by Patrizio Nissirio

(ANSA) - THESSALONIKI - Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris is not afraid to go against the flow if he believes it is in the interest of the city he had administered since 2011. "To me immigrants and refugees are one and the same," he said in an interview with ANSAmed. "Europe is not doing what it should? Let us mayors agree to take them in so as to share the burden. And, instead of keeping them there doing nothing, let's send the children to school and employ the adults in seasonal work. Rather than taking people from the Balkans and other countries, would it not be better if the work was done by the Syrians who are already here?" Boutaris, a wine entrepreneur whose family business is the biggest in Greece, was elected as an independent candidate to govern Thessaloniki six years ago and encountered a dramatic situation when he arrived, with a budget shortfall of 50 million euros, his predecessor in prison and funding for municipalities slashed by 40% amid a severe economic crisis. Not to be discouraged, he cut local spending by 30%, reduced the number of city employees from 5,500 to 3,500, obtained funding from Europe and even managed to cut local taxes and pay off the administration's debt. "Today the accounts are in order, even if we could do better," Boutaris continued.

"My idea now is that to build a future for Thessaloniki, including an economic one, the city needs to know and use its past. The Jews, the Turks and then the Greeks have lived here.

So we have projects to rediscover all these identities," he added. "We celebrate Jewish history, which goes back to the time of St Paul. Then we are establishing a Sephardic language school.

And then there is Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, who came from Thessaloniki. This has to be of interest to us. His house reopened to the public as a museum in 2015, we have named the road after him as it once was. Many people are angry about this; they don't like the Turks and insult me, but others approve. The result? More than 100,000 Turkish visitors to the city in a year," Boutaris said. Despite his strong personality - tattoos on his hands and an earring bear witness to his originality - the mayor explains that he "doesn't like arguments". "In order to do my job I need to get on with the government, whatever government. I am not a fan of Syriza, but when I go to Athens I need to find doors open and a listening ear. A mayor mustn't think about a political party, but rather about doing his job." Thessaloniki emerges as a virtuous and winning answer to the Greek crisis. And the symbol of this revival is the extraordinary facelift given to kilometres of seafront, which are now enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people as an equipped public area (the prizewinning project 'Paralia-zo' is by the local firm Nikiforidis-Cuomo). "I don't like it very much, it was my predecessor's project," Boutaris said. "We are the only seaside city in the Mediterranean that doesn't have boats on the coast, a marina. That project separates the city from the sea. But this is something we will correct," he added.

And, given his unstoppable determination, it is certain that he will succeed. (ANSA).