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The military parade in Thessaloniki is scheduled to begin at 11.00 and to last only 38 minutes. The parade is attended by President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and it will be held under draconian security measures.

After the parade Karolos Papoulias expressed confidence that despite the hardships, Greece will emerge from the crisis. "One cannot ask for more of this nation, it has already given everything," the Greek President said, adding: "Europe is already acknowledging that we have done much, that we have achieved much more than other countries which are also facing problems."

Karolos Papoulias also said that some people clearly want to forget what Europe owes to small Greece, as it is the resistance of the Greeks that delayed the Nazi troops and helped towards the fall of Hitler.

The end of the parade was followed by minor incidents between protesters and police, when protesters tried to break the police cordon and get to the promenade, but they were repelled by the police. Clashes between youths and the riot forces followed. There is still strong police presence in the region to prevent other incidents.

The student parade in Athens, which lasted only 30 minutes, took place in the presence of Education Minister Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos. A public prayer was held before that at St. Dionysius the Areopagite church.

One of the students participating in the parade went barefoot in front of the platform with officials

The subway station at Syntagma Square was closed as well as all the streets around the square. Two women were arrested in Syntagma Square as they tried to pass through the police cordon and to take a closer look at the parade.

Due to bad weather and intense rains the parades in Komotini, Grevena and Ioannina were cancelled.