THE GOOD NEWS FROM GREECE. Can Thessaloniki point the way?
THE GOOD NEWS FROM GREECE. Can Thessaloniki point the way?

Author(s): Author Not Specified
Subject(s): Politics, Civil Society, Public Administration
Published by: ESI – European Stability Initiative
Keywords: Yannis Boutaris; reforming Greece;
Summary/Abstract: He has always been a man of the left. He entered politics with the backing of the Communist Party in local elections in 2002. In his campaigns he promised liberation from a conservative status quo that had kept society “dwelling in darkness.” He assailed the corruption of his predecessor, who is now in jail. In 2010 he won the election for mayor by a mere 300 votes. He rejected his predecessor’s expensive limousine and is often seen on a bike. He never wears a tie. In 2014, he was re-elected as mayor of Greece’s second city by a huge margin. || … || And yet in one important respect, Boutaris remains in a category of his own: he is a reformer whom both Greek voters and outside observers have embraced as credible. European media tell the tale of a hero slaying fiscal monsters. Der Spiegel called him a “reform hero.” The New York Times wrote that Boutaris “showed Athens how it is done.” In 2014, The Economist praised his city’s “exemplary” transformation. In short, Boutaris came to be the good news story from Greece. How did this happen? And does the story of Thessaloniki suggest a way out of Greece’s current imbroglio?

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