Publication Title
Macedonia and Identity Politics after the Prespa Agreement
Document Type
Book Chapter - Open Access
Department or Program
Anthropology
Publication Date
12-29-2020
Abstract
In this essay, I examine the history of the meaning of Prespa in order to understand its significance as the site for the signing of the agreement that bears its name. At certain times, Prespa has occupied positions of great political importance; at others, it has seemed to lie forgotten at the margins of the Balkans. I consider Prespa as the capital of the Bulgarian Empire, the site of the construction of the borders of new Balkan states, the capital of “Free Greece” during the Greek Civil War, the site of the Transboundary Prespa Park, and finally the place where the Prespa Agreement between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia was signed. I propose re-imagining the border between Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia by adopting metaphors from the ecological unity of the Transboundary Prespa Park. In this way it would be possible to recognize Macedonia itself as a truly transboundary place.
Recommended Citation
Danforth, L.M. 2020. ""Three Countries, Two Lakes, One Future:" The Prespa Lakes and the Signing of the Prespa Agreement.” in Macedonia and Identity Politics after the Prespa Agreement, edited by Vasiliki Neofotistos. London: Routledge.
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Bates College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Required Publisher's Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in Macedonia and Identity Politics After the Prespa Agreement on December 29, 2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367808761