Macedonia has unveiled its version of the Arc de Triomphe — a grandiose, neoclassical object to go with an equally outsize monument of Alexander the Great in the capital's main square.
Prime Minister Nicola Gruevski, who inaugurated the monument Friday, has called "Porta Macedonia" — the arch’s official name — a symbol of triumph for a nation that won its independence 21 years ago.
But opposition social democrats have assailed the €4.4 million ($5.6 million) arch, part of a €200 million construction project of monuments and neoclassical buildings in the Macedonian capital, as a waste of money in a nation that is one of Europe’s poorest, with unemployment at 32 percent.
Sculptor Valentina Stevanovska created both the 21-meter (69-foot) -high arch and the Alexander the Great monument.
