By Neal Wallace

Greece has sworn in its new prime minister and coalition government after a turbulent political week.

Lucas Papademos has been officially named as the interim head of the country and will work with a unity government made up of different parties.

The new government's most pressing task is approval of a bailout package from the EU to avoid bankruptcy before it can get the nation back on the road to financial recovery ahead of February's general elections.

Greece's president Carolos Papoulias, after swearing in the new leader, told the Reuters news agency that "with the unity of all people, we will succeed".

Although he is not an elected MP, Mr Papademos has the broad support of parliament, with his unity coalition controlling 254 out of 300 seats. He has said that his main priority is to keep Greece in the eurozone.

After a turbulent week for Europe, the stock markets began to stabilise, with the UK's FTSE 100 index rising 0.9 per cent.