Skopje, 19 September 2023 (MIA) - Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski took part in a panel discussion at the International School on Migration titled "Humanitarian Aspect of Mixed Migration Flows," which was held on Tuesday at the Red Cross Education Center in Struga.

The panel discussion examined two topics: "Migration and Influence on the Domestic Population and Public Institutions" and "The Importance of Interinstitutional Cooperation." Spasovski spoke through a prism of experiences and insights of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the phenomenon of migration, as an institution that was and is directly involved in many migration issues.

"The migration wave of 2015/2016 that took over Europe, including our country as an integral part of the transit corridor of the so-called Western Balkan migration route, demonstrated- a series of weaknesses in Europe- that the influence of such seriously impacts society on many spheres- economic, security, health, humanitarian, social, etc." Spasovski said.

He added that the impact of migration on the domestic public and public institutions is inevitable, but whether and what will be its results mainly depends on their preparedness, maturity, functionality, in coming up with an appropriate response.

"Referring to the experiences of 2015/2016, in Europe, and even North Macedonia, within the past few years many conceptual, regulatory and institutional innovations were made and brought in order to effectively prevent the negatives and problems that come with migration flows. Readiness and successfully managing migration have already become issues of national interest. There are almost no institutions that have not been affected by the emergence of the migration movement, to a greater or lesser extent," Minister Spasovski added.

In terms of the second topic, and the importance of interinstitutional cooperation, Minister Spasovski said that it has been concluded that migration is not an exclusively national issue and that dealing with it must first be done through a wider harmonized regularity framework at the EU level.

"From the Ministry's perspective, in recent years and in accordance with out organizational, personnel and financial capacities, and in close cooperation with our partners from the EU and United States, managed to improve our activities in several segments, especially in the area of registration, record keeping, control and safety of migrants, while taking into account the internal security of the citizens of North Macedonia, including the regional and global safety," Spasovski noted.

In regard to previous discussions, he adds, it can be concluded that it is necessary to constantly upgrade public and institutional capacities, in order to always have an adequate response that will minimize and reduce the possibility for creating or overflowing problems in social functioning. ssh/sk/

Photo: Ministry of Internal Affairs