Skopje, 29 June 2023 (MIA) - Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski opened the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI) Regional Committee Meeting and Forum on Thursday at the MP's Club marking the end of North Macedonia's Chairmanship.

Ministers and senior officials from countries in the region took part in the forum - Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, as well as representatives from international organizations - International Organization for Migration (IOM), OSCE Mission to Skopje, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

"Today marks the end of North Macedonia's MARRI Chairmanship, which began when Covid restrictions were being lifted. During our chairmanship, a total of 28 events were organized and attended by a huge number of members from administrations, partner and non-governmental organizations, which is exactly what we wanted and made it a reality, especially when it comes to the fight against human trafficking and migrant smuggling," said Spasovski.

Minister Spasovski noted that North Macedonia has invested efforts into continuing the reform process at MARRI and during the chairmanship a number of meetings were held in order to harmonize the documents that resulted from the work of the working group in charge of the process.

Expressing satisfaction from chairing MARRI, Spasovski emphasized the success from the new partnerships with relevant organizations, and deepening the already established cooperation with related organizations - IOM, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency - Frontex.

Minister Spasovski emphasized that North Macedonia as host had additional responsibility to further MARRI's performance by fulfilling obligations assumed by the acts that regulate its activities and goals.

"A successful and strong organization means bigger support for our administrations, which is why we always paid special attention to the candidates we nominated as a future director. The previous one was professional with a long-running career and experience in cross-border operations and management or large projects, and with his knowledge he contributed to the continuation of the process for strengthening the organization. Which is why I want to thank outgoing director Sashko Kocev, and wish him happy retirement, and I hope that he will find time to pass down his professional experience to his younger colleagues," Spasovski noted. ssh/ik/

Photo: Ministry of Interior