Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of Athens this afternoon to protest against the imminent arrival of the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, scheduled to finalize the sale of F-35 fighter jets and other state-of-the-art weapon systems to the Greek government.
The march started at the iconic Syntagma Square, where attendees chanted slogans such as "Butcher Rubio is not welcome here" and "Greece does not want to participate in massacres." Representatives from student groups, trade unions, and various political formations attended the event.
After the initial gathering, the protest continued towards the U.S. Embassy in Athens, which was surrounded by a large police presence, as noted on social media by the spokesperson body of the Central Council of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), O Digitis.
Rubio is scheduled to hold meetings tomorrow, Wednesday, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Greek counterpart, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
As planned, the discussions will focus on the sixth round of the Greece-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, which will address, among other issues, the bases and facilities that Greece makes available to the United States under the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement.