Today, the Minister of Defense Radmila Sekerinska had a meeting with Svein Eriksen from the Center for Integrity of Norway, with whom the Ministry actively cooperates in building integrity in the defense sector and the preparation of a second Integrity Plan in the period 2021-2024.

Eriksen is an international expert with many years of experience and is well acquainted with the defense situation in the Balkan countries, the Ministry of Defense said.

- The Ministry of Defense and Northern Macedonia are extremely committed to building integrity and fighting corruption. The Ministry is an institution with the highest active transparency in the country, meeting 100 percent of the criteria. We also practice full transparency in public procurement, thus preventing any possible corrupt behavior. Building integrity policies is a top priority in our work, said Minister Sekerinska at the meeting.

She thanked the experts of the Norwegian Center for Integrity for their commitment and openness to assist and support in the development of the Integrity Plan 2021 - 2024 which is in the final stage of development.

- You and your experts, together with the experts from the Ministry, have prepared a document which is a roadmap for continuous building of integrity in the defense system. Thank you for your openness and interest in continuing to support us in this area, said the minister.

Eriksen expressed satisfaction with the cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and reaffirmed the commitment of the Kingdom of Norway to support the promotion of the institutional integrity of the Ministry.

Last year, Transparency International ranked our country in the second place according to the integrity of the work in defense. Behind Northern Macedonia are all the countries in the region, four countries that are already members of the European Union and six countries that are senior members of NATO.