INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

Speech by the Director of the Intelligence Agency, Erolld Musliu at the First Academic Class at the Faculty of Security - Skopje:

Dear Minister of Interior, Mr. Oliver Spasovski,

Dear Rector of the University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Mr. Korunovski,

Dear Dean of the Faculty of Security, Mr. Nikola Dujovski,

Distinguished directors of security institutions,

Dear guests,

Dear students,

At the beginning I would like to express my personal gratitude and on behalf of the members of the Intelligence Agency, for being invited here today, to present the Intelligence Agency and to wish you a successful First Academic Class at the Faculty of Security. To be honest, coming here reminded me of my student days. I went back 32 years when I enrolled at the Faculty of Security. I see here many colleagues with whom we studied, we shared the most beautiful moments from the student days, but also later in the career. I remember June 1993 when I graduated from this Faculty and I was given the chance to work in the Ministry of Interior and to be part of the then State Security Service and further in my career of about 28 years to experience the moment as a professional in May 2019, by decree of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Stevo Pendarovski to be appointed as a Director of the Intelligence Agency. It is certainly a great honour and pride for a professional to lead such an important service in the national security system, and at the same time having in mind that the Republic of North Macedonia is a multicultural, multi-confessional and multi-ethnic country, to give a chance to a professional, ethnic Albanian for the first way in the history of our country to manage the Intelligence Agency.

In the second part of my speech, I would like to present you the Intelligence Agency closer to you. What is the Intelligence Agency like and who are we, the intelligence agents in the Intelligence Agency? The Intelligence Agency is a special body of the state administration with the authority to collect, process, analyse, inform and exchange information to users, to our allies and to partners important for the security, defence and foreign policy interests of the country. The priorities in the work of the Intelligence Agency are contained in the new Law on the Intelligence Agency that was passed in January this year and they are: geopolitical rivalry and regional security-strategic phenomena and processes, asymmetric threats primarily terrorism and violent extremism, illegal migration as a security phenomenon but also as a tool in the hybrid strategies of strategic actors, transnational organized crime, cyber threats, as well as the lesson we have learned in the past 19 months related to pandemics that can have an impact on the national security of the countries. The new security system reform has also covered the Intelligence Agency. We changed the mode of operation. We are now a modern intelligence service, based on NATO standards and the requirements of the European Union. We work in three pillars, i.e. in three circles. What we are made for is gathering information. The first pillar consists of gathering intelligence and conducting operations. Here we rely on human resources, students will learn about HUMINT, they will learn about SIGINT, about technical intelligence, they will learn about OSINT - information from open sources and everything that goes with "INT", i.e. with intelligence. The second pillar, i.e. the circle, is the function of logistical support of those who are in operations, who collect information. Material, administrative, financial support. The third pillar is the security segment, which means physical protection of the Agency headquarters, staff, the information we create, counter-intelligence operations and cyber protection. Teamwork is a guarantee of success in an intelligence agency, and the intelligence officer as part of the team is a very important link. Our motto at work is WE, not I. Only with joint efforts, with good organization and work according to priorities can the desired result be achieved. The intelligence officer works as planned and with appropriate preparation, and previously with quality information. The intelligence officer is a patriot, he loves and works for his country and protects the citizens. The intelligence officer is loyal to the team he works with. He stores and protects information, guards and protects his colleagues with whom he is in operation. He protects the material goods at his disposal for the successful completion of his tasks

Finally, dear students, I wish you a successful start of the academic year, successful studies, lots of health and well-being. Be a good listener, plan your time and always be ready - it is a guarantee of success. I hope that with my short speech to you today, I have brought closer the image of us as an institution, so that in the near future some of you will have affinities and a desire to join the Intelligence Agency.

Thank you