The US State Department published its 2021 human rights report. The report on Macedonia cites threats against journalists, the high corruption levels, poor prison conditions and other violations.

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: inhuman and degrading conditions and severe overcrowding in some prison units; violence and threats of violence against journalists; cases of serious government corruption; lack of accountability for gender-based and family violence; and for crimes involving violence and threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons, the report notes.

The government took steps to identify, investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed abuses or engaged in corruption. The ombudsman believed police impunity continued to be a problem, but to a lesser extent than in the past, is also concluded by the State Department.

The report finds that the national police maintains internal security, including migration and border enforcement, and report to the Ministry of the Interior. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Members of the security forces committed some abuses, including excessive use of force by police and prison guards.

On the 2020 general elections, the report notes that “the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights observed the elections were ‘generally administered effectively amid adjustments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but legal stability was undermined by substantial revisions to the electoral code and subsequent ad hoc regulations enacted during the state of emergency”.