Bočvarski: After two years, Toshkovski’s promises of security and a professional police force proved to be empty words

In today’s parliamentary debate on the interpellation of Interior Minister Panče Toshkovski, SDSM MP Blagoj Bočvarski said that two years after taking office, the promises of reforms, a professional police force and increased security have remained nothing more than empty statements.

Bočvarski recalled that at the start of his term, Toshkovski had promised a professional and efficient police force, reforms, a higher level of security and stronger public trust. According to him, professional criteria for promotion had also been promised, based on education, experience and ability, rather than political affiliation.

According to the SDSM MP, instead of the announced reforms, legal solutions have been adopted which, he said, create opportunities for political influence and the politicization of the police.

“Through principles that do not belong in a country aspiring to join the European Union and NATO, you attempted to undermine the principle of the career system, with a law that seriously creates room for political influence and the politicization of the police, as in the period before 2017,” Bočvarski said.

He also stressed that experts, trade unions and professional circles had previously warned about the risks related to politicization, the lack of transparency and the undermining of the merit system in the Interior Ministry.

Bočvarski said that citizens have seen firsthand a serious deterioration in the country’s security situation. “In recent years, the public has witnessed a series of murders, attempted murders, armed clashes and other serious crimes that created a sense of insecurity among citizens,” he said.

He added that additional concern is caused by suspicions of the leaking of official secrets, affairs linked to people from the highest state circles, as well as cases that raise questions about the effectiveness of internal oversight in the Interior Ministry.