Ohrid, 25 November 2022 (MIA) – The kidnapping of two prominent figures was a part of the scenario at the operational and tactical exercise “Harpoon 2022″, held Friday in Ohrid by members of North Macedonia’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit “Tiger” and Bulgaria’s Special Unit for Combating Terrorism in cooperation with the air force unit of the Macedonian Interior Ministry.

The exercise was attended by Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski and the Deputy Minister of Interior of Bulgaria, Vencislav Katinov, who before the exercise laid flowers at the monument in memory of the Bulgarian tourists who died in a shipwreck in Lake Ohrid. They assessed that the joint exercises should become a sustainable practice because they develop and strengthen direct contacts and deepen the practice-oriented interactions in the fight against terrorist threats.

Minister Spasovski and Bulgaria’s Katinov praised their countries relations as regards internal affairs, voicing hopes that the active and open dialogue will keep upgrading in the future, the Interior Ministry said in a press release.

Harpoon 2022, said Spasovski, is yet another example of proactivity and commitment to the fight against terrorism together with our partners in Bulgaria as well as yet another good message of friendship, cooperation and partnership.

The Deputy Commander of the “Tiger” unit, Dragan Prokopovski, said that the members of the Macedonian and the Bulgarian special units, through theoretical lectures and video presentations, exchanged experiences on the tactics and techniques they utilize in their units.

After the successful demonstration of the operative and tactical exercises “Harpoon 2022”, Minister Spasovski and Bulgarian Deputy Minister Katinov exchanged plaques, as did the Public Security Bureau Director Sasho Tasevski and the Director of the Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism of Bulgaria, Todor Grebanarov.

All participants received certificates for a successfully realized exercise, as well as for the conducted training and exchange of experiences.

As part of the exercises in Ohrid the members of both units carried out training activities regarding breaking into an object, vehicle raids and descending from a helicopter using ropes. Training activities were also carried out on water using landing boats and divers. The participants also exchanged experiences on providing first aid to an injured person, as well as extracting an injured person from inaccessible terrain using an aircraft. ad/ba/