Although the ministry lacks the original documents, it is certain that the weapons were part of a US donation that should not have been sold to any state without the approval of the US Senate, Elenovski told reporters.
The case has resulted in the dismissal of the head of the military intelligence, and new dismissals have been announced in the Macedonian Army Main Staff for acting without civilian supervision, Elenovski said.
The case was discovered ten days ago, when police seized 330 7.6-mm machine guns, as many holders and 33 120-mm mortars in four Bulgarian trucks in Skopje. The discovery was followed by controversial statements from the Army Main Staff, whose head Miroslav Stojanovski said that the weapons were old and had therefore been given to a company in exchange for protection socks.
A spokesman for the Main Staff said that the weapons had been sent to Bulgaria as compensation between the two armies. The Bulgarian defence ministry, however, denied that the weapons were intended for the Bulgarian army, but for the EMKO company, a weapons dealer which had received three shipments from Macedonia in the middle of this year.
The daily Vreme from Skopje reported today that the Macedonian Army Main Staff had so far illegally sold two US M113 APCs, 43 120-mm mortars, 40 M43 mortars, 250 RPK machine guns, 986 kalashnikovs, and 19 92-mm mortars.