Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella is currently on an official state visit to Greece, where he will join Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos to observe the military parade this Sunday in Thessaloniki, to commemorate 28 October 1940.

After the military parade, both Presidents will visit the island of Cephalonia to pay tribute to the fallen Italian soldiers of Acqui Division and the Greeks who died in the National Resistance, at the respective monuments.

Events in Thessaloniki celebrating its patron saint St. Demetrios, its liberation and the 28 October national holiday will open on Friday in Thessaloniki.

‘OHI’ Day (meaning ‘NO’) is celebrated throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities around the world on 28 October each year. OHI Day commemorates the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1940, the Hellenic counterattack against the invading Italian forces at the mountains of Pindus during the Greco-Italian War, and the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation.