Today, the Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Vasko Gjurchinovski, who is in a working visit to the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, had a meeting with General Sir Gordon Messenger, United Kingdom Vice Chief of Defence Staff, and Mr. Nick Gurr, the Director for International Security Policy, in the UK Ministry of Defence.
During the meeting with General Messenger, several issues of bilateral military co-operation, as well as possibilities for joint training, using the capacities of ATA Krivolak, military education and participation in international peace support operations were discussed.
The generals Gjurchinovski and Messenger expressed the need for further deepening of the existing inter-army cooperation and strengthening it with new forms, especially in this period of our accession processes in NATO, which is especially important to us. In doing so, General Messenger expressed full support and necessary advisory assistance in the forthcoming period.
Previously, the ongoing reform processes in the United Kingdom were presented to General Gjurchinovski by senior military executives. The delegation also met with the Ambassador of our country in the UK, Ms. Aleksandra Miovska, and visited the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.
During the stay in the United Kingdom, the Army delegation will also visit the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Cumberland to discuss current and further military training and the education of members of our army at this and other military educational institutions. The delegation will also visit the military veterans’ hospital in Chelsea.
The high level of strategic cooperation between the two armies in the past period has had remarkable results, and so far besides the training of NCOs and officers of our army in the United Kingdom, notable are the joint exercise at the ATA Krivolak in 2007 and logistical assistance during participation in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, which gave us the unique opportunity to present ourselves as a reliable and trusted partner.
As part of the planned cooperation in the following period, there is a joint training in reconnaissance, training for drivers in field conditions, as well as participation in the Cambrian Patrol 2019, for which the success of our representatives who last year won the second place out of 138 army teams, is worth mentioning.
