Macedonia’s ‘warrior’ monument infuriates Greece

A statue of a 'warrior on horseback' resembling Alexander the Great, currently being erected in the centre of Macedonian capital Skopje, has sparked fury in Greece, which warned that Skopje was gambling with its EU membership aspirations with such provocations.

In a phenomenon that emerged in cities as diverse as Skopje, Niš and Split, the states of the former Yugoslavia were swept by a craze for megalomaniac monuments. Croatian writer Jurica Pavicic examines the vogue for these nationalist monstrosities, and concludes their goal is to rewrite history.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Macedonia to hold referendum on new name http://www.europeansources.info/record/macedonia-to-hold-referendum-on-new-name/

Jutarnji List, 3.10.11: Balkan delusions of grandeur (via PressEurop) http://www.presseurop.eu//en/content/article/1016391-balkan-delusions-grandeur

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