Government and opposition debate over mass departures of people from the country


Mass departure of people from the country is one of the most heated topics of the presidential campaign in North Macedonia. Government and opposition have accused each other for the mass departure of people from the country.

Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Mila Carovska says that VMRO-DPMNE, which has been in government for 10 years, should take the blame for this. “It’s the previous government that should be blamed for this, because that government could not manage to stop this exodus and the fall in birth rates”,  Minister Carovska said.

Meanwhile, PM Zoran Zaev has also been involved in this debate. According to him, the number of people leaving the country now has fallen. Zaev is also confident that even those people who have left, will return to the country.

VMRO-DPMNE lawmaker, Vlatko Gjorcev said that the country is facing an unprecedented demographic catastrophe, because the number of people who have left the country in the recent years is the biggest ever. Meanwhile, the number of babies born in January this year fell by 20% compared to the same period last year.

“We’re witnessing an unprecedented exodus. There have always been people leaving the country, but what we’re seeing now is a demographic and economic catastrophe”, Djorcev said. According to him, the government is to blame for this due to the bad economic policies that it’s applying.

Economy experts say that North Macedonia is registering the biggest migration in the region. “While foreign embassies in the country receive around 20 thousand applications a year , it’s absurd to talk about effective economic policies and reduction of unemployment”, says Visar Ademi, who is an economy expert.

According to him, the government must take urgent measures to prevent the massive departure of young people from the country.

/ibna/