Skopje, 17 October 2023 (MIA) – We have prevented 10.455 illegal border crossings in 2023, most of which were on the southern border with Greece, i.e., this year we’ve registered a drop of almost 50 percent in attempts to illegally cross the border compared to last year, said Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski in an interview for Germany daily newspaper Neue OZ.

When asked about the current situation with illegal migration, Spasovski said the numbers are much lower at present, but that North Macedonia remains an important transit country for those headed to the EU.

“The current situation on our borders is not comparable to the situation in 2015/16. At that time, more than a million people travelled to the European Union through the Balkan route. Back then in North Macedonia we registered 10.000-12.000 border crossings a day. Today the numbers are much lower, but North Macedonia remains an important transit country for those headed to the EU,” said Spasovski.

In terms of the origin of the migrants, Minister Spasovski said most of them are coming from Morocco, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. 

“Professional smugglers carry these people through the border. In North Macedonia, in the first eight months we discovered 74 attempts to smuggle a total of 734 migrants. We are consistently tackling smuggling and so far we have initiated procedures against 68 smugglers in the first eight months,” said Spasovski.

The Interior Minister said North Macedonia is only a transit country for most migrants, adding that the people, regardless of their origin, want to move to safer countries with stable economies such as Germany, Austria, and the Scandinavian countries.

Photo: MoI