“We Greeks Will Say ‘No’ in Our Vote & ‘Yes’ to a New, Progressive Greece”

Tens of thousands demonstrators took to Syntagma Square in Athens June 29, as well as in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, in a show of support for the government and protest against “the blackmailers of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.” The Athens rally included supporters from both Syriza and the leftist ANDARSYA and EPAM parties, trade unions, other political groups, and many others. They held banners and chanted slogans to favor “Dignity, Democracy and Life,” “No to New Memorandums”; “No to Austerity”; “Debt Write-Down”; “Our Lives Belong To Us.”

Commenting on the rally on Twitter, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, en route to an interview on the national broadcaster ERT, wrote: “On my way to ERT, the people’s grand rally on Syntagma square, for the proud ‘No’ gives us strength.”

Earlier, Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Panagiotis Lafazanis, who participated in the rally, told Athens-Macedonia News that the “crowd of the ‘No’ majority will be at the referendum on Sunday… [July 5th]…The Greek people will say a big ‘No;’ and a big ‘Yes’ to a new, progressive Greece,” he continued, adding that the people don’t accept “agreement-robberies” and ultimatums.