European politics at tipping point as frustrations grow

Athens

THEY speak different languages, they come from different backgrounds, yet all have the same message of frustration that's threatening to redraw the European political map over the next year.

Starting with elections in Greece on Sunday and heading west to Ireland via Britain and Spain, polls show that Europeans will vent their anger over issues from widening income disparities and record unemployment to unprecedented immigration.

For Athens pensioner Irini Smyrni, the moment she'd had enough was when her younger daughter lost her job with the government last year. For Dublin florist Nicola Johns, it was when her business fell behind on rent.

"We pay, we pay, we pay," said Ms Smyrni, 73. "Our homeland unfortunately is taking us backwards - paltry wages, miserable pensions - and we're looking for something better." English electrical technician David Liddle wants someone to stick up for people like him rather than immigrants and "scroungers". Virginia Sanchez, an unpaid university researcher in Madrid, said that she just grew tired of being failed by the us…