The fans of the football club PAOK protested on Monday night in the center of the Greek city of Thessaloniki against the recent agreement between Athens and Skopje on changing Macedonia’s name.
The protests lasted for several hours, with fans throwing stones and incendiary bottles at the police, who responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades. Four protesters were detained.
“SYRIZA, like any political party or organization, does not need permission from ultra-right and marginal groups to conduct activities related to the agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) or any other topic. The incidents which occurred in connection with the SYRIZA activities in Thessaloniki reflect the opinions of neither the Thessaloniki citizens, nor any other democratic citizen, nor any sensible fan club. We expect the PAOK football club to condemn these actions, which are committed on behalf of the historical club PAOK association,” the ruling party said in a statement.
On Monday, the ruling SYRIZA party held a meeting in the Thessaloniki international exhibition center devoted to the agreement signed earlier in June on changing the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the Republic of North Macedonia. The PAOK fans expressed their outrage over the deal and pledged on their Facebook page to defend “the historic heritage.”
Πιστεύω από τους ελάχιστους(φωτό) που ανταποκρίθηκαν στην εκδήλωση του Σύρινα θες/νίκης, οι μισοί μπορεί και να πιστούν για τα ωφέλη της παραχώρησης υπηκοότητας, γλώσσας και ταυτότητας Μακεδονικής.Τους προστατεύει η αστυνομία. #ΣΥΡΙΝΑ ΣΥνασπισμός ΡΙζοσπαστικής Νατοικής Αριστεράς pic.twitter.com/dmmdpWQWjS
— Βασίλης Κεγκέρογλου (@BKegeroglou) June 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/BKegeroglou/status/1011327471457853442