The presentation of the tactical and technical characteristics of the JLTV Light Armoured Vehicles and the familiarization with the activities, missions and tasks of the declared unit, the second infantry battalion, was carried out today in the Jane Sandanski Barracks in Shtip in front of the Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, the Minister of Defence Vlado Misajlovski, the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Vasko Gjurchinovski, Deputy Minister of Defence Elfet Ismaili, Generals Mirche Gjorgoski and Sashko Lafchiski and the US Ambassador, H.E. Angela Aggeler, as part of the reception of six more new JLTV vehicles.
During today’s visit, Minister Vlado Misajlovski emphasized that the cooperation with our strategic partner is gaining momentum and that from the position of Minister of Defence he will give his best to contribute to the improvement of the situation in the Army, in the development of both the human and equipment capabilities, in cooperation with the General Staff, with our allies and with the defence trade unions.
“We, together with the United States and other allies, are giving maximum effort in the training, education, and of course modernization with new modern equipment that is compatible according to NATO standards and which is in accordance with the Long-Term Plan Defence Capabilities Development Plan and the Equipping and Modernization Plan of the Army”, underlined Misajlovski and added “our partnership is strong and together we continue to contribute to security and peace”.
Misajlovski said that at the moment the Macedonian Army has 38 JLTV vehicles, and according to the Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement, the remaining 58 vehicles, as well as all STRYKER armored personnel carriers, are expected to arrive by the end of 2025, which will be intended for the development of the Light Infantry Battalion Group and the Special Operations Teams.
Prime Minister Mickoski thanked all members of the Army for their contribution to preserving the territorial sovereignty and integrity of our homeland and underlined that the Government undertakes to provide all the necessary conditions for the flawless performance of their tasks.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Macedonian armed forces here who were with us and who, in a truly inspiring way, made a presentation of the challenges ahead, and what we as a government should do in the coming period is to modernize them and provide them with conditions for a modern Army that will respond to the challenges of the new era”, stressed Mickoski and expressed his appreciation to the USA, Ambassador Aggeler and all involved persons from the U.S. Armed Forces who help in the modernization of the Macedonian Army.
U.S. Ambassador Angela Aggeler also addressed the event and expressed the appreciation on behalf of the USA, the President, the Government and the U.S. Embassy to Prime Minister Mickoski and Defence Minister Misajlovski for respecting the obligations that our country undertakes towards the Alliance.
