Southern Balkan invisible spatialities
By Viki Mladenova
In October 2025 I conducted research in key localities along North Macedonia’s southern border with Greece, including Gevgelija and surrounding villages. The research is part of an ethnographic study examining how borderland communities experience, interpret, and navigate the long-standing migration corridor that continues to impact life in the region. The research trip included institutional meetings related to the formal transit centre and border crossing, as well as with local NGOs. I also conducted participant observation and group-style informal interviews with local residents and community actors.. The area remains a frontline of informal mobility infrastructures: state actors emphasise control and security, while local economies and everyday life are entangled with adaptive smuggling practices, precarious livelihoods, and limited institutional support.