Part of 'Skopje 2014' Struck Down in Constitutional Court

Among the problematic elements of the project is the colossal building that was set to house the Constitutional Court itself together with the archeological museum and the national archive, the judges said on Wednesday afternoon.

The planned building for the state prosecution and the one already under construction for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also deemed unlawful.

Some of the monuments foreseen in the project, like the particularly controversial triumphal arch, the obelisk opposite the parliament building and a giant statue of the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great were also problematic.

The judges found that the Skopje central municipality made the decisions for these buildings under a shortened procedure and thus neglected the provisions of the laws that at that time did not allow for such an abridged procedure.

“There is a formal breach of the procedure which is unfortunately filled with politics,” Constitutional Judge Trendafil Ivanovski told media.

Local architect Miroslav Grcev, a harsh critic of the project, brought the case to the Constitutional Court in February this year.

The municipality, which in many cases is only the formal bearer of the projects which were paid for by the government, now has two options, either to tear down the problematic buildings and statues or to start a fresh planning process that would include several stages such as drafting, public debate and presentation.

Among the buildings that got the green light from the Court were the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and the National Theatre. Both of these projects are nearing their final stages of construction.
 
The erected bronze statues of the Macedonian revolutionaries from the Ottoman era, Goce Delcev and Dame Gruev, were deemed acceptable as well as the large marble statue of the first Macedonian president, Metodija Andonov-Cento.

Presented in February as an endeavor to bring back the old glitter to a city full of its fair share of gray architecture from the communist era, the revamp project includes plans for at least 17 large statues and about 15 buildings that will depict classical architecture styles.

The entire project has been kept largely under wraps since it began, which stirred controversy right from the start. Many objected to its high cost, estimated by some at over €200 million, and the authorities’ reluctance to disclose precise figures. Others were disappointed by the lack of public debate while some disputed its architectural value.