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		</div><p>Protesters clashed with police outside the parliament in Athens during a rally that drew tens of thousands of people against the Greece-Macedonia name deal.</p>
<p>At least 25 officers were injured and seven people arrested, police said.</p>
<p>Demonstrators threw rocks, flares, firebombs, paint and other objects at riot police, who responded with repeated volleys of tear gas.</p>
<figure id="attachment_124430" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124430" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/355C0DBE-3A44-4C3D-B9E2-B154587276D7.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-124430" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/355C0DBE-3A44-4C3D-B9E2-B154587276D7.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-124430" class="wp-caption-text">Demonstrators clash with Greek riot police</figcaption></figure>
<p>Some protesters jumped over a fence and tried to scale the steps but officers chased them back down.</p>
<p>One man draped in a Greek flag attacked police with a large stick, while others swung big flags on wooden poles and struck officers.</p>
<p>People attending the rally said large clouds of tear gas led many to abandon the protest.</p>
<p>The square in front of parliament had nearly emptied out by early evening, though small groups of protesters continued to clash with officers.</p>
<figure id="attachment_124432" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124432" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/C7BB2C2A-B0D2-44B3-A77F-6339CDFD2E9E.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-124432" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/C7BB2C2A-B0D2-44B3-A77F-6339CDFD2E9E.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-124432" class="wp-caption-text">A demonstrator uses the Greek flag to battle riot police</figcaption></figure>
<p>Greece’s parliament is expected to start a debate Monday on ratifying the deal and vote on it by Friday.</p>
<p>Macedonia’s parliament has already approved it, agreeing the country would go by the name North Macedonia.</p>
<p>Macedonia and Greece struck the deal in June to end a decades-long dispute over the name, which Greece says harbours territorial claims on its northern province of the same name.</p>
<p>Protesters are against the deal because they believe any use of the name Macedonia in the neighbouring country’s name is a usurpation of ancient Greek heritage and implies territorial claims on Greece.</p>
<figure id="attachment_124433" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124433" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/3332D085-09A9-4E46-B99B-FA2910DB8079.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-124433" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/3332D085-09A9-4E46-B99B-FA2910DB8079.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="407" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-124433" class="wp-caption-text">Greek riot police chases demonstrators</figcaption></figure>
<p>A statement from the office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras blamed “extremist elements and members of Golden Dawn” – an extreme-right, anti-immigrant party – for the clashes on Sunday.</p>
<p>It said: “In our democracy, citizens’ free expression is an inalienable right, even for those who want to abolish democracy … it is also the duty and obligation of those of us who do believe not to allow them. Let’s isolate and condemn them.”</p>
<p>Police said in a statement that officers had been attacked by “organised groups of individuals with special ferocity, (using) rocks, iron bars, wooden clubs, firebombs, etc. … police forces acted according to operational plans and orders, showed restraint and professionalism and, using the appropriate methods, repelled the attacks.”</p>
<p>Protest organisers said they hoped to attract more than 600,000 people. Police released an official estimate of 60,000.</p>
<figure id="attachment_124434" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124434" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/127D26F3-D90A-488C-9DAE-3BD9A2E41477.jpeg"><img class="size-full wp-image-124434" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/127D26F3-D90A-488C-9DAE-3BD9A2E41477.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-124434" class="wp-caption-text">Protesters wave Greek flags outside parliament in Athens</figcaption></figure>
<p>While organisers said about 3,000 buses would travel from northern Greece alone, police said a total of 327 had arrived from across the country Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Among the people who addressed the protest were former conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, a member of the Mount Athos monastic community and a Greek-American former politician, Chris Spirou, who was once a member of New Hampshire’s House of Representatives.</p>
<p>In northern Greece, farmers temporarily blocked the highway leading to the Macedonian border in solidarity. It later reopened.</p>
<p>About 300 anarchists staged a counter-demonstration on Sunday. Police erected barriers to prevent clashes.</p>
<p>After their otherwise peaceful rally, anarchists burned a car with official licence plates.</p>
<p> ;</p>
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