seeking to avert political instability in the bailed-out eurozone country.

A senior government official said the conservative prime minister was open to discussing their proposals and a compromise was likely, though he did not intend to back down from closing and relaunching ERT as a smaller, more efficient entity.

But the public clash between Samaras, who has vowed to transform Greece from "a real Jurassic Park" into a modern economy, and his partners raised doubts about whether a face-saving formula can be found.

"The country is on a knife's edge," a coalition source said.

The conflict with the Socialist PASOK and the Democratic Left parties, which want Samaras to reverse the shutdown, has rapidly turned into the most serious political crisis since the coalition came to power in June last year.

"Either there's a solution in a week or it's elections," conservative newspaper Kathimerini said on its front page.

Greek bond yields have crept back above 10 percent on fears of political instability and the government's failure on Monday to privatize natural gas DEPA.

Reuters