The Geopolitical Context of Migrant Routes and Its Impact on Organised Crime in the Republic of North Macedonia

Toni Mileski; Daniela Pacemska

doi:10.18778/1641-4233.29.04

Authors

Toni Mileski Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, North Macedonia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7357-1101
Daniela Pacemska Ministry of Interior, Organised and Serious Crime Department, North Macedonia https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1808-1653

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1641-4233.29.04

Keywords:

geopolitics, illegal migration, migrant routes, organised crime, migrant smuggling

Abstract

As a country with a specific geopolitical and geostrategic position, North Macedonia, positioned in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, is subject to illegal migration and is located at the crossroads of migrant routes leading from Asia and Africa to Central and Western Europe. Therefore, the article makes an effort to answer two related questions. The first question refers to the geopolitical context of migrant routes and their impact on the increase in migrant smuggling, while the second one is the focus of migrant smuggling within organised crime groups. In terms of time, the research covers the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology of this paper is based on an analysis of policy documents from open sources. Also, the authors surveyed more than one hundred Macedonian police officers who work directly on the borders and engage in the suppression of smuggling migrants, and an in-depth interview with the head of the National Unit for Combating Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in North Macedonia.

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Author Biographies

Toni Mileski, Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, North Macedonia

Prof. Toni Mileski, PhD, was born in 1973 in Kichevo. He graduated in 1997 and received his master’s degree in 2002 at the Faculty of Philosophy at the “St. Cyril and Methodius” University in Skopje. He defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Political-geographical Position of the Republic of Macedonia: Assessment and Perspectives for Development in the Euro-Atlantic Environment” in April 2005 at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje.

He is a Macedonian professor and researcher in political geography, geopolitics, environmental security, energy security, and migration and conflict. He has a huge number of research papers, books, and textbooks. During his career, Prof. Mileski coordinated a large number of international projects. In 2019, Prof. Mileski realised a one-month study stay at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus, Germany. During the stay, Prof. Mileski participated in preparing an international conference entitled “Transposition of Acquis Communataire: Migration and Environment.” Recently, Professor Mileski was appointed vice president of the Institute of International Politics and Economics – Belgrade’s international scientific advisory board.

Daniela Pacemska, Ministry of Interior, Organised and Serious Crime Department, North Macedonia

Daniela Pachemska lives in Skopje, The Republic of North Macedonia. She graduated at St. Cyril and Methodius University, in the Faculty of Philology. Ever since 2002, she has been working in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Skopje. She was an analyst in the Public Security Bureau until 2014 when she was relocated to The Organized and Serious Crime Department, gaining the title of crime intelligence analyst in the National Unit against Smuggling migrants and human trafficking. Concurrently, she finished her Master’s studies in the faculty of Philosophy, specifically the Institute for Security, Defense and Peace. Her Master’s Thesis project covered the Geopolitical context of migrant routes and their impact on organized crime in the Western Balkan region, in accordance with the Republic of North Macedonia. During the last two years, she has been working as the Head of the Crime Intelligence Unit. She has participated in various training programs, concerning “Analyst Notebook”, Operational analysis, leading investigations against smuggling migrants, terrorism and money laundering, the gender balance mentoring program etc.

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