The Command of the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) in the Republic of North Macedonia, with a solemn ceremony at the barracks “Boro Menkov” in Kumanovo, officially marked the start of its work in the Republic of North Macedonia.
The SEEBRIG headquarters, which changes its location on a rotating basis, will be located in this barracks in the period 2020-2026, so that the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia, in addition to the participation of its units and staff officers in SEEBRIG, has the opportunity to be a responsible and good host in the next six years.
At the solemn ceremony addressed by the Minister of Defense Radmila Shekerinska and the Chairman of the SEDM process, Petro Koci, in which they emphasized the importance of this initiative for the region and beyond, the handover of the duty of brigade commander took place, between Brigadier General Tudorica Petrache and Brigadier General Aristedeis Iliopoulos.
The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski, Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski, ambassadors, deputy defense ministers, deputy general staffs and military attachés, as well as the mayor of Kumanovo.
The South-Eastern Europe Brigade was established in 1999, based on the Regional Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Defense known as the Multinational Peacekeeping Force Agreement for Southeast Europe (MPRA), signed in 1998 in Skopje by the Ministers of Defense of: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Romania and Turkey. According to the Agreement on the establishment of the Brigade, the location of the SEEBRIG Command is on a rotating basis, and its hosts so far have been: Plovdiv, Constanta, Istanbul and Larissa.
The units assigned to the Brigade remain at their permanent home base locations and are bound by the principle of dedicated forces for exercises and operations at the discretion of the participating countries and the relevant directive of the Political-Military Steering Committee (PMSC).
The position of SEEBRIG Commander rotates between the participating countries in a period of three years.
