Minister of Defense Vlado Misajlovski, together with the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Major General Sasko Lafchiski, attended today (10 April) the Distinguished Visitors Day of of the “Seven Stars 25” exercise, which took place at the “Alekso Demnievski – Bauman” barracks in Veles, where he said that this was a multinational exercise in which six countries participate and hence exceptionally important for us as the host country of the Southeast Europe Brigade Command.
The Minister congratulated the participants of the exercise and the SEEBRIG Command led by the Commander, Brigadier General Bilbil Bitri, for the demonstrated top professionalism and high standards in organizing such a complex exercise that includes a computer simulated element and a field exercise at the Krivolak Army Training Area.
“I am really glad that over 200 people are directly participating in this exercise and that we can see how they jointly deal with all unwanted phenomena, but also how to establish peace afterwards, which is very important. Congratulations to everyone, you have all been very professional. Congratulations to SEEBRIG, congratulations to all countries and participants,” the Minister said.
In response to a journalist’s question regarding the plans for the development of the defense and the Army, Minister Misajlovski informed them that the process of equipping and modernizing the Army is being continuously implemented, mentioning that this year it is expected to complete the entire procurement of JLTV vehicles; furthermore, the Stryker armored vehicles are expected to arrive, as well as the Mistral air defense systems and Boran artillery systems. Misajlovski confirmed that work is underway to overcome the legal challenges related to the procurement of helicopters and that a company has been selected to provide legal advice in this process. He added that significant funds are also being allocated for the reconstruction of Army facilities, including the facilities of the regional units, as well as for the procurement of new uniforms and boots for the Macedonian Army members.
General Lafchiski, on the other hand, said that the interoperability among all participants in the exercise is at a very high level, assessing it as successfully implemented. Lafchiski stated that 90 percent of the participants in the field part of the exercise are members of the Second Battalion of the First Infantry Brigade of the Army.
The DV Dat at Veles barracks was also attended by Deputy Minister Elfet Ismaili, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, General Azim Nuredin, the State Secretary at the Ministry, Elizabeta Chupovska Ristova, the Director of the General Staff, General Orce Jordev, the Operations Commander, General Mirche Gjorgoski, and the Training and Doctrines Commander, General Lulzim Nuredini.
The exercise “Seven Stars 25” is organized by the Brigade Command every other year. This year, over 200 SEEBRIG members are involved in the activities, and the goal is to practice NATO procedures and actions in order to develop interoperability and command and control procedures. This exercise contributes to strengthening peace, security and cooperation in the region and demonstrates the readiness of the Brigade to conduct multinational operations in support of peace.
