Galery

1

"I am enjoying solitude," said Yiannis Boutaris, confirming that his relationship with 52-year-old Austrian Gabriela Scheiner is already in the past.

THe mayor of Thessaloniki did not hesitate to speak about his personal life in an interview with internet radio Amagi. He spoke first about his wife who lost her battle with life and whom he loved more than anything else. "She was my life," said Boutaris.

Asked about the current situation in his personal life, he replied that finding a partner at his age was very difficult and he was enjoying his solitude for the time being.

The mayor met Gabriela Scheiner 13 years ago at an event associated with declaring the city the cultural capital of Europe and afterwards they often appeared together during various events.

He said about her, "She speaks Greek better than you and me, she is very kind, she has helped many non-profit organizations, supported the social policy of the municipality and today she is involved in the Greek-German cooperation."

As the mayor said, he was consciously looking for a companion in life after the death of his wife Athena with whom e had lived for 50 years. Finally, he found what he was looking for in Viennese Gabriela Scheiner, with whom he celebrated the New Year in Austria.

"It was extremely difficult, as I was old but I had not given up the idea of ​​an intimate relationship. I was looking for warmth, comfort, love, friendship, not for a substitute for my wife," says Yiannis Boutaris.

In the 1990s, Gabriela Scheiner gave up dancing training in Austria after an accident that did not allow her to continue to be engaged in theatre. Travelling at that time, she found herself in Greece and she has not left it since. She ended up in the country at a time when she felt lost, as she did not know what she would be engaged in besides dancing.

Gabriela Scheiner was born, and grew up, in Austria, where she was involved in music and dancing. In Greece, she lived in Athens at first and then subsequently in Thessaloniki, when the city was the European Capital of Culture. Finally, she was fascinated by Prespa where she established her own non-profit organization in 2000, namely Cultural Triangle - Prespa.