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Petrovska-Panagiotopoulos: North Macedonia and Greece share same vision of a secure, stable and prosperous region

Petrovska-Panagiotopoulos: North Macedonia and Greece share same vision of a secure, stable and prosperous region
Delphi, 7 April 2022 (MIA) – Defence Ministers of North Macedonia and Greece, Slavjanka Petrovska and Nikos Panagiotopoulos during their meeting on Thursday held at the sidelines of the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece expressed satisfaction with the intensity of defence cooperation between the two countries which enhanced considerably over the past two years that greatly contributed to regional security, MIA’s Athens correspondent reported. North Macedonia and Greece share the same vision for a safe, stable and prosperous region, the two ministers said, according to the Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia, and Petrovska thanked for the Greece’s unequivocal support for the European perspective of our country. The two ministers said after the meeting that they discussed a range of topics and promotion of cooperation. “Greece is great ally and friend of North Macedonia. The plan for bilateral defence cooperation this year envisages 42 joint activities, some of which will be implemented in North Macedonia and some in Greece, which is a clear demonstration of the new considerably higher level of commitment to joint defence cooperation with emphasis on special forces, NATO standardization, cyber defence, joint training and exercises. The mutual trust is additionally strengthen by Greece providing air policing of North Macedonia as part of NATO's collective defence as well as Greece's participation in the largest exercise to be held this year in Krivolak, "Swift Response 22",” Minister Petrovska said at the meeting. “With my colleague, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia Slavjanka Petrovska in Delphi Forum, discussed further enhancement of our defence cooperation, NATO air policing, extensive program of military cooperation, training and exercises,” Panagiotopoulos wrote on Twitter. The two ministers, speaking on the security situation in Europe and the armed conflict in Ukraine, agreed that "the unity of NATO allies in condemning the armed conflict, in resoluteness in deterrence and defense and in solidarity with the Ukrainian people is stronger than ever,” reads the press release. Minister Petrovska took part Thursday in the panel discussion “Security Issues in the Western Balkans” held within 7th Delphi Economic Forum, and also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz. On Friday, Minister Petrovska is set to meet with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade – Prishtina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues Miroslav Lajčák and GLOBSEC president and founder Róbert Vass.