SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
The National Security Council of Macedonia, chaired by President Stevo Pendarovski, assembled on Monday evening in order to discuss the issue with the air pollution in the country and possible resolutions for it. The meeting of the Security Council was attended by PM Zoran Zaev, Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini and his Deputy Jani Makraduli, and representatives of NGOs which are part of the #GreenFront for Fresh Air. The NGO representatives said before the meeting that they will present to President Pendarovski 4 demands of the environmental NGOs: ban on import of waste from other countries, re-examination of building and working permits for hydro power plants, participation of the police in terrain inspections of the Environmental Inspectorate and stricter controls in processes for construction of new objects. After the meeting, President Pendarovski held a press conference. “This is the first time in the history of our country for governmental officials to discuss an environmental issue on such a high political level. Through the NGOs, the citizens themselves participated in this discussion, which I can say was rather constructive. The environmental issues need to be dealt with systematically, and the institutions cannot resolve them in a single mandate. I personally pledge for increase of the budget for the sector of environment, because the way things are right now, the implementation of the Chapter 27 on environmental protection from the process for negotiations for EU membership may cost us up to 5 billion euros,” Pendarovski said.
