Skopje, 16 April 2024 (MIA) – The additional Deputy Interior Minister, Mitko Bojmacaliev, together with the Public Security Bureau director Sasho Tasevski paid Tuesday a working visit to the Sector for International Police Cooperation at the Interior Ministry. 

The visit aimed at scanning past activities and mapping future ones, the Interior Ministry said. 

They met with top officials of the Sector for International Police Cooperation, the EUROPOL Department, the Interpol Department and the Search Department. This organizational unit, said the press release, is tasked with international coordination of the law enforcement bodies in charge of discovering and prosecuting criminals in the field of international police cooperation. 

Bojmacaliev and Tasevski were briefed by the Sector’s officials on the results achieved from 2017 until 2024, including the arrests of over 7,000 people after international warrants had been issued. 

“At the meeting, Bojmacaliev noted the successful organization of the 50th Interpol European Regional Conference, hosted last year by the Republic of North Macedonia in Ohrid, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the country’s membership in the world’s largest police organization and the 100th anniversary of Interpol. The Republic of North Macedonia marks three decades of credible partnership with Interpol by taking part in many operations of the organization as well as strong support for the development, connection and alignment of the national forensic system with Interpol’s systems,” said the Ministry. 

At the meeting, Bojmacaliev and Tasevski were informed about the successful modernization of the communications system of Interpol’s National Central Bureau. 

“With the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), we have had excellent cooperation in several areas of joint interest, including the fight against illicit drug trafficking, arms smuggling, the fight against illegal migration, the fight against corruption as well as cyber security, being a modern security challenge. North Macedonia and the Interior Ministry are a serious partner in the fight against crime and our country is also one of the signatories of the agreement for operational and strategic cooperation with Europol. At the meeting, Bojmacaliev and Tasevski were informed that the department has registered a significant increase of 45 percent of open cases and that it is connected to the SIENNA communications tool,” stated the press release. 

Photo: Interior Ministry