Washington, 13 December 2024 (MIA) - North Macedonia's counterterrorism efforts during 2023 included harmonizing strategic documents with EU legislation and international standards, strengthening capacity to investigate and prosecute terrorism-related crimes, and exchanging information to prevent radicalization to violence, combat terrorism, and reintegrate returnees, according to the latest U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism.  

"In May the government adopted national CT and CVE strategies and their respective action plans, which focus on prevention, online radicalization to violence, “right-wing extremism,” reintegration, the need for specialized trainings for police officers and social workers, and updated strategic priorities, including the establishment of a database of returnees. North Macedonia cooperated with U.S. CT efforts, including in early detection," reads the report. 

The 2023-27 National CVE Strategy, it adds, was finalized with the support of European Commission experts. 

The report notes that the main perceived terrorist threats stemmed from previously repatriated FTFs from Syria and Iraq, and domestic “extremist” terrorism.

"The National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism and Countering Terrorism (NCCVECT) estimated that 143 citizens of North Macedonia (excluding children) traveled or attempted to travel to Syria or to Iraq, or both, to join terrorist groups in recent years. Of these 143 adults (133 males, 10 females), only four are believed to remain in a displaced persons camp in northeast Syria. By the end of 2023, North Macedonia had repatriated 19 displaced and 11 detained nationals from northeast Syria. Authorities assessed the terrorist threat level to be “medium,” considering the war in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East, and the presence of former ISIS members and sympathizers," the country report reads.

There were no terrorist incidents reported in 2023.

North Macedonia’s legislative framework, the U.S. State Department says, allows for prosecution of suspects and accomplices in terrorist activities or individuals participating in foreign wars, adding that sentencing for terrorism-related offenses improved significantly, compared with previous years and with other Western Balkans countries, and the U.S. Department of Justice provided mentoring and battlefield evidence to case prosecutors and investigators.

"In July, the Skopje Appellate Court increased the sentence of an FTF repatriated in 2021 for spreading ISIS propaganda from six to eight years in prison. In August, the Organized Crime and Corruption Public Prosecution Office indicted two FTFs for their participation in an enemy army," it adds.

The report notes that North Macedonia is a member of MONEYVAL and its Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Intelligence Office (FIO), is a member of the Egmont Group. In 2023, the FIO submitted six reports on suspicion of terrorist financing to competent authorities for processing. The country has continued its participation in the implementation of the EU Western Balkans Joint Action Plan on counterterrorism, and strengthened its cooperation with Europol and Eurojust.

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