Skopje, 21 February 2022 (MIA) – Enhancement of bilateral cooperation in the fight against crime, especially through information exchange, strengthening of partnership for an even more successful fight against illegal migration based on reciprocity, as well as swift and effective identification procedures, safe and orderly return of persons who do not meet the criteria for entry or residence were in the focus of the meeting of Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski with Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi at the sidelines of the ministers’ conference of the Platform for joint coordination on combating irregular migration along the Eastern Mediterranean route in Vienna on Monday. Minister Spasovski says the meeting focused on the state of play with illegal migration in the course of 2021. ‘We welcomed the fact that we are recording a 35-percent decrease in the number of attempts for illegal crossings into North Macedonia, with 90 percent of attempts prevented at the border with Greece,” Spasovski wrote in a Facebook post. He adds that two international criminal groups have been detected and busted by the national unit for uprooting migrant smuggling and human trafficking for illegal transport of migrants from the Middle East who from the territory of Greece. “We continue to invest in international cooperation and goodneighborliness, we remain serious partners in the fight against crime, both in national and regional terms,” says Spasovski.