Two MoFA Employees Did Not Pass Security Vetting

The initial results from the beginning of the vetting of the diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that the employment contracts of two people will be terminated because they do not have a security certificate from the security services, informed Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani. “A person during the security status check was denied the request for a security certificate and did not pass the first filter. I did not receive an explanation for the reasons for the refusal, and a procedure for termination of employment has been initiated. Another person used an inappropriate certificate. And he does not pass the initial vetting and he is terminated from employment. With that, it can be concluded that two people did not pass the vetting,” said Osmani at press conference at the headquarters of his parent party DUI in Skopje. He pointed out that this is not the group of diplomats for whom Armenia has issued an international arrest warrant through Interpol. As part of the thorough checks, he added, it was concluded that six people failed to timely request renewal of their security certificates. After the indications that it could be a technical oversight, these people, he says, were given seven days to correct this mistake and request appropriate certification. “After the deadline, the status of the initial vetting for each of them will be considered individually and accordingly the findings will be decided to lift the restriction and their full return to work or start a process for termination of employment depending on how things move forward,” said Osmani.