On Sunday 21 April massive anti-imperialist events took place all over Greece. They were protesting against Greece’s involvement in US-NATO-EU militarism and the ongoing bloodshed of the Palestinian people.
Greece: people standing up to NATO and the EU’s imperialism
In Athens a 42km peace march took place along the route of the original Marathon:
The march ended in front of the Ministry of Defense in Athens:
Thanasis Paphilis, secretary general of the World Peace Council, spoke at the event and noted:
We are here today, outside the Ministry of National Defence, at the end of the 41st Marathon March to condemn Greece’s involvement in the murderous US-NATO plans.
To demand the closure and removal of the US-NATO-EU bases and barracks that have turned our country into a military base and our people into a target for retaliation. To return here and now the frigate ‘HYDRA’ and the Armed Forces personnel from the Red Sea.
For the withdrawal of Greece from the EU’s “SHIELD” mission and the return of the “PATRIOT” artillery from Saudi Arabia.
To express our solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine, who for the past six months have been dying from genocide, from the murderous attacks of the terrorist state of Israel, with the blessing of the USA – NATO – EU, but also with the support of the Greek government.
‘What side of history are you standing on?’
Vaios Tsaproounis is an army lieutenant in active service and president of the Officers’ Union of the Region of Xanthi. They said:
It is a great joy and emotion, and even greater is the honour I feel to be among you today, with people who, steadfast, with patience and perseverance, are fighting for the supreme good of peoples, peace, while exposing all those who usurp it.
My decision to join with you, to lead my steps alongside yours, to join my voice and my agony with yours, was for me a conscious one-way street. A choice, identified with my love for our people, but also with my status as a serving military man committed to serving the interests of the people from whom I come.
Feeling the debt to my conscience, to my roots, which are inextricably linked to our people, I declare and at the same time I commit myself to stand by you, to be inspired by the messages of your struggle, to fight with you for a better tomorrow, a tomorrow that I, my colleagues, our people, the peoples of the world deserve.
This is my choice of which side of history to stand on.
Yes, I choose to be on the side of the people and their interests, because they are the only ones who can stop war plans wherever they are hatched.
Yes, I choose with you to demand the return now of the Hydra frigate from the Red Sea, the Patriot artillery from Saudi Arabia, the anti-tank platoon from Bulgaria, and every Greek colleague of mine from missions outside the borders.
Remembering Yugoslavia
Protesters also descended on two military bases in Greece that are either run by NATO or the EU:
NATO's Forward Military Base in Aktio, Greece under protest from the local unions during Antiimperialist Day of Action pic.twitter.com/RPmlcHvOuC
— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) April 22, 2024
EU-OHQ Military Base in #Larissa under siege by Regional Union and local associations
Disengagement of Greece from the imperialist wars
Solidarity with #Palestine pic.twitter.com/Zgh4TvqrRL— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) April 22, 2024
Meanwhile, actions organised in Serbia highlighted the 25 years it has been since NATO’s aggression in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
25 years since NATO-USA-EU crime against Yugoslavia We do not forget
PAME & @sindikatisloga in Belgrade, Serbia pic.twitter.com/d3kvxE538S
— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) April 22, 2024
25 years since NATO-USA-EU crime against Yugoslavia We do not forget
PAME & @sindikatisloga at Novi Sad Bridge, Serbia pic.twitter.com/f95NDz8i7e
— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) April 22, 2024
‘Greece out of war!’
Meanwhile in Athens, staff sergeant Orion Papadakis summed up:
I am proud to be here and join with you to make the slogans for:
Disengagement of Greece from the imperialist wars.
No participation in the NATO – USA – EU plans.
Close the bases of death in Greece.
Over six months now, you get a knot in your stomach with the images coming out of Palestine. Nearly 20,000 children alone have been killed by the State of Israel. It makes you despair that the Greek state is openly supporting the murderers. And not only in words, but also in deeds. The flame of war burns not only in Gaza, but throughout the Middle East, in Ukraine and elsewhere. And it is only getting hotter.
And you wonder. What business does Greece have getting involved in two wars? Why become a perpetrator and a potential victim? What business do Armed Forces personnel, permanent and enlisted, have participating in war missions? To load white phosphorus missiles, banned by international conventions, to go to Ukraine?
What does the oath you took when you presented yourself to the Army, to serve “with faith and devotion, to the last drop of your blood, the flags” have to do with defending the flags of murderers?
Worried about all of the above, scared a lot of times. That’s why you have to say one more time, even louder:
Greece out of the war. The Greek army has no business outside the borders!
Featured image and additional images via PAME International
