Called off
October 28, 2011
Thousands of anti-austerity protesters in northern Greece on Friday shut down a military parade commemorating the nation's participation in World War II and forced the president to leave the event.
President Karolos Papoulias apologized for not being able to attend the annual parade in Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city, and said the protesters should be "ashamed." Protesters appeared at parades in other cities, but most of the events went ahead without major disruption.
The demonstrators, which included leftists, anarchists, neo-Nazis and people angry with the government's austerity program, blocked the parade route and forced police to intervene and evacuate officials in attendance. Some spat at retired military officers.
"When I was 15, I fought against Nazism and the German occupiers. Who are they calling me a traitor? Shame on them," Papoulias told reporters before leaving the event. The 82-year-old president joined the Greek resistance in 1944 in the final months of Nazi Germany's three-year occupation.
Insult to national struggles: government spokesman
On October 28, 1940, Greece's leader Ioannis Metaxas refused demands by fascist Italy's Benito Mussolini to surrender or be invaded. The national holiday is known as "No Day."
"It is one thing to protest, and another to insult the national struggles and attempt to undermine the democratic institutions," said government spokesman Elias Mossialos.
An agreement made on Wednesday by leaders of the European Union asked banks to take a voluntary 50-percent reduction in the value of their Greek government bonds. Greece received a second bailout package on Thursday of 130 billion euros ($184 billion) to remain solvent.
"We must join forces to overcome the crisis and clean our house in order to deliver it to our kids unscathed," said Papoulias, referring to the government's long list of budget cuts. "The great mass of the people accept all these austerity measures that hit the weakest because they hope for a better day, when we will overcome the crisis and clean our house."
Author: Andrew Bowen (AFP, AP)
Editor: Martin Kuebler