Skopje, 8 August 2023 (MIA) - The Government at a session on Tuesday will make a final decision on sending a contingent of 100 Army members to Slovenia, to respond to the needs of the Slovenian Army and the Slovenian state, and the troops will leave tomorrow morning at the earliest, Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska told reporters at Tuesday's event to mark the 22nd anniversary of the defenders' death in the Karpalak ambush. 

Noting that the recent tragedy in Slovenia has been used for various speculations, to present lies and untruths to the Macedonian public that the assistance is late, Petrovska said the intention was not to make PR marketing from it.

"From the moment the disaster happened in Slovenia and the flash floods, I got in touch with my Slovenian counterpart, the Prime Minister, the President of the country and all the ministers and offered our selfless support. We were told that as soon as they have done the analysis of what they need, requests will be submitted, and requests were submitted to both NATO and the EU yesterday morning through the civil emergency response mechanism in such crisis situations. That's why we reacted immediately yesterday, the President in coordination with the Army Chief of Staff and me. The Government at a session on Tuesday will make a final decision on sending a contingent of 100 Army members to Slovenia, to respond to the needs of the Slovenian Army and the Slovenian state," said Petrovska. 

The Minister noted that the troops are ready to head for Slovenia today.

"The Army Chief of Staff and I will visit them in the afternoon to make sure that they are ready, and they will leave early tomorrow morning. At the Government session at 12 o'clock today, we will make the decision, which is the formal part of the procedure," Petrovska said.  

As regards whether some kind of material assistance is being considered, the Minister said this was all that had been requested so far.

"Other technical means, material technical support were also requested, regarding which we are not able to respond, but of course if other requests are sent in the future to which we can respond, then we will respond. Just as a piece of information, the request states that a total of 200 Army members are requested, and the Republic of North Macedonia is sending 50 percent of the requests," Petrovska added.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said resulting damage from the devastating floods will likely exceed half a billion euros.  

The flooding in Slovenia resulted in landslides and at least six deaths as of Friday. Houses have been swept away, bridges and roads have been destroyed, and water supply has been cut off in some parts of the country. Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes so far, with the Army, firefighters and rescue teams still on the ground. 

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