The President of the Government, Hristijan Mickoski, the Minister of Defense, Vlado Misajlovski, the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski, the US Ambassador to the Republic of North Macedonia, H.E. Angela Aggeler, the Deputy Minister of Defese Elfet Ismaili, the Generals Mirche Gjorgoski and Sashko Lafchiski, attended the presentation of the six new JLTV Light Tactical Vehicles (LTV), an integral part of the Army’s formation vehicles, at the Jane Sandanski barracks in Shtip, today.
As part of today’s visit, a presentation was made of the mission, tasks and development of the Light Infantry Battalion Group. Then a short demonstration exercise was held, to presented the capabilities of these newest and most sophisticated tactical vehicles, as part of the process of Army modernization and equipping, following the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the US Ambassador to the Republic of North Macedonia address to the audience.
The President of the Government, Hristijan Mickoski, in his address, expressed gratitude to Ambassador Aggeler for the overall support she provides in the process of modernization of our Army.
“I would like to express appreciation to the people from the US armed forces, who help in the modernization of our Army. Also, I would like to express my gratitude to the Macedonian armed forces here who were with us and who, in a truly inspiring way, made a presentation of the challenges ahead, and what we as a government should do in the coming period is to modernize them and provide them with conditions for a modern Army that will respond to the challenges of the new era”, said Mickovski.
The Minister of Defense emphasized that the cooperation with our strategic partner the USA is gaining momentum.
“Today, we are in the Jane Sandanski barracks in Shtip, where our declared unit, the Light Infantry Battalion Group, should be ready for deployment in operations and missions by 2026. In order to prepare and equip this unit, together with the United States and other allies, we are giving maximum effort in training, education and modernization with new modern equipment that is in accordance with the NATO standards,” Misajlovski said.
Minister Misajlovski expressed his gratitude to the U.S. Embassy for the development and modernization of the Army, at the same time noting that from the position of a Minister of Defense he will give his best to contribute to the improvement of the situation in the Army, in the development of both the human resources and equipment ecapabilities, in cooperation with the General Staff, allies and defense trade unions.
U.S. Ambassador Angela Aggeler also addressed the event and expressed the appreciation on behalf of the USA, the President, the Government and the U.S. Embassy for respecting the obligations that our country undertakes towards the Alliance.
So far, 38 light tactical vehicles have arrived, and by the end of 2025, the remaining 58 vehicles, which are part of the process of modernization and equipping of the Army, should arrive.
