International Military Cooperation – North Macedonia – 2024

MILITARY EXERCISES

In 2023, North Macedonia participated in 31 international military exercises. Among these exercises, 13 were bilateral and 18 were multilateral. Regarding bilateral military exercises, five were conducted with the US, four with Turkey, two with Greece and one with the UK and France, respectively. 

NATO and its Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme absolutely dominate when it comes to multilateral international military exercises in which North Macedonia participated. Nine of these exercises were done under the auspices of NATO, among which there were two cyber security exercises, including “Cyber Unity 23” and “Cyber Coalition 23”. Five exercises were led by the US to prepare the US army and the ally armies to operate under NATO standards. Three exercises were regional in scope, like the “Laufer 23” implemented within the Adriatic Charter (A-5), “Strong Balkan 23 (B-9)”; a regional exercise intended to boost interoperability with NATO, and exercise “Maple Arch 23” held under the auspice South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) to bring the participating countries closer to NATO standards. The North Macedonian Army also participated in “Triglav Star 23” with Slovenia, UK, and Colorado Army National Guard participation.

DONATIONS

The North Macedonian MoD could not provide an absolute value of all the donations in 2023, but the approximate value was provided. It was impossible to extrapolate the exact timeframe of these donations based on the MoD’s response and the open sources. However, based on the provided data, the US military donations are valued at approximately USD 3.718.792, followed by the UK, whose donations were approximately GBP 100.000. It was not possible to identify the exact content of the UK donations. Still, the US donations mostly involved the donation of spare parts, including for armoured vehicles and measurement instruments. Lithuania also donated spare parts to North Macedonia, although it was not possible to identify the monetary value. However, the largest military donation to North Macedonia was from the EU, as the European Peace Facility (EPF) provided assistance worth EUR 9 million intended for the equipment of the light infantry battalion group to enhance the ability to participate in EU military missions under the auspices of EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy.

TOP FOREIGN DONORS 2023

EU – the European Peace Facility (EPF)
USD 9 million

2024 – Balkan Defence Monitor
International Military Cooperation – North Macedonia

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