Skopje, 16 July 2025 (MIA) – Minister of Interior Panche Toshkovski said that this year the state was showing that a different response to all the challenges related to the fires was possible, noting that according to information he has on Wednesday, around 20 people have been detained so far as part of an operation taken following the fires. Toshkovski added that some were placed under house arrest, some under effective detention, while others were released because they were minors. 

The Ministry of Interior, Toshkovski pointed out, has direct evidence that some of the fires were deliberately set, as well as appropriate evidence related to an organized structure.

"We caught the arsonists, those who acted individually in terms of setting fires. Not all of them, but we caught a good part of them. But those who did it in an organized manner, especially on the first day when a huge number of fires broke out around Skopje and there was a very symptomatic and temporal and regional occurrence of fires around vital facilities of national importance, in relation to those fires we have reasonable suspicions that it was an organized group," Toshkovski said in response to reporters' questions after signing a memorandum of cooperation with the Red Cross on Wednesday.  

According to Toshkovski, the Government has taken timely measures issuing a ban on movement in forests, and it was effective, regardless of the fact that "this summer is perhaps the hottest in terms of dryness of vegetation" and citizens can see that.

"I believe the response we have is far different from what the state had as a response in the past, and that is visible on the ground. It is visible on the ground in terms of the forces that we have, in terms of mechanization and actions that the Government is taking, it issued a timely ban on movement in forests and all of that is giving results unlike before," said Toshkovski. 

The goal of the Ministry of Interior, he noted, is to show that the state really functions and that the institutions, unlike before, are doing their job, that people are dedicated to their jobs and really want to build a Macedonia that will not only be territorially part of the EU and European values, but a Macedonia that will essentially function with European values every day. 

"It doesn't matter what politicians say, what matters is the actions of the institutions. That is what should be visible and give added value for the state. If the institutions leave behind actions, in terms of functionality, professionalism and timeliness, then all Macedonian citizens will feel better and have a better life in Macedonia," Toshkovski said.

Photo: MIA