It was Independence Day in the Republic of North Macedonia, a landlocked Balkan country sharing borders with Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo. Along the northern shores of Lake Ohrid, bright yellow sunbeams of North Macedonian flags fluttered in the breeze that swept down from the Jablanica Mountains as bands played, rakia flowed, and beers were cracked open in celebration of independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991.
However, it was coincidence, rather than by design, that my trip coincided with these annual festivities. Instead, I was heading to Vevčani, a fascinating village with its own little-known history of independence.
My bus left the lakeside revelry behind, and we turned into the foothills of the nation’s mountainous western border with Albania. As we entered the village, there were few signs of a party atmosphere. The North Macedonian flag was flying outside the local government building, but it wasn’t alone. Next to it, flew a flag I’d never seen before.
“That’s the flag of the Republic of Vevčani,” said Aleksandra Velkoska, a former tour guide who now works for the Vevčani municipality. “We don’t celebrate independence today. Vevčani has its own independence to celebrate.”