The EU is ready to continue its support of Macedonia through humanitarian and technical assistance through agencies of the Union, said on Friday the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk at a joint press conference with President Gjorge Ivanov.
“We are ready to provide more after we assess the countries needs. I will speak with other member states about what more can be done in regard to ensure that our support for your country and for the region will be at the same level as the challenges you face”, said the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.
President Ivanov, on the other hand, pointed out that Macedonia feels the effects of a dysfunctional mechanism of the Union for deployment of refugees in the Member States and stressed that Macedonia has not received assistance from the EU to deal with the migration crisis.
“Despite promises made, Macedonia has not received any assistance, financial or technical from the European Union, in terms of the migrant and a refugee crisis. Although we asked the Union for equipment we require for the registration of migrants and refugees and equipment for surveillance on the state border, we received nothing. Macedonia has spent their budget for managing this crisis. Just for the needs of the security services we have so far spent more than 10 million euros. We are facing a shortage of material and technical capacity, and not to mention human resources, to respond to threats and risks to national security”, said President Ivanov.
