Protesters in NATO country block trucks carrying weapons for Kiev (VIDEOS)

Activists in Greece have protested against NATO aid for Kiev and blocked a column of trucks carrying weapons intended for the Ukrainian army, Greek media reported this week. The protest was staged on Wednesday by members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth branch, KNE, in the town of Tyrnavos in the region of Thessaly.

According to local media, several dozen activists blocked a highway in Tyrnavos in an attempt to divert a column of six trucks with plates from Ukraine, Poland, and Bulgaria. The vehicles were said to be carrying “missiles and other ammunition” from a local army base to Ukraine under bilateral agreements signed by Athens and Kiev.

Footage posted online shows protesters waving banners and flags and shouting slogans denouncing NATO and its aid to Ukraine. The demonstrators also criticized the Greek government for effectively dragging the country into a war with Russia.

“We denounce the government which, on behalf of domestic business groups, is emptying Greek camps of ammunition, thus involving the country in an unjust US-NATO-EU imperialist war,” KKE MEP Vasilis Metaxas said during the demonstration.

The protesters also denounced the fact that the transportation of the dangerous cargo was carried out in the middle of the day through a populated city where thousands of people live. The trucks were eventually forced to stop and take a different road. Slogans including “NATO Killers Go Home!” were written on them by the activists as the vehicles retreated.

After the trucks left, the protesters continued the demonstration with a march through the town, joined by local residents and the mayor of Tyrnavos, Stelios Tsikritsi.

“The people of Tyrnavos, with their fighting traditions, have sent their anti-war messages many times. We will not allow the cargo of death to pass through the city, will not allow the country to be further drawn into the imperialist slaughterhouse,” Tsikritsi said.

Greece, along with most of its EU peers, has sided with Kiev in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and has been supplying ammunition and other weapons to Ukraine. Last month, Athens signed a security agreement with Kiev, pledging to take part in training Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel for US-made F-16 fighter jets.

Russia has warned against Western military aid for Kiev, saying the supplies of weapons will only serve to prolong the conflict.