Macedonia makes substantial progress in reform of security services, PM Zaev says

Macedonia has been making substantial progress in the reform of its security services, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told reporters on Saturday.

He pointed out that the communication surveillance system would remain under the control of the Public Prosecution Office.

The Ministry of Interior will only be able to use the system under a court order for combating terrorism, extremism, radicalism, namely for state security purposes. The system’s usage for criminal investigations is under a strict control of the Public Prosecution Office, PM Zaev said.

The reform should eliminate all possibilities for an abuse of the intelligence services, Zaev said.

Notifying the wiretapping scandal in Macedonia, revealed in 2015, Zaev said that citizens should be certain that nobody would ever illegally intercept their communications and violate their human rights.