Thousands protest for the “Greekness of Macedonia”

Thousands upon thousands turned out for rallies, which were organised in 24 northern Greek cities on Wednesday, in protest against the prospect of an agreement on the FYROM name issue that contains the name 'Macedonia'.

The rallies began at around 7:30pm and ended shortly after 9:30pm and were organised by the "Campaign Committee for the Greekness of Macedonia", with protestors arriving in buses from areas throughout northern Greece.

Among them were many opposition party politicians, local authority officials and representatives of organisations, while the Greek Orthodox Church had a strong presence at the rallies, with representatives from all dioceses in Macedonia.

The main rally took place in Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, and all the rallies started simultaneously, at 7:30pm, in the central squares of Veria, Kilkis, Polykastro, Edessa, Katerini, Serres, Nea Moudania Halkidiki, Lagada Thessaloniki, Kavala, Drama, Florina, Ptolemaida, Siatista and Kastoria. A rally was also organised in Larisa, in central Greece and Ioannina in Epirus.

Waving Greek flags, banners and religious symbols, the protestors shouted "Greece means Macedonia" and "Hands off Macedonia", while speakers at the rallies criticised the government and ministers for their statements on the name issue.