WW II veterans were placed on the official stage to watch the 28 October parade, while the attending officials were relegated to watching from the sidelines, in Stylida.

The notion that the US ambassador in Athens was a victim of surveillance by Greek intelligence services during his tenure as foreign minister was put forward by PASOK historic cadre Theodoros Pangalos.

Athens is now at the focus of the ongoing NSA eavesdropping saga, as German weekly "Der Spiegel" names the US Embassy in Athens as one of the covert eavesdropping centers.

The military parade in Thessaloniki has been characterized a "huge" issue by German media.