The US remains committed to NATO’s open door policy

SKOPJE (AA) – The commander of the US Army Europe Command, General Christopher Cavoli, said that his country remains committed to NATO’s open door policy, reports Anadolu.

Cavoli is staying in North Macedonia, which, as chairman of the US-Adriatic Charter Initiative (A-5), today hosted the 26th Conference of the Chiefs of General Staff of the armies of the countries that are members of this initiative.

At the joint press conference with the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of North Macedonia, Lieutenant-Colonel General Vasko Gjurcinovski, Kavoli thanked all the participants, stating that this is another productive conference on the Adriatic Charter.

Cavoli said that the member countries of the Adriatic Charter: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, along with the observer countries, Kosovo and Slovenia, are gathered at the annual conference to continue the dialogue on security cooperation.

“We discussed important regional issues, such as enhanced cyber security, increased interoperability and participation in multinational operations, missions and exercises. These are historic times in Europe. Russian aggression and terrorist groups continue to represent a major threat to the NATO alliance, to combat these and other threats, the members and observers of this Charter have pledged continued participation in training and peace operations with allies and partners,” Cavoli said.

He added that since its establishment two decades ago, the Adriatic Charter has been successful in helping the countries of South-Eastern Europe to achieve NATO membership.

“Throughout the 20-year history of the Charter, we continue to demonstrate that cooperation improves the defense of each nation and collective regional security for all.” “The United States supports national reform efforts and defense modernization efforts to meet NATO membership requirements, and we reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s open door policy under Article 10 of the Washington Treaty,” Cavoli said.

Lieutenant-Colonel General Vasko Gjurchinovski thanked General Cavoli in his speech, adding that “the USA was, is and will remain our most important strategic ally in all fields, especially in the domain of defense, the armed forces.”

“During the day we exchanged information and data as participants of the Charter, the United States, us and the permanent members: Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania about the peace, security, prosperity of the region and all possible forms of cooperation that we expect in the period what’s going on,” said Gjurchinovski.

The Chiefs of Staff of the US-Adriatic Charter (A-5) member states also signed a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to further strengthening relations and expanding and deepening military cooperation in order to support and strengthen regional safety.

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