The Interior Ministry responded Sunday to the remarks of the EU member countries and announced that the campaign for informing citizens that the visa liberalization is not an opportunity to be granted asylum by the EU member states would be re-launched.

“As before, when this trend was registered, the Interior Ministry is going to take preventive measures, and is also going to sanction the agencies having deceived people with fake promises of asylum. Our teams are going to explain to the citizens that it is impossible to be granted asylum in the EU member states. They will be told once again that, on the contrary, our partners from the Union have stressed many times that Macedonia is regarded as a stable country whose citizens are not on the list of countries whose citizens are eligible for asylum. They will be told that every trip to the countries of the Union with the aim of being granted asylum would only be a waste of time and money,” said Assistant Interior Minister Ivo Kotevski.

In addition, the Interior Ministry said it would begin reinforced controls at border crossings to determine if the trips to the Western-European countries are organized.

On the grounds of deceiving citizens promising them asylum, two agencies have so far been closed down and eight have been fined, Kotevski informed.