Today, in front of the plateau of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff, on the occasion of the 18th of August - Army Day, a ceremonial gathering of members of the Army and defence employees was held, addressed by the Minister of Defence, Vlado Misajlovski, and the Chief of the General Staff, Major General Sashko Lafchiski.
On the eve of the day of the Macedonian Army, Minister Misajlovski expressed his gratitude to all employees and emphasized: "Your hard work, your dedication and thw professionalism that you show every day allow us to be one of the most organized institutions in the country. For all of us, for Macedonia, success will be guaranteed only if we continue to work with dedicationq, if we continue to function as one big family united by a common goal: for Macedonia to continue to develop and for us to build a better country for future generations."
Misajlovski told the employees that they will continue to be valued because they are the pillar of defence. "We approached every challenge from the same standpoint and the same perspective - we supported each other at every moment and for the good of every soldier, non-commissioned officer, officer and defence employee. We are making decisions that will make us stronger and that is precisely why I want to emphasize that we are also working on higher salaries and better working conditions," said Misajlovski.
The Chief of the General Staff, General Lafchiski, in his address to the attendees, emphasized that the 18th of August is "the day when we celebrate the Military Profession, a profession based on honour, discipline, responsibility, loyalty, professionalism and patriotism. These are the values ​​by which we recognize each other every day - values ​​that are in the code of every Army member. General Lafchiski stated that the past year was a year of significant results and confirmation that the Army continues to develop its capabilities and meet the highest national and NATO standards, emphasizing "Behind each of these results stands a lot of work, cooperation, coordination, planning, implementation and execution."
As part of the ceremony, a delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff, led by Minister Misajlovski, together with the families of the fallen defenders, laid fresh flowers at the memorial to the fallen defenders in front of the Ministry building, paying tribute to their courage and sacrifice. Earlier, at the city cemetery in Butel, a government delegation led by the Minister laid wreaths with fresh flowers at the partisan cemetery and at the eternal resting places of the fallen President Boris Trajkovski, former President Kiro Gligorov and General Mihailo Apostolski.
The ceremonial gathering of employees of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff was attended by Deputy Minister Admir Shabani, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Azim Nuredin, State Secretary Elizabeta Chupovska Ristova, Director of the General Staff, Brigadier General Orce Jordev, employees of the Ministry and the General Staff, and other guests.
The central ceremony on the occasion of Army Day will be held tomorrow, the 18th of August, at the Water Training Center - Biljanini Izvori in Ohrid.
