Today, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MEPP) was officially handed over the equipment dedicated to measuring air quality worth more than 300 thousand euros provided in the framework of Sweden's support in improving air quality in Macedonia and Veriut.

In addition, Sweden has financially assisted the cooperation between the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) and the MEPP, through the three-year project "Supporting Northern Macedonia in EU Accession in the Field of Environment."

MMJPH acquired a high precision laboratory equipment for measuring air quality.

The project improved the measurement capacities of eight metering stations distributed throughout Northern Macedonia, where 14 obsolete measuring instruments for PM10, nitrous oxide and ozone were replaced and 8 new ones were installed to monitor the concentration of PM2.5 These parameters represent a standard set of pollutants that are pursued and that have a major impact on human health.

"Replacing the old measuring instruments and installing new ones at the monitoring stations within the state automatic system for monitoring the ambient air quality was a great challenge, especially because it means improving the system, which is the source the only official data on air quality at the national level ", stated the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Naser Nuredini, emphasizing that this system is of great importance for air quality management, national policy making, information of the European Environment Agency and some international agreements as well as for our ongoing efforts to implement EU legislation and thus accelerate the European integration process.

In order to assist Northern Macedonia in upgrading its air quality measurement system and collecting air quality data in line with EU standards, which set out the criteria for EU accession, the Swedish Agency for Environmental Protection noted the need for the country to strengthen the necessary infrastructure and capacities for air quality monitoring.

The Ambassador of Sweden in Northern Macedonia, Kristin Forsgren Bengtson, spoke about the importance of the project in terms of improving the efficiency of the institutions responsible for measuring air quality./Telegrafi/