"The events for Alexander the Great are a carnival!"

The focus of the celebrations will be the central square of Skopje, "Macedonia", which now resembles Disneyland, dotted with small and large statues of figures of Greek and Bulgarian history, which the Skopjans are trying to assume as their own regarding them as ..."Macedonians."

The statue of Alexander the Great stands on the square, , at a height close to an eight-floor building, and its official name is "mounted warrior" in order not to provoke Greece. The platform from which PM Gruevski will speak to the crowd, which is expected to gather from across the country on buses that will take them to the capital for free, will be placed before the statue.

The event is expected to become a gathering for the governmental party of VMRO, since the largest opposition parties will not attend. Representatives from DUI, the co-governing Albanian party, will also be absent.

Georgievski’s comment in "Nova Macedonia" is quite sharp. "The celebration on the occasion of the 20 years from the country's independence, with the inauguration of the monument of Alexander of Macedonia, is nothing but a carnival, a historic triumph of paganism, not worthy of the significant anniversary," he said, explaining why he will not attend the Thursday fiesta.

Today is the official opening of the renovated international airport of Skopje, which was renamed "Aleksandar Veliki" in 2008, and is managed by a company of Turkish interests.