The Czech Defense Minister Lubomir Metnar is in official visit to Macedonia as the first defense minister of a NATO member country visiting Macedonia since the country’s accession into the Alliance. Together with Macedonian Defense Minister Radmila Shekerinska and the Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, he signed a Memorandum for Understanding and Technical Cooperation between both countries, which encompasses the modernization of four Russian-made army and police helicopters by a Czech state company.
Czech Minister Metnar said that he is glad that our country has chosen the Czech Republic for the maintenance and modernization of the helicopters, and he stressed that they have a long history in this area. He also assured that the diplomatic crisis between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation will not be influencing the accomplishment of this project.
He explained that the Czech government has approved financial assets to aid North Macedonia in the area of procurement of equipment for chemical protection, and other assets will be secured for the protection of covert information in accordance with NATO standards.