Macedonia’s River Rubbish Makes Waves in Greece

Greek lawmakers are complaining that piles of plastic waste floating down the river Vardar, known in Greece as the Axios, are entering Greece and emptying in to the Thessaloniki bay.

Theodoros Karaoglou, deputy from the main opposition conservative New Democracy party and a member of the parliamentary committee on environmental protection, has recently alerted the Greek Minister of Environment, Tina Birbili, about the problem in a letter.

He says the river on the Greek side is now full of plastic bottles, bags filled with garbage and logs that are flowing down to pollute Greek tourist resorts such as Leptokaria, Nei Pori, Platamona, Paralia and Litohoro.

Macedonia's Ministry of Environment admits the problem and says it is taking the matter seriously.

Lidija Zafirovska, state secretary at the ministry, blames people’s low environmental awareness and last year’s floods for the raised level of waste that is pouring from Macedonia in to Greece.

“We are constantly on the ground taking notes and pursuing those who illegally dump waste near the riverbanks," she said. "The situation last year was further complicated as the river on several occasions flooded surrounding areas and took the garbage dumped there along with it."

Zafirovska says they are hoping to install special nets in the river by the end of this year that will catch the chunks of waste floating in the river.

In addition, Macedonia recently started building several purification stations along the river that are due to open this year. The stations should improve the chemical quality of the water.

Macedonia and Greece have a longstanding dispute over the use of the name "Macedonia". Greece is blocking Macedonia's entry into NATO and its progress towards EU membership as long as Skopje continues to use the name. Athens argues that the name Macedonia implies a territorial claim to the northern province of Greece also called Macedonia.