Shekerinska: All Afghans evacuated to North Macedonia will be registered
Skopje, 25 August 2021 (MIA) – All Afghan nationals evacuated from their country will be registered upon their arrival to North Macedonia, Defence Minister Radmila Shekerinska said on Wednesday, adding that the public will be duly notified.
“They will be staying here temporarily before heading to their final destinations,” she told reporters.
The Minister said that she’s being very careful when talking about numbers and called on media outlets to exercise the same caution.
She also underlined that North Macedonia has previously been in a position to seek support from NATO and the EU, adding that now that the country’s a NATO member it must focus on the responsibility is has to offer assistance during this humanitarian disaster.
“As a country that knows the dangers of extremism, we must offer help and support,” Shekerinska told reporters.
The Minister also briefed that some of the evacuated Afghans who had been working for NATO will probably be transported to some of NATO’s European bases.
“NATO has already requested us to offer some type of additional support there, by sending officers in charge of civilian-military relations, public relations, medical and psychological assistance. As a member of NATO, we’ll define what capacities we can send to the Alliance’s bases across Europe where Afghan nationals who worked for the organizations will be evacuated to,” Shekerinska said.
The Defence Minister also stressed the size of the evacuation operation and the fact that the situation changes on a daily basis.