THESSALONIKI – Greece stands on the right side of history, US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis said following the military parade in Thessaloniki to commemorate the anniversary of October 28, 1040.

Tsunis, who began his statements in Greek, was among the officials attending the parade on the stand with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Both Greece and the United States have a particular duty to safeguard democracy, and one has to choose between two sides, democracy or totalitarianism, he said, referring to Russia on the latter. The anniversary celebrates not the end of World War II for Greece, but its resistance to oppressors; this fact “shows the Greek spirit and the Greek character”, Tsunis said.

When things get tough, when issues of justice and equality are threatened, “the Greeks show up,” the ambassador noted, as their ‘filotimo’ makes them fight when democracy is under threat.