A ceremony in Skopje on Thursday, attended by North Macedonian Defence Minister Radmila Šekerinska, as well as the Greek and American ambassadors Roussos Koundouros and Kate Burns respectively, marked the official airspace security check by NATO.
A NATO AWACS aircraft and two Greek F-16 fighters took part in the ceremony.
It was preceded by an exercise of intercepting an enemy aircraft by NATO forces.
“From today we can say that the security of our skies is part of the security of NATO,” said Minister Šekerinska, welcoming the crews of foreign missions.
The government of North Macedonia broadcast live the exercise and the ceremony on social media networks.
The two Greek F-16s took off from Greece and arrived in Skopje in 10 minutes to land after the end of the exercise at Petrovets Airport where AWACS was already parked.
The planes aroused the interest of the attendees, many of whom hurried to sit in the cockpits of the Greek fighters for a souvenir photo.
Recently, Skopje signed the technical agreement for the control of the airspace by NATO, specifically Greece, which has a combative Air Force.
Greece, moreover, in the framework of a bilateral agreement, have patrolled the skies of Skopje since 2020, based on the “Prespa Agreement”.
Šekerinska thanked Greece for its aircraft and “showed readiness” to protect Skopje’s sky, which is a proof of how two neighbouring allied countries should cooperate according to her.
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