Lake Prespa, divided by means of 3 Balkan states — North Macedonia, Albania and Greece — has been at the area’s outer edge, as twentieth and Twenty first-century historical past noticed the 3 nations separated by means of political war of words.
Simplest 4 years in the past, the Prespa Settlement was once signed and the decades-long title dispute between Greece and North Macedonia was once resolved.
These days the spirit of this political settlement is already visual. Over the weekend of 18 and 19 June, the Meet Prespa Pageant was once held, uniting folks from all 3 aspects of the lake.
“It’s superb. It’s nice to be right here to rejoice this historical settlement with the folk from the native communities from North Macedonia, from Greece and past,” EU ambassador in North Macedonia David Beer mentioned.
“It’s evidence that lives can also be advanced and alter can happen.”
Artists, musicians, and meals business representatives from the 3 nations surrounding the lake took phase on the still-closed border between North Macedonia and Greece.
Panagiotis Paskalidis, the mayor of the municipality of Prespa in Greece, mentioned, “The day gone by we held a gathering inside the programme INTEREG [the EU initiative meant to support cross-border cooperation] for the advance of the area.”
“I believe {that a} vital step has been fascinated about regard to the border reference to the [Macedonian] Markova Noga crossing. It’s going to carry folks nearer in combination. A track tournament is already going down in Dupeni,” Paskalidis mentioned.
On the border level, Euronews noticed that the following village was once only one kilometre away throughout the true border — however to achieve it, one would wish to make a 180-kilometre go back and forth.
Other people from each side of the road are ready impatiently for North Macedonia and Greece to abide by means of their legal responsibility from the Prespa Settlement to open the border crossing level once imaginable.
