The Minister of Defence Zoran Jolevski, accompanied by the Chief of the General Staff of ARM Lieutenant General Metodija Velichkovski and the JOC Commander Brigadier General Vasko Gjurchinovski today visited the ARM service personnel deployed at the southern border.
“The main aim of the army is to give support to the state institutions, especially the Border Police and the MoI, in dealing with the huge inflow of migrants.
The objective is for the army to help in directing the migrants to one border pass where after they will be registered, an organized transportation to our northern border will be provided. ”said minister Jolevski.
Answering the questions from the press about how many groups of migrants enter Macedonia, the manner of their transportation and how long the army would be involved, minister Jolevski said:
“The groups mostly consist of 200 people. They are registered by the members of the MoI and are directed to the designated train stations, and if the groups are larger they are transported by buses.
I have been informed that there has been coordination with the Greek officials. The Greek government has been informing us about the movement of the migrants so that we could be at our utmost readiness.
So far all activities have been conducted in an organized manner and we hope it would continue to be so.” Concerning the future involvement of the army the minister said that the current deployment had been in accordance with the decision brought by the government and the Supreme Commander.
“The declared state of emergency will last 30 days and it is regulated by the Constitution If there is a necessity for further deployment of the army, based on safety assessment estimated by MoI, the Army and other institutions, the decision will be brought by the Parliament of RM accordingly.” said minister Jolevski.
“Today, together with the CGS of ARM General Velichkovski and the JOC Commander General Gjurchinovski, we are at the border with our southern neighbor visiting our soldiers who have been at the border for almost 11 days. Our main aim is to give support to the state institutions especially the border police and the MoI, in dealing with the huge inflow of migrants.
The objective is for the army to help in directing the migrants to one border pass where after they will be registered, an organized transportation to our northern border will be provided.”
