Skopje, 16 August 2023 (MIA) – North Macedonia has made the top 40 out of 163 countries on the Global Peace Index 2023 list, jumping from 94th place in 2016 to 38th place in 2023, Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"In the past six years, after I took over leadership at the Ministry of Interior, led by the premise that necessary changes to the Ministry must be based on real assessments, capacities and opportunities, we committed to implementing qulity reforms to encourage and support the changes made to the country's security sector.

"Ultimately, we established norms and the 'An Interior Ministry for the Public' concept, which guarantees the protection of human rights and freedoms, and stands as a strong defense against abuse and illegal activities," Spasovski said.

He added that those steps were taken with firm dedication to the rule of law in the security sphere.

"Within the Ministry of Interior, we established a series of essential reform and program initiatives in the last couple of years — improving working conditions by reconstructing 80 facilities, paying higher and bonus salaries, better equipping the police for the greater safety of citizens — which were, without a doubt, important for quality improvements in modern police work," Spasovski stressed. ssh/mr