A huge banner saying "US killers go home" greeted US marines heading for Kosovo when they landed in Greece yesterday. But that was the only anti-American incident.
Greece is a member of NATO. But it is also a traditional friend of the fellow-Christian Orthodox Serbs, and has contributed no troops or aircraft to NATO's Yugoslav campaign, which has been highly unpopular among Greeks.
"The first thing we saw on the beach was a giant banner which had `US killers go home' written on it," a marine said as members of the 2,200-strong force entered Macedonia at Evzoni frontier post after travelling through Greece.
"We are a peacekeeping force. There is a misunderstanding here," the marine said.
Previous protests hindered the passage of US troops heading through Greece to Macedonia.
Greece had blocked the disembarkation of the 2,200 marines for several days, saying they could cross its territory only when it was certain they would enter Kosovo as peacekeepers only.
The government in Athens has been particularly wary of letting the US troops through this week, seeking to win favour with voters before European Parliament elections on Sunday.
The marines had been kept waiting since last Sunday aboard three US ships off the port of Thessaloniki.
Before they landed on Litohoro beach near Thessaloniki, the main transit point for NATO troops and supplies into Macedonia, hundreds of Greek riot police pushed about 500 demonstrators back from the beach.
The protesters, mostly from the Greek Communist Party, chanted such slogans as "Yankees go home" and "American murderers" as they were pushed back.
The marines travelled about 280km (175 miles) across northern Greece to the Macedonian frontier to join the NATO-led force of some 50,000 troops preparing to enter Kosovo.
There were no more protesters at the Greek-Macedonian border and the marines' progress through Greece appeared to go without a hitch.
Reporters saw convoys cross the border with marines in buses and at least 12 of the amphibious assault craft in which they had landed at Litohoro beach near Thessaloniki.