When an EU ambassador says he is "shocked," that's usually not diplomatic language - and that's exactly what Michalis Rokas said after visiting the Struga landfill. "I'm shocked by the scale of the problem," he said. "I knew the landfill wasn't up to standards, but to see it so close to the city, a few hundred meters from homes, very close to the river and the water supply, and to the lake too - that's truly discouraging." The numbers explain the concern. The landfill sits just 500 meters from the nearest homes, dangerously close to the Crn Drim river and about two kilometers from Lake Ohrid. According to environmental activists, the waste pile reached around 22 meters in 2021, and today stands at about 30 meters high. All of it in a region under UNESCO protection. Here is that eternal Balkan story everyone talks about and few actually solve. The EU backs a long-term regional waste-treatment solution in Novaci, but it's delayed - and while everyone waits, the landfill grows by the day. Mayor Mendi Qura confirmed the situation remains unchanged and that over the summer they won't allow waste burning, to prevent fires. That's the most on offer for now: a promise that it won't burn. The question that imposes itself is simple and uncomfortable. Why did it take a foreign ambassador showing up on site to say "I'm shocked" for anyone to talk about something the local population has lived with for years? The people of Struga didn't discover anything new - they breathe the problem every day. Back in August 2025 a complaint was even filed with the European Court of Human Rights over violation of the right to privacy and access to justice. The landfill beside Lake Ohrid isn't just an environmental problem - it's a test of how seriously we take our own nature. When something as beautiful and as globally valued as the Ohrid region is left to rot a few hundred meters from drinking water, the question is no longer technical. The question is - what exactly are we waiting for?