Government proposes repeal of Law on Coordination of the Security‑Intelligence Community

The Government has sent to parliament a bill that would repeal the Law on Coordination of the Security‑Intelligence Community, the act that set the coordination framework between the Agency for National Security (ANB), the Intelligence Agency (AR) and military intelligence.

The proposal was adopted by the cabinet on 13 October 2026 and formally submitted to the Assembly on 15 October. The draft law contains only two articles: the first annuls the existing law and the second states that the new act will enter into force on the eighth day after publication in the Official Gazette. No new budget funds are foreseen.

“The Ministry's assessment is that the Law on coordination of the security‑intelligence community in the Republic of North Macedonia is systemically correctly set and conceptually aligned with EU and NATO standards, however its implementation in practice is limited. Its limited implementation is the result of institutional distrust, a narrow scope and a lack of operational capacity,” the ministry writes in its explanation.

What the repealed law regulated

The law proposed for repeal was adopted in May 2019 and created a Council for Coordination chaired by the prime minister. Members included the then vice‑prime minister for the Framework Agreement and political system, the ministers of interior, defence and foreign affairs, the directors of ANB and AR and the head of military security and intelligence. The Council was tasked with coordinating the services, assessing threats and risks, and informing the president, the speaker and the government at least quarterly.

The law also provided for a Council Office to collate information from the services and prepare joint assessments and recommendations. The current draft repeal notes that the decisions establishing the Council and the appointments and dismissals of its members will be revoked.

Although the government text does not set out a replacement coordination mechanism, some read the move as opening the way to the long‑announced merger of ANB and AR. President candidate Gordana Siljanovska‑Davkova told an interview published on 8 June 2026 that she could not take a position on the merger until concrete legal proposals were shown and stressed the need for parliamentary oversight, careful scrutiny of power concentration and protections against politicisation.

Siljanovska‑Davkova also said that whether a merger would affect presidential prerogatives — the president appoints the head of AR — depends on the selected model, noting there are options including split roles in nomination and confirmation. The merger has been part of VMRO‑DPMNE's electoral programme, and Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski spoke in favour of it as early as 2024.

Photo: press material from the event