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Anastasia Balezdrova

Thousands of Athenians gathered in Syntagma Square outside the Greek Parliament in support of the government during the negotiations with Greece’e lenders on the bailout extension.

Despite the cold, there were people of all ages among the demonstrators, who were united by the slogan: "A breath of dignity throughout Greece."

Although the demonstration was presented as a spontaneously organised event via social networks, one could see posters and flags of the ruling radical SYRIZA and other far left-winged parties such as Antarsia.

The slogans ranged from "Not a step back", "European people all together", "Cut debt, not life", "Europe, the answer is democracy", "They cannot blackmail us, we are going forward", "Greece belongs to the Greeks" to "Jail for European bankers, not debt", "Frau Merkel tell us about (the names of German companies accused of bribing Greek politicians) then we’ll talk about how corrupted Greeks are."

Like the protests of the discontented in the summer of 2011, today's demonstration involved people of different political orientation who until recently were united by the desire to support the new government in its attempts to reject the austerity measures that have been adopted in recent years.

A photo of the protest in Athens appeared on the Facebook profile of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the comment was, "The people in the cities of Greece and Europe are involved in the battle of negotiations. They are our strength."

Similar protests were also held in Thessaloniki, Patras and other Greek cities, as well as in various European capitals.