Only days after promising to cooperate with the Govenrment and with UNESCO to preserve the unique cultural heritage of the lake Ohrid region, Struga Mayor Ramiz Merko flipped the switch on a kitschy light installation along the Crn Drim river.

The river is the main symbol of the city, whose bazaar area and many restaurants are built along it. Citizens were shocked when they saw the pink lights illuminating it. Merko paid 110,000 EUR for the installation and is likely planning to tout it in the coming mayoral campaign in October, even though the initial reaction is overwhelmingly negative.

The city has worked hard to built a reputation as a high culture destination, trying to rival Ohrid, and it hosts the Struga Poetry Evenings which have drawn world class poets and writers. But since the controversial 2004 redrawing of municipal borders, it has been under DUI party control, and is now the leading problem as the Ohrid region tries to preserve its UNESCO world heritage status.