President Karolos Papoulias has appealed to Greeks to think carefully about their actions and the crisis their country is in after hundreds of protesters blocked annual military parades from taking place in Thessaloniki and several other cities.

Papoulias issued a statement several hours after leaving the podium in Thessaloniki, where the president had been called a “traitor” by some of the protestors.

Papoulias fought in the Second World War as a teenager and decided to leave Friday’s event, marking 71 years since Greece refused fascist Italy’s request to accept its troops, after it became clear that the protesters blocking the route would not leave.

“Everything that happened in Thessaloniki today gives us an opportunity to pause for a moment and collect our thoughts,” he said. “How do you measure a majority? By the participation in protest or through elections, which happen every four years, as the constitution dictates?

“There are rights and there is their abuse, there is justified rage and there is its perversion.”

Papoulias suggested that Greeks would have to seriously consider the implications of Friday’s events as part of the country’s effort to overcome its economic crisis.

“I highlight these points because I believe our country’s exit from the crisis is not just a question of numbers but a deeply political issue and an even deeper cultural one.”

Prime Minister George Papandreou condemned the protests, which occurred in several other cities apart from Thessaloniki, as an insult to Greece’s “national struggles and institutions”.

Thessaloniki police said that protesters had gathered behind crush barriers but broke through the obstacles shortly before Papoulias arrived, overpowering the officers lining the parade route.

The protesters were identified by the police as belonging “to one political party and other social, sporting and nationalist groups”. Police said that after the protesters made it onto the road, many other onlookers followed them, making it impossible for officers to force them back and for the parade to take place.

The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) issued a statement supporting the protests, calling them a “spontaneous intervention by the people.”

“The message was clear: Stop destroying society, stop our country’s decline and let’s fight for our decency.”