The Commander of the US Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, arrived today in an official visit of the Republic of Macedonia.

During the visit General Hertling held a meeting with the Minister of Defence, Fatmir Besimi, where the excellent mutual cooperation was confirmed with accent on the opportunity for its intensification and deepening, in the context of joint training and exercises, and at the same time they spoke of the implementation and benefits of the new NATO concept, “smart defence”. General Hertling used this occasion to repeat the support to the ARM and praised the active participation of the ARM in the mission in Afghanistan.

After the meeting with General Hertling, the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, Major General Gorancho Koteski, expressed gratitude for the support by the US Army Command in Europe to the ARM, but also to the Republic of Macedonia. At the same time General Koteski stressed that during the meeting they spoke about the reform processes in the ARM, about the new Army structure and about the future cooperation between the US Army Command in Europe and the ARM, in the direction of its sustainment in the future. “Today we spoke about several questions – about joint exercises and about the training of our members in the US Command in Europe, and the other topic that we opened is the utilization of joint experiences from peace missions as well as their joint deployment in peace missions”, added General Koteski.
Also, the General briefed that during the meeting it was discussed about the capacities and opportunities for using the military training ranges in the Republic of Macedonia.

On the other hand, General Hertling noted that the joint service with ARM members in Iraq, as well as through the meetings with them in the visit of Afghanistan, enabled him to see that they carry out their jobs outstandingly, carrying peace wherever it is required.

During the two-day visit, General Hertling will visit the WING of the ARM and the Military Range “Krivolak”, where members of the Special Operations Regiment will carry out a demonstration exercise, and a visit of the Military Academy is foreseen, where a lecture will be held in front of the cadets on the topic
“Military Profession”.