Vilnius, 11 July 2023 (MIA) – Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski is participating Tuesday in the first session of the North Atlantic Council on the level of heads of state and government, as part of the first day of the NATO Summit in Vilnius.

“We began the first meeting of the North Atlantic Council, during which we spoke about the strategic concept for the strengthening of defensive capacities and modernization of defense. Boosting the resilience of NATO member states to the growing cyber threats is also a topic of the meeting. The NATO Summit is a unique opportunity for all allies to demonstrate the strength and unity regarding our current and future tasks,” wrote Kovachevski on Facebook.

The first session of the Summit is set to focus on bolstering collective defense through regional plans and constant rapid response readiness on land, at sea and in the air. The deterrence policy, according to the Government, will be more focused, adding to the military and defense policies.

One of the main topics of the session is the continuation of investments in defense and the new commitment to defense spending, with the agreement that defense spending should stand at a minimum of 2 percent of GDP, with at least 20 percent to be used for modernization.

According to MIA’s Vilnius reporter, ahead of the meeting, the PM said North Macedonia allocates 1.85 percent of its GDP for defense, with 30 percent of defense spending aimed at the modernization of the Army.

The commitment, said the Government, is necessary in order to bolster defense capacities, as well as the capacities to face the growing cyber and hybrid threats, and other challenges such as terrorism or the abuse of new technologies.