The Fall of the Iron Curtain between Greece and Bulgaria. Inquiry into Remote Macedonia and Rhodopi
La disparition du rideau de fer gréco-bulgare: enquête aux confins de la Macédoine et du Rhodope
Résumé
The opening of the Hellenic northern borders at the beginning of the 1990s has upset the local space planning originating in the settlement of the iron curtain almost fifty years ago. The Bulgarian european integration of 2007 foreshadows the total disappearance of a dividing line that has deeply structured the surrounding territory and the national mindsets since its establishment one century ago. Is it the announced ending of one of those highly disputed Balkan borders issued from endless armed conflicts? Through reconnaissance missions achieved in more than ten years of interval this paper focuses on the Greek-Bulgarian territories’ changes which occurred in the remote Macedonia and Rhodopi.