Skopje, 30 September 2023 (MIA) — North Macedonia and Bulgaria's defense cooperation can serve as a positive example of how to develop bilateral relations, Minister of Defense Slavjanka Petrovska said at her meeting with Bulgarian counterpart Todor Tagarev ahead of her visit to the Macedonian contingent in NATO's multinational battlegroup in Novo Selo, Bulgaria.

According to a Ministry of Defense press release, Minister Petrovska told Defense Minister Tagarev that the cooperation between North Macedonia and Bulgaria was highly important.

"Together with my colleague Tagarev, we will visit our multinational forces stationed here in Bulgaria as part of NATO's strengthened presence throughout its territory," Petrovska is quoted as saying in the press release.

"The defense cooperation between the two countries is exceptionally significant and is developing as befits two NATO member states," she said, adding that ways to further develop cooperation would be discussed as well.

Minister Tagarev said he highly appreciated the contribution of North Macedonia to the NATO multinational battlegroup in Bulgaria. He added that defense relations were at a high level and that he would work on their development even more.

The Army of the Republic of North Macedonia's participation in the NATO multinational battlegroup in Bulgaria is based on the decisions of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia to deploy soldiers to this collective deterrence and defense system as of November 2022.

The Macedonian contingent in the NATO multinational battlegroup in Bulgaria is the size of a platoon. The battlegroup includes over 1,000 troops from North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey and the United States, under Italian leadership. mr/