Toshkovski: Drop in murders and other crimes compared to last year

During his appearance on RTMV, Minister of Interior Pançe Toshkovski addressed the current security situation, the investigation into the murder in Çair, and crime trends in the first eight months of this year.

Regarding the murder in Çair, he announced that the investigation is still ongoing and that the circumstances involving one of the two suspects are being clarified, including the reason why the person was a fugitive at the time of the crime.

Toshkovski stated that at this stage he cannot release further details about the investigations and expects the suspects to be deprived of their liberty in the near future. He recalled that in previous cases of serious crimes, suspects have been secured and appropriate measures taken against them.

Responding to the question whether citizens are safe, the minister stressed that security should be assessed based on concrete data and comparisons, not just through isolated incidents.

Toshkovski described the question about citizens’ safety as legitimate and said he could freely answer “yes”, but added that it is a complex issue. According to him, this cannot be interpreted outside of numbers, statistics, and reality.

From the data he presented, in the January–August 2026 period, a drop was recorded in several categories of serious crimes compared to the same period last year.

The number of murders fell from 19 to 12, or about 37 percent. The number of perpetrators fell from 26 to 13, while the number of victims fell from 20 to 12, which is a decrease of about 40 percent.

A particularly sharp decline, approximately 65 percent, was noted in attempted murders. Robberies fell by about 40 percent, and aggravated thefts by about 30 percent compared to the same period in 2025.

The minister emphasized that he can freely assess that there is a decrease in the number of these violent crimes. For robberies, he noted, the drop is about 40 percent, and for aggravated thefts about 30 percent.

Toshkovski assessed that these indicators demonstrate an improvement in the security situation in the field of violent crime and property crime, but added that there are also categories of crimes in which an increase has been recorded.