The Ministry of Interior of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia interested in continued collaboration on arms control activities with SEESAC

On 8 October 2012, as part of its ongoing activities in support of national capacity development for SALW control, the SEESAC Team visited the Ministry of Interior of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The visit was hosted by State Secretary, Ms. Violeta Andonovska, who expressed her satisfaction at the level of cooperation between the MoI and SEESAC.

In the past two years, under the EU Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP in Support of SEESAC arms control activities in the Western Balkans, SEESAC implemented the weapons registration software upgrade, the enhancement of the record-keeping capacity as well as the upgrade of the record-keeping facilities infrastructure. Within the scope of planning future activities, the SEESAC Team was shown the Ministry of Interior’s weapons and ammunition storage site, Orman.

SEESAC’s arms control activities are funded by the European Union (EU), under the EU COUNCIL DECISION 2010/179/CFSP, dated 11 March 2010, in support of UNDP/SEESAC arms control activities in the Western Balkans, within the framework of the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.

Under the same EU funded project SEESAC supported the execution of SALW Awareness Raising campaigns, SALW Collection and Destruction efforts, implementation of SALW Storage Upgrade Works and Storage Management Trainings, as well as strengthening of national capacities for Marking, Tracing and Registration of Weapons. These activities have been conducted since 2010 across the Western Balkans region.