IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNIQUE COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
Authors: Glavinov Aleksandar , Stanikevski Jovan , Odzakov Ferdinad , Iliev Andrej 
Published: October 2021

The fulfillment of one of the conditions on the road to admission to the European family by establishing a communication and information system with the only European emergency number E-112 in the Republic of North Macedonia is a conceptual solution for the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia and for all foreign citizens which will be found on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia. Whether there is a fire, emergency medical assistance, police intervention or a traffic accident or other accident with seriously injured persons, Macedonian citizens and all foreign nationals will soon be able to report such incidents to a single hotline number for emergency cases - 112 . In any unwanted and unpredictable situation where citizens need help, a quick phone call to an emergency service can save a lot of lives and material goods. By implementing the communication and information system, the emergency numbers to the police 192, the fire brigade 193, emergency medical assistance 194 and the Crisis Management Center 195 will be replaced with the single European emergency number E-112. Thus, citizens will have to remember only one number instead of the previous four, which will significantly facilitate the request for assistance in situations that seriously threaten one's life or property. In the Republic of North Macedonia, the Crisis Management Center is a competent entity for the integration of existing subsystems for emergency assistance in a modern system for receiving all calls for emergency assistance, redirecting to the relevant services and coordinating the response in emergency situations, as well as providing modern, reliable and secure communication systems with citizens in case of disasters.The Crisis Management Center has the legal obligation to establish and maintain a "unique communication and information system with a unique number", in order to carry out the responsibilities related to maintaining permanent communications, exchange of information, cooperation and coordination with all entities in the crisis management system on call-in case of risks, dangers and other accidents, on the entire territory of the Republic of North Macedonia.The establishment of a communication and information system and the unique number for emergency calls is determined by the provisions of the Crisis ManagementLaw and the Electronic CommunicationsLaw, and its implementation is an obligation arising from the Universal Service Directive and the rights of users in relation to electronic communications networks and services (2002/22 / EC), by which EU Member States are required to implement the single European Emergency Call number.The Crisis Management Center has a plan for deploying three emergency call centers, which will co-ordinate with the police, emergency medical assistance, fire brigades and emergency response and rescue teams. Each operating center will be able to receive calls from any point on the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia.