Thessaloniki mayor Boutaris blunder: Calls FYROM “Macedonia” (video)

Mr. Boutaris met with FYROM PM and President

Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris made another blunder on the heated topic of the name of FYROM,  after calling the small nation to the north of Greece’s borders “Macedonia” during his meeting with the Balkan country’s President Gjorge Ivanov and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Thursday. The meeting explored the prospects of furthering business collaborations between the Greek city and Skopje. Mr. Boutaris proposed a meeting between the eight mayors of the wider Thessaloniki area with those of FYROM to promote policies in specific fields such as waste management and social policy. Speaking to reporters in English following his meeting with Mr. Ivanov, Mr. Boutaris called FYROM “Macedonia” when he informed the press that he had proposed the next meeting between the Greek PM, Alexis Tsipras and “the PM of Macedonia”, as he said to take place in Thessaloniki.