Thousands Protest in Greece Against Russian Invasion of Ukraine

A protest in support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people was held in Athens, Greece on Tuesday evening.

Thousands of protestors called for the end of the war in Ukraine, and spoke out against the Russian invasion and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The protest was held in Syntagma Square, the central square of Athens, which is located just across from the Parliament building.

Organizers of the protest described it as “an initiative of independent citizens who call on friends of freedom and democracy in our country, of all nationalities, to protest against the barbaric Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in favor of its heroic resistance by the Ukrainian people.”

Protestors, many of whom held signs and Ukrainian flags, chanted: “Stop Putin, stop the war, we want peace.”

Protest held in support of Ukraine in Athens as Greece expresses support for sanctions against Russia

Earlier on Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Parliament that Greece backs EU sanctions against Russia after its unlawful invasion of Ukraine and stands ready to host Ukrainian refugees.

“Greece was always on the right side of history and we are doing the same today. For Greece there are no dilemmas, we are on the side of Ukraine, freedom and democracy,” he said.

The Russian president, “through the use of force, is questioning the territorial integrity of a country with which Russia has close ties, causing deaths – including those of Greeks in Mariupol – and forcing hundreds of thousands of citizens into migration,” he added.

“This is a violent return to the era of hegemony. In a place where the Holocaust took on very severe dimensions and in a place where Ukrainians and Russians united fought the Nazis,” Mitsotakis underlined, noting that Russia’s pretext of supposedly “de-nazifying” Ukraine is tenuous.

“This is an irrational and unhistorical invasion. The Russian invasion is aimed at forcibly changing the security architecture in Europe,” Greece’s PM said, adding that “the Russian threats against Sweden and Finland speak for themselves.

“We have always been on the right side of history and that is what we are doing now. We are also part of the West and we promote international legitimacy. We live with the issue of Cyprus and we receive threats to our islands. We can not stand by indifferently before authoritarian leaders who want to redesign the borders.”

“There is no room for equal distances here. Either you are with peace and international law, or you are against them,” Mitsotakis said.