North Macedonia introduces Safe City to save people’s lives on the roads
North Macedonia is one of the European countries with the most dangerous roads. To make them safer, the government has launched the new “Safe City” monitoring system. However, there is controversy and doubt about its use
Blurred,Motion,Of,Cars,On,The,Motorway.,Big,Traffic,In
Skopje © Bratu Laurentiu/Shutterstock
With a new traffic monitoring and control system called “Safe City”, the government of North Macedonia is trying to reduce human casualties and material damage due to frequent traffic accidents.
The camera system has started operating in the capital Skopje as a trial period in December, and from February 1, 2026, citizens will have to pay fines for traffic violations. The system will be gradually introduced in other cities, as well as on highways.
The authorities have also made amendments to the Law on Road Traffic Safety, whereby documentation of violations by technical means – cameras, sensors and recording devices – is considered valid evidence. In the first phase, the system will register speeding, running a red light, expired traffic permits and illegal parking. The next phase is planned to expand the range of violations.
In the capital, which has 526,000 citizens, over 110,000 traffic violations were registered on the first day of operation.
“That is a catastrophic number. We had about 1,000 unregistered vehicles, 5,000 red light violations, and over 90% of the violations were speeding,” said the Minister of Interior, Pance Toshkovski.
The following day, on December 2, according to information from the Ministry of Interior, a total of 50,652 violations were registered, including 48,861 speeding tickets, 1,366 for red lights and 425 for unregistered vehicles. Citizens shared on social networks that driving around Skopje is more cautious than before.
Like any innovation, the “Safe City” system has provoked mixed reactions and several questions. A group of citizens filed an extensive complaint with the Constitutional Court and a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Minister Pance Toshkovski, claiming that the new SMS-based punishment system from the Safe City project is unconstitutional, technically unsafe and discriminatory.
According to the petitioners, the way in which Safe City currently functions – by sending links to PDF documents to mobile phones – constitutes a gross violation of the privacy and legal security of citizens.
The central argument in the complaint to the Constitutional Court concerns the technical prerequisites for receiving a punishment. The system implies that every driver owns a “smartphone”, an active internet connection and the knowledge to operate applications for opening PDF documents.
“The legislation does not require a citizen to own mobile internet or a smart device,” the legal argument states.
According to the complaint, this creates a situation in which some citizens (elderly people, socially vulnerable categories or those with older phones) are effectively prevented from receiving the sentence, seeing what they are being charged with or filing an appeal in a timely manner. This directly violates the constitutional right to a fair trial and legal protection.
The petitioners warn that SMS messages are not a valid means of official service under the European eIDAS regulation, because there is no proof of identity. It is not possible to confirm with certainty who the sender is, and the links in the messages open up windows for cybercrime and theft of personal data and bank accounts.
Journalist Sonja Kramarska, in her column for Deutsche Welle, writes that there is a culture of disregard for rules in the country and that citizens do not want to live by the rules. According to her, the parties are also to blame for this, as they do not educate voters to be conscientious and responsible citizens who care about collective rights, not just individual ones.
“VMRO-DPMNE (the ruling party) holds the key to the largest party-voting incubator in the country, and it is right that it now also receives the blow from dissatisfied citizens who will have to drive more slowly instead of running wild on the streets. But it is high time that the parties stopped holding an umbrella for those who scatter garbage at will, for angry drivers and for all those who believe that the vote they cast for the party in power means that they should have special treatment,” she says in the column.
In 2024, there were 142 victims in traffic accidents out of 1.8 million inhabitants. In a statement to the media, Pance Toshkovski explained that Macedonia is among the worst countries in the world in terms of the number of people killed on the streets and that is why such a system is needed.
“The Scandinavian average is about 20 victims per million inhabitants, and the European average is about 44-45 per million inhabitants. I understand the need for the public to ask all questions related to the implementation of this project. The number of 142 victims is not just a statistic – these are people with families, with children, with parents, whom we lose on the streets every day, said Minister Toshkovski.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told “Safe City” that the government will ensure consistent implementation and is ready to withstand the political blow to save human lives.
According to the authorities, officials will not be exempt from paying fines, and the penalty policy will also cover foreign vehicles – drivers will be informed that they will not be allowed to enter the country again if they do not pay the fine.
With the “Safe City” speed limit of 231 km/h on the Skopje bypass on December 1, the fastest car speed limit was set.
On January 29, 2025, the public was shocked by the death of 22-year-old student Frosina Kulakova, who was run over by Vasil Jovanov, a 20-year-old who did not have a driver’s license, had alcohol in his blood, and ran a red light on a boulevard. This also sparked protests demanding systemic changes for safety in traffic.
At the Public Forum on the Amendments to the Law on Road Traffic Safety and the Law on Offenses for the “Safe City” Project, senior UNDP representatives assessed that the project is in line with global safety goals and should help reduce the number of traffic accidents.
