Thousands Protest in Greece Against New ID Cards

Around 5,000 people gathered in Thessaloniki on Sunday to protest against a new type of ID card set to be introduced later this month,

This is reported by Keep Talking Greece.

Carrying Greek flags and banners, the protesters assembled near the iconic White Tower of the city, a former fortification structure on the waterfront. They chanted slogans and sang the national anthem, also playing a recording of a speech by the late former head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, who had warned against enemies of the Greek people.

Later, they marched through the city centre and dispersed without any incidents.

The machine-readable cards are intended to replace the current ID documents, containing the same information such as name, parent's name, address, and height. The only additional optional information is blood type.

However, conspiracy theories have arisen, with some claiming that the new IDs contain chips that would allow the government to precisely determine cardholders' locations or even control their consciousness.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed frustration with the spread of such information and stated at a recent cabinet meeting that the ID cards will not contain "any chips, cameras, or eavesdropping devices."

The religious ties of the protesters pose a challenge for the Greek Church, with some bishops encouraging the protests. Archbishop Hieronymus of Athens, who lacks the fiery rhetoric of his predecessor Christodoulos, stated that the Church's Holy Synod would make a statement on the IDs in a few days and called for "prudence and caution."

Next weekend, another protest is scheduled to take place in the Greek capital, Athens.

The new ID cards, which comply with the pan-European standard, will become mandatory by August 2026.

The replacement of identification cards with the next-generation cards is an obligation for Greece towards the European Union and the United States. This is due to pressure from the visa waiver program for Greeks traveling to the U.S. for tourism or business purposes.

Reports have also indicated that a committee has already been formed to examine the technical specifications of the next-generation ID cards, which may include fingerprint data and iris scans. Radical Christian organizations are actively protesting against the introduction of the new ID cards, viewing them as the "mark of the antichrist."