Macedonia Plans Independence Day Spectacle

The statue of Alexander the Great will be at the centre of festivities | Photo by: Balkan Insight

Macedonia's government is planning an ambitous range of events to mark 20 years since the country voted for independence from Yugoslavia.

As the centrepiece event, the authorities are planning to officially unveil an imposing new monument to Alexander the Great.

The 24-metre-high equestrian statue of the ancient warrior king, on the city's central Macedonia square, forms a key part of the city revamp known as Skopje 2014.

“We are preparing an unprecedented spectacle, with artists lifted by cranes, balloon performance, lightshow and fireworks,” a source close to the organization of the event told Balkan Insight.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is expected to address the nation standing in front of the statue. No foreign dignitaries will be there to hear his speech. Unnamed government sources recently told the daily Vest that they were deliberately not invited so as to avoid unnecessary unpleasantries with neighbouring Greece.

Athens sees the erection of the statue to Alexander as a provocation and as an attempt to steal what they say is a Greek historical figure. Macedonia and Greece are locked in a longstanding dispute over the country's name, to which Athens objects. As a result, Greece has blocked the country's entry into NATO and the EU.

The Macedonia arch is nearing completion | Photo by: Balkan Insight

The authorities also plan to open a 22-metre-high marble arch called Macedonia, also in the centre of the city, as well as a museum dedicated to Macedonia's struggle for independence.

As part of the official ceremony a parade of army guards led by the parliament speaker, Trajko Vejanoski, will transport the declaration of independence adopted on January 25, 1991 from the parliamentary archive to the museum.

Along the way the parade will go through the marble arch, and pass the Alexander statue and two new fountains that have been constructed beside the Vardar River.

Skopje will also receive the first shipment of some long anticipated retro style double-decker buses. Sixty-eight of a total of 220 buses ordered from China will offer people a free ride to Skopje’s Alexander the Great airport where the opening of the new passenger terminal will take place.

The airport’s concessionaire, Turkish TAV, is currently finishing a major overhaul, including a brand new passenger terminal, ten times bigger than the existing one and an extension of the runway in order to accommodate larger planes.

The Skopje 2014 project was first unveiled in 2009. Critics object to its cost and lament the project's reliance on architectural styles drawn from Classical Antiquity, but it is proving popular enough with the general public.

The museum of Macedonian independence | Photo by: Balkan Insight

The project envisages the erection of at least 15 new buildings, including theatres, concert halls, office buildings and museums. Besides the arch, the plan envisages an obelisk, several large fountains and two new bridges. Some 20 tall statues and over 100 smaller ones have been erected already, or await erection.

The government maintains that the bill for the entire project comes in at under 80 million euro. The opposition insists that it will cost over 500 million euro in the end.

On September 8, 1991, Macedonia held a referendum in which 95 per cent of those who took part opted for independence from the former federation, which was already dissolving in violence. However, unlike other parts of former Yugoslavia, Macedonia departed from Yugoslavia without any actual bloodshed.