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North Macedonia introduces Safe City to save people’s lives on the roads
North Macedonia is one of the European countries with the most dangerous roads. To make them safer, the government has launched the new “Safe City” monitoring system. However, there is controversy and doubt about its use
Blurred,Motion,Of,Cars,On,The,Motorway.,Big,Traffic,In
Skopje © Bratu Laurentiu/Shutterstock
With a new traffic monitoring and control system called “Safe City”, the government of North Macedonia is trying to reduce human casualties and material damage due to frequent traffic accidents.
The camera system has started operating in the capital Skopje as a trial period in December, and from February 1, 2026, citizens will have to pay fines for traffic violations. The system will be gradually introduced in other cities, as well as on highways.
The authorities have also made amendments to the Law on Road Traffic Safety, whereby documentation of violations by technical means – cameras, sensors and recording devices – is considered valid evidence. In the first phase, the system will register speeding, running a red light, expired traffic permits and illegal parking. The next phase is planned to expand the range of violations.
In the capital, which has 526,000 citizens, over 110,000 traffic violations were registered on the first day of operation.
“That is a catastrophic number. We had about 1,000 unregistered vehicles, 5,000 red light violations, and over 90% of the violations were speeding,” said the Minister of Interior, Pance Toshkovski.
The following day, on December 2, according to information from the Ministry of Interior, a total of 50,652 violations were registered, including 48,861 speeding tickets, 1,366 for red lights and 425 for unregistered vehicles. Citizens shared on social networks that driving around Skopje is more cautious than before.
Like any innovation, the “Safe City” system has provoked mixed reactions and several questions. A group of citizens filed an extensive complaint with the Constitutional Court and a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Minister Pance Toshkovski, claiming that the new SMS-based punishment system from the Safe City project is unconstitutional, technically unsafe and discriminatory.
According to the petitioners, the way in which Safe City currently functions – by sending links to PDF documents to mobile phones – constitutes a gross violation of the privacy and legal security of citizens.
The central argument in the complaint to the Constitutional Court concerns the technical prerequisites for receiving a punishment. The system implies that every driver owns a “smartphone”, an active internet connection and the knowledge to operate applications for opening PDF documents.
“The legislation does not require a citizen to own mobile internet or a smart device,” the legal argument states.
According to the complaint, this creates a situation in which some citizens (elderly people, socially vulnerable categories or those with older phones) are effectively prevented from receiving the sentence, seeing what they are being charged with or filing an appeal in a timely manner. This directly violates the constitutional right to a fair trial and legal protection.
The petitioners warn that SMS messages are not a valid means of official service under the European eIDAS regulation, because there is no proof of identity. It is not possible to confirm with certainty who the sender is, and the links in the messages open up windows for cybercrime and theft of personal data and bank accounts.
Journalist Sonja Kramarska, in her column for Deutsche Welle, writes that there is a culture of disregard for rules in the country and that citizens do not want to live by the rules. According to her, the parties are also to blame for this, as they do not educate voters to be conscientious and responsible citizens who care about collective rights, not just individual ones.
“VMRO-DPMNE (the ruling party) holds the key to the largest party-voting incubator in the country, and it is right that it now also receives the blow from dissatisfied citizens who will have to drive more slowly instead of running wild on the streets. But it is high time that the parties stopped holding an umbrella for those who scatter garbage at will, for angry drivers and for all those who believe that the vote they cast for the party in power means that they should have special treatment,” she says in the column.
In 2024, there were 142 victims in traffic accidents out of 1.8 million inhabitants. In a statement to the media, Pance Toshkovski explained that Macedonia is among the worst countries in the world in terms of the number of people killed on the streets and that is why such a system is needed.
“The Scandinavian average is about 20 victims per million inhabitants, and the European average is about 44-45 per million inhabitants. I understand the need for the public to ask all questions related to the implementation of this project. The number of 142 victims is not just a statistic – these are people with families, with children, with parents, whom we lose on the streets every day, said Minister Toshkovski.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told “Safe City” that the government will ensure consistent implementation and is ready to withstand the political blow to save human lives.
According to the authorities, officials will not be exempt from paying fines, and the penalty policy will also cover foreign vehicles – drivers will be informed that they will not be allowed to enter the country again if they do not pay the fine.
With the “Safe City” speed limit of 231 km/h on the Skopje bypass on December 1, the fastest car speed limit was set.
On January 29, 2025, the public was shocked by the death of 22-year-old student Frosina Kulakova, who was run over by Vasil Jovanov, a 20-year-old who did not have a driver’s license, had alcohol in his blood, and ran a red light on a boulevard. This also sparked protests demanding systemic changes for safety in traffic.
At the Public Forum on the Amendments to the Law on Road Traffic Safety and the Law on Offenses for the “Safe City” Project, senior UNDP representatives assessed that the project is in line with global safety goals and should help reduce the number of traffic accidents.
