Greek solidarity protests spread across Europe

Marches and protests have been organized in European cities to express solidarity with the Greek people, who will vote in a referendum on Sunday on whether to accept the proposals of its creditors from the European Commission, IMF and ECB.

A rally planned for Saturday afternoon in London's Trafalgar Square will feature a polling station where participants "can vote NO TO AUSTERITY," say the organizers, whose Facebook event page has over 1,200 attendees. Another of the campaign's slogans is "Oxi," a reference to Sunday's vote, which will give Greece's creditors the option to vote "Oxi" ('No' in Greek) or "Nai" (Yes).

Solidarity protests already held elsewhere in Western Europe this week also attracted hundreds and thousands of participants.

A rally in Glasgow on Thursday attracted hundreds of people, holding "Oxi" signs and chanting slogans such as "the Troika says cut-back, we say fight-back," and "From Glasgow to Greece, no justice no peace."

"We stand with the Greek people who will be voting No and in doing so rejecting the coercion of the undemocratic European elites," Jonathon Shafi of Scotland's Radical Independence Campaign [RIC] told Common Space. The RIC, which organized Thursday's protest, is also planning to take part in a protest planned for Saturday outside the office of the European Commission in Edinburgh, organized by Syriza Scotland.

Rallies were also held in Berlin, Paris and other European cities; in Brussels, the home of the EU Commission, more than 5,000 people reportedly gathered to "demonstrate their solidarity with the Greek people, and their opposition to the politics of austerity and looting," said the organizers.

In Athens, the epicenter of protest, tens of thousands gathered in Syntagma, the city's central square for a rally on Friday evening at which Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged a No vote in Sunday's referendum on the country's future.

"I call upon you to ignore the sirens, the scaremongering, decide for Greece, proud Greece in a democratic Europe," said Tsipras.

As well as the crowds packing Syntagma square, a smaller, rival "yes" rally was also held on Friday evening at Athens' Panathenaic Stadium, and was attended by former Greek Prime Ministers Costas Karamanlis, Costas Simitis and Constantinos Mitsotakis.

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