US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt on Thursday said that the plan to build the Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki is an extremely important initiative for Greece, considering the key role that the Jewish community has played in the city's history.

The ambassador was speaking at the Jewish Museum in Thessaloniki, where he was briefed on the construction work's progress by David Saltiel, the president of both the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece and the city's Jewish community, and the president of the Board of Directors of the Thessaloniki Holocaust Museum Foundation former mayor George Boutaris. The US Consul General in Thessaloniki Gregory Pfleger was also present at the meeting.

Speaking to Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), Pyatt said he was pleased that Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos had taken a leading role in the project and expressed confidence for what he called a potentially very strong cooperation between the Holocaust Museum in Washington and the museum that will be built in Thessaloniki.