Macedonia Faces Stark Environmental Challenges

This means that each Macedonian citizen would have to give up roughly one thousand euro for proper environmental protection to be carried out in the country, EU estimates show.

“That is around 37 percent of the [Macedonian] GDP, and this is a huge challenge for the country,” the ambassador said.

Fouere made the remark on Wednesday at a ceremony that marked the launch of a project aimed at strengthening the capacities of the country in running and managing regional waste disposal centres.

One of the main environmental problems that has been identified by local ecologists is inappropriate waste disposal.

Minister of Environment Nexhat Jakupi, who was also present at the ceremony, said the construction of modern waste depots is still in the preparatory stages.

But many Macedonians already suffer from unsatisfactory waste management practices.

A waste management dispute in the northwestern town of Tetovo last year highlighted this issue. Due to a disagreement between neighboring municipalities over the management of a local joint waste disposal centre, the residents of Tetovo suffered from an awful stench emitted from an improvised waste depot very close to the city centre for several months last year.