Today (16 December), Minister of Defense Vlado Misajlovski and the Chief of the Army General Staff, Major General Sashko Lafchiski met with the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Lord Stuart Peach, the British Ambassador to North Macedonia, Matthew Lawson, and the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Major General John Clark.
The British-Macedonian defense cooperation is one of the strongest and most visible, the minister said at the meeting, adding that “now is the time to consider the possibility of elevating this cooperation to the level of a strategic partnership.”
Misajlovski said that the defense cooperation between the two countries is particularly visible in the development of the largest Macedonian training area, “Krivolak”, where a large number of joint exercises were carried out, and with the support of the United Kingdom, 14 complex urban combat mobile units were set up, to strengthened the training of Macedonian and allied forces.
“At a time of disrupted security on the European continent, it is of utmost importance that NATO allies support each other and develop together. All Macedonian-British defense cooperation to date has had precisely that goal,” the minister said.
Macedonian-British defense cooperation dates back to 1995, when the first Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries. The United Kingdom, in addition to the mentioned complex urban combat mobile units, also supported the development of “Krivolak” by donating electronic targets.
As part of the official visit by a team from the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, the Chief of the General Staff, Major General Sashko Lafchiski, and the Director of the General Staff, Brigadier General Simeon Trajkovski, held a meeting with the Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning at the Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Major General John Clark.
During the meeting, discussions were held on defense planning processes, as well as the activities of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia in supporting regional plans.
The visit is part of the planned activities of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples to visit the countries within its area of responsibility.
