Toshkovsky: Citizens know very well who allowed bandits to roam the streets of Skopje

The Minister of the Interior, Panche Toshkovski, responds to SDSM’s accusations “100 days of Mickoski’s government and 300 scandals, most of which were related to the work of the Ministry of the Interior and Minister Toshkovski”. He says he is disappointed by the SDSM’s necrophiliac attempts to manipulate the people by accusing the Ministry of Interior for its alleged incompetence in these 100 days.

I believe they are just a desperate attempt to distract from the seven years of chaos and destruction of the security system they left behind. The claim that only one case was approved during my leadership of the Ministry of Interior is completely false and manipulative, aimed at misinforming citizens. According to the official figures of the Ministry of the Interior, in 2023 there were 23 murders, of which 2 remained unsolved, while in 2024, up to the month of October, there were 16 murders, of which only 2 were also unsolved. This data shows that not only has the situation not worsened, but it has also improved in terms of reducing the number of homicides.

But we all know what kind of chaos has happened over the past seven years, with scandals coming one after the other. Their governance structures have allowed criminals to rule the streets, shoot up shopping malls, terrorize citizens and make police the enforcers of their interests. The shootings in “East Gate”, where criminals shot in broad daylight, the mafia murders in “Shisha Bar” and Butel, the double murders in Topansko Pole, the escape of prisoners – all this has not happened in these 100 days. These events, whose perpetrators are still unknown, are the result of years of destruction of the system, which they turned into a mechanism through which criminal structures could operate freely. During their government, which now dares to talk about incompetence, passports were handed out to international criminals – 215 drug lords and people with international arrest warrants received Macedonian documents and could move freely around Europe.

Citizens know very well who allowed bandits to be taken into account on the streets of Skopje and who was behind the biggest scandals surrounding the theft of weapons from police depots and organized attacks on police officers in stations. Instead of tackling organized crime, they collaborated with it, leaving institutions powerless to protect citizens.

Let us not forget that during their time, corruption cases such as “Racket” took place, in which the highest state officials were involved in extortion and abuse of power.

The shootings and killings we see today are a legacy of their rule, which allowed criminals to control the police while leaving people unprotected.

We have announced an uncompromising fight against these criminal structures, we have begun to restore the system and restore control over security and justice, but what has been systematically destroyed for seven years cannot be resolved immediately. We have put in place enhanced measures and action controls, but complete victory over crime requires long-term strategic action. This is a process that will not happen overnight, but we are determined to restore security, justice and order to the country, unlike those who allowed criminals to control every aspect of our society – says Toshkovsky.