Skopje, 16 June 2022 (MIA) – The Army of North Macedonia is hosting the 15th Balkan Countries Chiefs of Defense Conference in Ohrid on Thursday. Army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Vasko Gjurchinovski will open the conference, followed by remarks by President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Stevo Pendarovski, and Deputy Defense Minister Bashkim Hasani, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release. The conference will discuss the use of armed forces in the management of the latest challenges in national and regional terms, but also military cooperation among Balkan countries and ways to oppose contemporary security challenges, risks and threats in the region. The event brings together the chiefs of defense and their deputies from North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Albania and Montenegro, along with observers Croatia, but also representatives of the EU Military Committee, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, and United States Army Europe and Africa. The forum was initiated by Greece and Turkey in 2006 and formally established a year later.