Hungary is a Committed Supporter of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic Integration Efforts

At the invitation of Lt.-Gen. Gorancho Koteski, Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, Gen. Benkő arrived at Alexander the Great Airport, Skopje, where he was received by Brig.-Gen. Pavle Arsovski and Dr. József Bence, Hungary’s ambassador to Skopje. In what followed, he attended an official welcome ceremony held with full military honors outside the building of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, and then the chiefs of defence of the two countries conducted closed-door talks, after which the plenary discussions began. During the latter, the delegations discussed current issues in ongoing military cooperation between the two countries. Lt.-Gen. Koteski informed Gen. Benkő in detail about the current situation of the reform of the armed forces of Macedonia, and the role of the country in peace operations.

The military leaders agreed that there are already several areas where the two armed forces are cooperating successfully, but in other fields there is still room for expanding the scope of joint activities. These fields include education, training, military medicine and peace support operations. As for training tasks, it is of outstanding significance that the Hungarian Chief of Defence has requested his Macedonian counterpart to enable the participation of Macedonian forces in a land-based multinational tactical exercise to be held in Hungary in 2015.

While talking about opportunities in the field of military medicine, the Macedonian partners spoke highly of the Hungarian Defence Forces Medical Centre, adding that – if Gen. Benkő offered it – they would be pleased to seize the opportunity of sending military health care staffs to Hungary, where they could learn lessons and attend training courses.

Following the plenary talks, Zoran Jolevski, Minister of Defence of the recently formed new Macedonian government received the Chief of the Defence Staff on a courtesy call. The Minister called Gen. Benkő’s visit an event of historic significance, stressing that the general has been the first foreign guest whom he had the pleasure to welcome. He said thanks for the excellent cooperation between the two armed forces, and thanked Hungary for being a committed supporter of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration efforts. He said he hoped that this support would continue into the future, helping his country in attaining its goals as soon as possible.

During his official program, Gen. Benkő visited the centre of military medicine, the pilot training centre and the water training centre of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia.

While holding the EU presidency, Hungary had already made it clear that it is a committed supporter of Macedonia’s efforts at integration into the EU and NATO. Hungary is ready to share the experiences gained in the Euro-Atlantic integration process. The relations are not burdened with open issues, and there is a mutual intention to expand the scope of cooperation. The 15-year-old system of relations in military diplomacy between the two partners provides a solid foundation for this, just like an agreement of cooperation which had earlier been signed by the Ministers of Defence of the two countries in Skopje.

Photo: Defence Staff