This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

For months, people around the world have watched the strikes and violent protests in Athens. But Greeks in rural areas say the country's debt crisis is hitting them even harder. And they say the government is ignoring their problems.

In the West Macedonian town of Ptolemaida, electricity is the main industry. Mines in the area supply lignite or "brown coal" for power. The electric company in the town is owned by the state. But the government plans to sell off many of its state-owned utilities to help pay Greece's debts.

In the nearby town of Kozani, Lefteris Ionnadis helps lead an activist group called the Independent Kozani Movement.

LEFTERIS IOANNIDIS: "Our economy has depended on the coal industry for years. Most people living here were employed in the mines, and other industries were neglected. Private businesses have been struggling for decades, and rural economies have taken a big hit."

The area is one of the poorest in Europe. It has the highest unemployment rate in Greece, at seventeen percent. And it gets a lot of aid from the European Union.

People in Kozani say they are worried about the future.