STORY: Greece celebrates Oxi Day with military parade
SHOOTING TIME: Oct. 28, 2024
DATELINE: Oct. 29, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:07
LOCATION: THESSALONIKI, Greece
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the military parade
2. SOUNDBITE (Greek): NIKOS DENDIAS, Greek Defense Minister
3. various of the military parade

STORYLINE:

Greece celebrated the 84th anniversary of "Oxi Day" with a large military parade on Monday in Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city.

"Oxi" means "no" in Greek. 

On October 28, 1940, the Italian ambassador to Greece met the then Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and asked for passage of the Italian forces through Greece.
   
"Oxi," replied Metaxas, "I will not allow your forces to cross through Greece."

The rejection of Benito Mussolini's ultimatum to surrender marked Greece's entry into World War II against fascist Italy.

SOUNDBITE (Greek): NIKOS DENDIAS, Greek Defense Minister
"We are moving forward with the largest reform of the Greek armed forces ever in the modern Greek state, which we have named 'Agenda 2030.' Our goal is to build the strongest armed forces we have ever had. This will, in turn, allow them to keep filling us with pride, as they do today, and to safeguard the essential values of national independence and dignity."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Thessaloniki, Greece.
(XHTV)