North Macedonia adds 496 new police officers in major recruitment

North Macedonia police 496 officers Police Academy Idrizovo Panče Toshkovski police modernization

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia promoted 496 newly trained police officers of the 2025‑2026 generation at a ceremony in the Police Academy at Idrizovo. The cohort includes 364 officers for general and traffic duties, 78 for border police and 54 for special police units.

Minister of Internal Affairs Panče Toshkovski said the recruitment reflects ongoing modernization – new police stations, equipment, vehicle fleet, digital services and security systems – and noted that the country now enjoys its lowest crime level in two decades. Assistant Minister Vlatko Mitkovski highlighted that the academy has been upgraded to an internationally accredited Police Academy and that the officers were trained under a new basic‑training model divided into three specialized modules.

The ceremony underscored the view that policing is a lifelong vocation requiring courage, honesty and professionalism, and it marked the first graduating class under the revamped training system.

Entities: Ministry of Internal Affairs (North Macedonia) · Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia · North Macedonia · Pançe Toshkovski · Panče Toskowski · Police Academy in Idrizovo · Vlatko Mitkovski

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 8 SOURCES] The Ministry has been modernizing police capacity with new stations, equipment, vehicles, digital services and security systems. (multiple articles)
[● 7 SOURCES] Assistant Minister Vlatko Mitkovski spoke at the ceremony about the new training model. (multiple articles)
[● 7 SOURCES] The Idrizovo training centre has been upgraded to an internationally accredited Police Academy. (multiple articles)
[● 8 SOURCES] Minister Panče Toshkovski said Macedonia now has the lowest crime level in 20 years. (multiple articles)
[● 8 SOURCES] The Ministry of Internal Affairs received 496 new police officers. (multiple articles)
[● 7 SOURCES] The promotion ceremony was held at the Police Academy in Idrizovo. (multiple articles)
[● 7 SOURCES] The 496 officers are divided into 364 general/traffic, 78 border, and 54 special units. (multiple articles)
[● 7 SOURCES] The new generation was trained under a three‑module basic police training model. (multiple articles)