The third anniversary of the membership in NATO was marked today with a military ceremony in “Ilinden” barracks, in front of the Second Infantry Battalion echelon, where the Ranger Battalion and the Special Forces Battalion members conducted combat readiness drills in presence of the country leadership and representatives of the diplomatic corps.
The Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, the Minister of Defence Slavjanka Petrovska and the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General, Vasko Gjurchinovski adressed the present troops and guests at the ceremony.
General Gjurchinovski, who addressed the audience first, stressed that with our approach and by fulfilling all military tasks, we proved to be a reliable and responsible partner that reached the training and interoperability standards way before becoming a full member, which has been confirmed in the past three years.
We managed to achieve the fastest military integration in NATO, a goal reached in 19 months since full membership, with continuous determination, three decades of hard work and dedication.
He pointed out that the fastest military integration in NATO that we achieved 19 months after becoming a full member is the result of continuous determination, three decades of hard work and dedication, the effort that all generations of our members have made, who devotedly, following the recommendations of the Alliance, applied the experience gained and lessons learned from the international operations and military exercises in order to achieve the necessary NATO standards.
“The success that the Army has achieved throughout this period is reflected in what we have now, which is mobile, professional and efficient forces, capable of protecting the security of our country and responding to all modern threats and challenges”, General Gjurchinovski said.
Addressing the present members of the Army he told them: “ Be proud of the achievements. Our mission is clear and precisely defined. We have a debt to our predecessors, but also an obligation to the future generations, to exceed the high level of trust we have in the society, determinately and with commitment”.
The Minister of Defence Slavjanka Petrovska pointed out in her address: “Unity and determination for peace and security. That is the message under which today, all of us united, to celebrate the anniversary of the Republic of North Macedonia’s full membership in NATO – the Alliance – our strategic foreign policy goal for three decades. We will also celebrate the NATO Day because since 2020, that day is also our day”.
“Today we proudly say, We are NATO, because we knew how to be brave, we knew how to make right decisions as a nation, which from this perspective, were truly made at the right time”. Further on, the Minister Petrovska referred to Russia’s brutal military invasion of Ukraine, and she said: “From the very beginning the Republic of North Macedonia was clear. Determinedly and firmly we hold the stance – NO to war, NO to suffering, NO to innocent victims.
We made decisions to help and support a sovereign country that is doing everything to defend itself from external aggression, and we did it with reason and with the aim of helping the people who just want to be independent, to protect their own sovereignty to which they have every right.”
Minister Petrovska also spoke about the contribution to the Army: “If we look at our work at home, our goal was not only to bring the Army into NATO but also NATO into the Army – with the equipment that is changing every day, with the procedures and processes that develop, with the staff that is improving, with the working conditions and the standard that every professional soldier, every army non-commissioned officer and officer has.
The Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in his speech underlined that NATO protects, unites and strengthens. “Above all, to be NATO is a strong guarantee of our territory and security, by the most successful military-political Alliance in the history of human civilization, a seal of our territorial integrity and sovereignty”.
In his address, the Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski underlined: “I am proud to be able to address you today directly as the Prime Minister of a country that three years ago, exactly today – 27th of March, achieved one of its strategic goals – we became a member of the most powerful military – political union – the NATO Alliance”.
The Prime Minister Kovachevski referred to the significance of NATO for North Macedonia, but also to the regional and global significance of the Alliance: “To be NATO means sharing the decision-making table with the most developed countries in the world, making decisions about the world security together with the most powerful. It also means to keep our and the world peace as part of a militarily superior, politically strong and relevant and economically dominant organization. Peace and development for nearly one billion people, who live in common democratic values.
Russia’s brutal unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine gave us a different perspective on how important security and stability is. A war that we thought the European soil would never see again.
This war, with all its elements has pushed Europe into a new security, energy and economic crisis, for the resolving of which, the solidarity and unity of NATO were and still are crucial. This unity is precisely where one can see the vision of the alliance and why we will come out of this crisis stronger and more united”.
After the end of the official part, the army formations of our special forces displayed their military skills and training and showed the level of training and interoperability with the NATO Allies they had reached. A flyover of a military aircraft as part of the air patrol, demonstrated the unity of the Alliance in Border Security and Airspace Protection.
Three years ago, with the act of depositing the North Atlantic Treaty at the State Department in Washington, we became the 30th full member country of the most powerful military political alliance.
It is with a reason that the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia and we, its members, together with all its citizens, see the commemoration of this event as our historical victory in which several generations of our members, with their professionalism and sacrifice, tirelessly contributed to the execution of the given tasks for almost 30 years.
