The “Safe City” system begins operating in Veles

Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski visited the reconstructed command center of the Veles Department of Internal Affairs during their stay in Veles today. During the visit, they were briefed on the center’s work and marked the activation of the “Safe City” system in the area covered by the Veles Department of Internal Affairs.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the command center was established in premises that have been completely reconstructed and renovated. The facilities had previously been used by the Ministry of Defense, but had remained out of use for approximately 15 to 20 years.

With the new premises now operational, the Veles Department of Internal Affairs has a modern center from which activities related to the “Safe City” system are carried out.

Toshkovski announced that approximately 124 fines had been recorded during yesterday’s 24-hour period alone, while around 27 more had been registered by the time he made his statement today. In total, approximately 150 fines were issued within a day and a half in the territory covered by the Veles Department of Internal Affairs. This area includes Veles, Kavadarci, Negotino and Demir Kapija.

Most of the violations involved speeding, while three or four measures were imposed for running red lights. According to the minister, these figures show a significant improvement in Macedonian citizens’ compliance with traffic rules.

The minister stressed that the “Safe City” system was not created to punish citizens or increase budget revenues. Its primary aim, he said, is to change behavior in traffic and save human lives.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank the citizens of Macedonia, because by implementing a system whose primary objective is to save people’s lives, rather than fill the budget, we have demonstrated that we can truly behave in a European manner. The positive consequences of this behavior are a much lower number of fatalities, fewer traffic accidents and significantly fewer negative consequences resulting from violations of traffic rules,” Toshkovski said.