Security Council Proposes Government to Declare State of Crisis

President of Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski said at a press conference that the Security Council of Macedonia that assembled on Thursday decided to propose the government to declare a 30-day state of crisis on the entire territory of Macedonia.  The decision follows the great increase of numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in the past weeks. “If a state of crisis is declared on the entire territory, it will allow the army to provide assistance to healthcare institutions and the police in order to properly handle the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. During a state of crisis, the government has authority to manage the resources of the state administration, public enterprises, municipalities, as well as state and private healthcare facilities, which does not mean that private clinics will be placed under authority of the state, but partial management by the state to an extent that the government will determine,” Pendarovski explained. On Thursday evening, the Government of Macedonia held a session in order to start the procedure for declaring a 30-day state of emergency. As part of these procedures, the government established a Crisis Group, which will be consisted of acting Director of the Crisis Management Centre Stojance Angelov and Director of Directorate for Protection and Rescue Bekim Maksuti.