Skopje, 11 December 2023 (MIA) – Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska held a meeting Monday with Lieutenant General Max Nielsen, Commandant of the NATO Defense College (NDC) in Rome, during which she emphasized that North Macedonia is supporting NATO’s educational programs, and noted that officers from the Army of North Macedonia have the opportunity to improve their skills at the College.

Lieutenant General Max Nielsen and senior course members from 59 countries are paying a study visit to North Macedonia.

According to the Ministry of Defense, at the meeting, Petrovska highlighted the excellent cooperation between the Ministry and the NDC of 28 years.

Petrovska stressed that over the past years, officers from the country’s Army and high officials from the Defense Ministry had the opportunity to polish their skills at the College, while today the country is a part of the educational institution with its representative.

“We started supporting NATO’s educational programs as NATO partners, initially through the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes, then through the Defense Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) and now with a national representative in your team,” said Petrovska.

The Defense Minister stressed that North Macedonia has great respect for the NDC as a center of education, study and research of trans-Atlantic security issues.

Lieutenant General Nielsen expressed satisfaction over the chance to lead the team from the NDC in its visit to North Macedonia, and stressed that through their meetings they had a chance to get acquainted with the excellent human capacity of the institutions.

As part of their study visit, the course members held meetings with Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi, with the Committee on Defense and Security, with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, as well as the Defense Ministry and the Army.

At the meeting the course members were introduced to the defense reforms and the internal and external defense policy, as well as the transformation, missions and operations of the Army in a NATO context.

Photo: Ministry of Defense