• After Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine in 2014 and the annexation of part of Ukraine’s territory, Allies decided at the 2016 Warsaw Summit of the Alliance to strengthen defense and deterrence, as a further contribution to the stability and security of the Alliance.
In doing so, the allies formed multinational forces, the so-called “Enhanced Forward Presence” – NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) on the eastern flank of the Alliance.
NATO’s Multinational Force in the Alliance’s Northeast was first established in 2017, with the creation of four multinational battalion battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. These multinational forces are led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the United States, respectively.
Following the brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, at the NATO Summit in Madrid in June 2022, Allies agreed to a fundamental change in NATO’s deterrence and defense concept that includes further strengthening the Alliance’s eastern border, upgrading battle groups in the eastern part of the Alliance at the brigade level, transformation of the NATO response force and increasing the number of high readiness forces with the additional formation of four more multinational battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. This brings the total number of multinational battle groups to eight, and they span the entire eastern flank of NATO – from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.
It represents the largest reinforcement of the Alliance’s collective defense in a generation and demonstrates the solidarity, resolve and ability of the Allies to defend every inch of Allied territory and one billion Alliance citizens. The multinational forces demonstrate the strength of the transatlantic bond and make it clear that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on the entire Alliance.
• The participation of members of the Macedonian Army in the framework of the multinational forces of NATO in Latvia and in Bulgaria and Romania is based on Government decisions. Our contribution to the Canadian-led NATO force in Latvia began in June 2022 within the Slovenian contingent with one NBC detachment, then replaced by an artillery detachment that began operations in December 2022 in two rotations.
Currently, our country contributes to the multinational forces in Latvia with one reconnaissance unit, deployed in the Adazhi camp, near Riga, on a six-month rotational basis.
As of November 2022, our country contributes to the multinational forces in Bulgaria (led by Italy) and Romania (led by France) with one platoon and one staff officer each.
The Macedonian soldiers together with the members of the allied armed forces are an integral part of the collective deterrent and defense system of the Alliance.