"Hundreds of people rallied outside the Greek Parliament in Athens on Tuesday, denouncing the 2026 budget as lawmakers voted on the spending plan. Footage shows protesters gathering in front of the Parliament building and chanting while holding banners, union flags, and placards. Police can also be seen deployed outside the compound to maintain public order. "We are here with workers, freelancers, the youth, with the farmers' uprising, to show our opposition to this disgraceful budget of poverty and war. We demand now a support of the people's income, measures against high prices so we can live as humans," Giorgios Stefanakis, member of the Board of Directors of Panhellenic Federation of Workers in Tourism and Food Industries, declared. "It is a budget of war and poverty, it promotes the 'Schengen' of war and the military mobility foreseeing a military expense of 100 billion, which is proof of where we are heading," a member of the military special forces added. The budget plan proposed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which includes €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) in income tax cuts and support, was condemned by protesters who say it prioritises military spending over their daily living needs. A 24-hour strike by social, education, and medical workers was also held to denounce the government plan. Media reports said demonstrators also expressed solidarity with farmers staging highway blockades over delays in EU aid and other payments. The budget plan, expected to witness a 2.4 percent increase in GDP next year, was passed on Tuesday with 159 votes in favour and 136 against."