almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

Macedonia
Oversight institutions have been expanding their oversight mechanisms, especially in
the last decade. For example, the portfolio of the Macedonian Ombudsman has been
expanded to include the functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism against
Torture and other Inhumane and Degrading Treatment. In parliament, new committees
have been formed such as the Committee for Supervising the Application of
Communication Interception Techniques by MoI and the Ministry of Defence and the
Standing Inquiry Committee for Protection of Civil Freedoms and Rights. The overall
concept of control and oversight of security shows considerable progress especially in
the institutional set up and regulation. As the text below argues, visible deficiencies in
implementation continue to exist across the sector.
3 . Oversight and control – Armed Forces 79
The Armed Forces have not been examined by oversight bodies with the same scrutiny
applied to others, such as the police, even though the legal framework puts in place
the most important oversight mechanisms. Since their creation in the early 1990s’ they
have not provoked many scandals nor was any attempted misuse of the army for political
purposes ever noted. Furthermore, they play a passive role in everyday affairs
thus are perceived as apolitical and are trusted by the people (almost sixty-five per
cent of all citizens say they trust the Armed Forces, compared to fifty-two per cent in
the case of police) (Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation, 2010).
This positive perception might be because the Armed Forces are hardly visible in society.
The end of conscription in 2006 and the establishment of integrated border control
with the Police Border Unit assuming border duties from the army has contributed to
this overall impression. Today, the Armed Forces are in the media only when the news
reports on Peace Support Operation (PSO) activities. 80 Qualification for NATO further
reinforced the image of a reformed defence sector (US Department of Defense, 2008).
Lack of public presence, together with acceptance of traditionally held values like
“the army protects our sovereignty”, and overwhelming public support for NATO integration
(Makedonska Informativna Agencija, 2010, p.12) lessens pressure for oversight
of the army.
3.1. President
Oversight of the Armed Forces is not solely the responsibility of one institution. They
draw authority from parliament as well as the president, who is head of the Armed
Forces, and to certain extent from government. The president appoints the Chief of
79 This chapter does not include an analysis of the Army Intelligence and Counterintelligence Unit.
80 Currently the Armed Forces are in NATO’s ISAF mission in Afghanistan with 242 personnel, the EU
ALTEA mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina with 12 personnel and one member of the Armed Forces taking
part in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
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Almanac on Security Sector Oversight in the Western Balkans