North Macedonia signals more military cooperation with Türkiye amid Ukraine war

By Aysu Bicer and Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

DAVOS, Switzerland (AA) – North Macedonia's President Stevo Pendarovski has signaled further military cooperation with Türkiye in the coming period, saying "the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine is only making the whole matter more urgent."

Military cooperation between the two countries started many years ago and many high-ranking soldiers in the North Macedonian army were trained at Turkish military schools, Stevo Pendarovski told Anadolu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland.

Asked whether the purchase of military drones from Türkiye is on Skopje's agenda, Pendarovski said in the last one-and-a-half years, North Macedonia made new arrangements for purchasing some military equipment and weapons from Türkiye.

"But of course, that is a sensitive matter, and I would not like to discuss in detail all of that publicly," he underscored.

The president described bilateral relations as excellent, saying Türkiye was one of the staunchest supporters of North Macedonia's independence in early 1990s and at the moment, economic cooperation is slowly building up year by year.

- OSCE presidency 'great challenge' for North Macedonia

On Jan. 1, North Macedonia assumed the rotating 2023 presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Pendarovski said the term presidency would be "a great challenge" for them as they are a small country with limited resources.

"We have taken the lead of an organization with 57 member countries, spanning from the US and Canada, including Russia, Central Asia, so it's not an easy task, but we are prepared well for that task. We started from the first of January and will chair that organization for the whole year."

He said North Macedonia is carrying out its efforts for easing the conflict in Ukraine.

"We are in contact with both sides. I recently dispatched a Macedonian ambassador to Moscow in order to hear the other side, despite it being beyond doubt that the Russian invasion is completely illegal and it is not allowed by any international rule or principle."

Pendarovski also said they have been trying their best to solve the problem from the very beginning.

Bujar Osmani, North Macedonia's foreign minister and OSCE term chairman, visited Ukraine a couple of days ago and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski will also hold talks in Ukraine next month.

- Türkiye has 'legitimate security concerns,' says Pendarovski

On a question whether North Macedonia supports Türkiye's concerns over NATO membership bids of Sweden and Finland, Pendarovski said Ankara has "some legitimate security concerns" which should be addressed.

"I am not saying that it should happen this time as well. But I'm quite confident that with the help of third countries, with NATO's secretary general, with our friends, that Finland and Sweden will as soon as possible complete the ratification process, including in the Turkish parliament, because there is no doubt that we do need as an alliance, we do need these two countries, which are democratic countries with a long tradition, and they can only help all of us in this situation with the war on the continent after so many decades," he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is exerting great diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Pendarovski said. "President Erdogan is probably the only politician in the world who communicates with both Russia and Ukraine about the crisis," he added.

- Serbia-Kosovo conflict

About recent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo over border, Pendarovski said he does not believe that the conflict between the two countries will turn into a war in the Balkans.

"I do not believe that kind of development will unfold in the Western Balkans. It's important for the security of our people. Of course, the situation in Kosovo is completely under control," he said.

According to Pendarovski, the most important concern in Kosovo is the human rights, stability, and security for all people living there.

Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Albanians, broke away from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. But Serbia has not recognized the move and sees its former province as part of its territory.

Tensions have been simmering between the two Balkan countries after a series of events in the region.

In November 2022, there was a row about license plates, with the government in Pristina demanding ethnic Serbs surrender Serbian-issued vehicle license plates to replace them with plates issued by Kosovo.

Earlier this month, a Serbian boy and a young man were shot and wounded in southern Kosovo by Albanian extremists on Orthodox Christmas Eve.

*With contributions by Talha Ozturk in Belgrade.