Protests as Greek PM seeks rebound from fires

Thousands of police were deployed in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki Saturday ahead of protests during a policy speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who seeks to repair political damage from summer wildfires.

Halfway through his four-year term, Mitsotakis has seen his conservative party’s ratings flag after wildfires destroyed over 100,000 hectares of forest, farmland and crops around the country.

Unions on Saturday will demonstrate against recent laws on overtime and strikes, and over expected price hikes later this year. Over 5,000 police have been deployed in the city in response.

The prime minister is expected to announce measures targeting growth, the state ANA agency said Saturday.

The New Democracy party’s lead over the leftist Syriza party fell to 10.1 percent in August from between 12.8 and 16.5 percent in July.