ARM Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Goranco Koteski today participates in the 7th Balkan Countries Chiefs of Defence Conference, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The conference in Sarajevo, opened by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Deputy Minister of Defence, Zivko Marjanac, in addition to the Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Major General Anto Jelech as the host, was attended the Chiefs of General Staff of following eight Balkans countries: Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro. Apart from the Chiefs of Staff of the Balkan countries armies, as guests attend the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Slovenia, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Croatia, the Chairman of the EU Military Committee, the Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Allied Joint Force Command Naples Commander, the EUFOR Commander and the NATO HQ Sarajevo Commander.
At the eighth conference of chiefs of staff of the Balkan countries, the ARM Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Goranco Koteski, presented the capacities and capabilities of the pilot training centre which has generated great interest from the chiefs of staff of the Balkan countries in using this center.
Furthermore, the initiative to build a joint action capabilities in times of disasters was approved and the website forum of chiefs of staff of the Balkan countries www.balkanchodforum.net was promoted as well.
At the conference, it is expected to place an emphasis on the further strengthening of the good neighborly relations and the cooperation in defense in order to enhance the security on the Balkans and beyond, as well as the ongoing process of joint handling the contemporary security challenges, initiated at previous conferences.
On the sidelines of the conference, General Koteski is expected to have several bilateral meetings with his counterparts, Chiefs of General Staff who are attending the conference.
The ARM Chief of General Staff will use his presence in BIH to visit the Macedonian contingent in the mission ALTHEA housed at Camp Butmir, Sarajevo.
The Balkan Conference of the Chiefs of General Staff is a result of the initiatives and efforts to strengthen the cooperation between the countries in the region, aimed at promoting peace and stability in the Balkans and beyond.