Today in Split, Republic of Croatia, The Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski, attended the annual conference of Chiefs of General Staff of the armies of member states of US-Adriatic Charter (A-5).
The topic of discussion at the conference, hosted by the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Croatia, Admiral Robert Hranj, was “Promoting mutual interoperability and creating a common approach to solving collective security threats and challenges through the implementation of lessons learned from joint exercise activities.”
General Gjurchinovski delivered a speech in which after expressing gratitude for the support and assistance received from the other countries in A-5 in attaining our NATO membership, noted that as the youngest country in the NATO family we standardize our defense process and the Army in order to fully integrate in the NATO defense system.
Speaking about the common security challenges, he pointed out that we recognize the need to continue the excellent mutual cooperation, in order to deal with the growing security threats in the spirit of stability and security in the region and beyond. “I strongly support all efforts to identify possible areas that will strengthen our military cooperation in the spirit on smart defense initiatives, association and sharing.”, said General Gjurchinovski.
Following the signing of the joint statement reaffirming the efforts to strengthen mutual cooperation and interoperability, as part of the program, General Gjurchninovski will hold bilateral meetings with U.S. European Command (EUCOM) Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Michael L. Howard and Croatia’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Admiral Robert Hranj.
Other conference attendees were the Chiefs of General Staff of the Armies of the US-Adriatic Charter (Macedonia, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro), the Deputy Commander of the European Command of the US Forces, the commanders of the National Guard (NG) from the United States partnering with the A5 countries, as well as representatives of the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Kosovo Security Force as observers.
The main non-commissioned officers of the armies of the A-5 member states also held a conference yesterday.
In the coming days after the conference during his stay in Croatia General Gjurcinovski and the delegation will attend the Adriatic Military and Air Exhibition and Conference – ASDA 2021, which is also being held in Split.
The forming of the US-Adriatic Charter was signed in 2003, which in addition to the United States as a patron, the Republic of North Macedonia, Albania and Croatia committed to develop the regional cooperation in the field of defense through an institutional framework. In 2008, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro joined the initiative, and Serbia, Kosovo and Slovenia have a status of observer.
Conferences of the Chiefs of Staff of the armies of country members of the US-Adriatic Charter (A-5) are held once a year on a rotating basis.
