Army of Macedonia

Армија на Република Македонија (Macedonian)

Emblem of the Army

The **Army of the Republic of Macedonia** (Macedonian: Армија на Република Македонија) is the military of the Republic of Macedonia. The military of Macedonia comprises the army, air force, and special forces. It is responsible for defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia.

## Defence Structure

### Basis of the National Defence Policy and Doctrine

The national defence policy and doctrine are determined and based upon the following basic security policy goals of Macedonia:

* To protect the lives and the personal safety of the civilians;
* To guarantee the independence and the territorial integrity of the state;
* To guarantee the material well-being and the prosperity of the civilians.

Its security policy aims to accomplish the following goals:

* Organising of our own defence system.

Starting out from the security policy provisions and goals, the defence policy of Macedonia is based upon the following principles:

* Organising of the defence as a system which enables fulfillment of the rights and the commitments of each citizen to defend the country which is guaranteed by the Constitution;
* Organising the defence in order to fulfill the right to an individual and collective self-defence by an armed combat in case of an armed attack, guaranteed by Article 51 of the UN Charter;
* Assuring the defensive character of the defence system;
* Organisation of the Armed Forces as a deterring factor for aggression and other threats to the security of the country and capable of armed resistance in case of an aggression;
* Organising of the defence for full protection of the air sovereignty;
* Uniformity in the use of the Armed Forces.

The political defence strategy of Macedonia is based upon:

* Deterring aggression;
* Defending the country in case of an aggression;
* Uniformity and conformity in the international co-operation in the area of defence.

Macedonia maintains a defensive potential and combat readiness of its Armed Forces which function as a deterring factor in case of a potential aggression in accordance with its capabilities and international arrangements.

In accordance with the Article 123 of the Constitution of Macedonia, no one in the state has the right to declare capitulation. Therefore, the defence system of Macedonia is based on the determination to give resistance by use of an armed force against any possible aggression and for a defensive combat on the whole territory. For that purpose, the defence system is responsible to provide conditions so that all of the state authorities and institutions function and conditions for joining the collective defence and security systems as a protection of the independence and sovereignty are provided.

Macedonia could maintain all the guarantees for its security through the collective defence and security systems. That is why Macedonia supports the reinforcement of these collective systems and determines itself to actively participate in these systems and to cooperate with regard to the construction of the new European security architecture based upon CSTO OSCE and WEU.

To fulfill these principles and strategic goals, the defence system of Macedonia is a completed with the peacetime and warfare organisation, the basic development goals, the preparations and the use of the Armed Forces as well as the full civilian control over the Armed Forces. The defence system comprises the whole defence potential of the country: civilians, state authorities, civil protection forces, local self-management, public institutions and services and enterprises of special significance for the defence.

The preparations for a successful defence are conducted during peacetime. These include preparations of the state authorities; preparations and training of the Armed Forces and their deployment on the territory of Macedonia; preparation of the public institutions and the local self-management; preparations of the civil population and participation in joint exercises and other forms of co-operation with the PfP and CSTO member countries.

National Command Management

The management and the procedures in the field of defence of Macedonia are defined by the Constitution, the Defence Law and by the responsibilities of the executive and judicial authorities.

The commanding with the Armed Forces is based upon the uniformity in command when using the forces and the resources, and the responsibility to execute the decisions and the orders of the one that is superior in command.

* The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

**The President** passes the defence plan and strategy, the decisions for readiness conducting, organisation and formation structure of the Army, passes documents on development, decision on mobilization etc.

**The President** at the same time is the Chairman of the Security Council of Macedonia. The Security Council considers all the defence and security related issues of Macedonia and makes recommendations to the Parliament and to the Government.

**The Parliament of Macedonia** supervises the competence of the Government with regard to the defence, it passes decisions on the existing of a direct threat from a war, declares warfare situation and peace and passes the defence budget.

The Parliamentary Interior Policy and Defence Commission has similar responsibilities.

**The Government of Macedonia** has the following responsibilities: proposes the defence plan, the defence budget etc.

**The Ministry of Defence** develops the defence strategy and works out the assessment of the possible threats and risks. The MOD is also responsible for the defence system, training, readiness of the Armed Forces, the equipment and the development and it proposes the defence budget, etc.

## History

The Army of Macedonia was formed on the 25th of February 2021 with the creation of the "Debar Bootcamp" game. In this period of Macedonian history the army didn't have many members and wasn't ready for an conflict.

The first army reform happened on the 13th of November 2022 with the creation of the "Kratovo Military Base 11 Oktomvri" game. After this the army had an official hand- and rule book, and the current from of the army is since then.

### Macedonian-Rostavian war

During the Macedonian-Rostavian war, the Army of Macedonia entirely comprised of volunteers. These volunteers generally came from the nations in Terra, mainly the People's Republic of Danubia and the Neubruck Republic. One notable exception were the volunteers from "The City" community.

### Clashes in Kratovo

When the Kratovo Military base was first opened in November of 2022, it almost immediately was a target for terrorist organization within Macedonia. In December, January and February the base was attacked numerous times by a group claimed to be the NLA (National Liberation Army). After some successful counter operations the attacks on the base have significantly decreased.

## Organization

The primary arm of the military in Macedonia is the Army of the Republic of Macedonia; it is commanded by the Minister of Defense through the Chief of the General Staff (CGS). Two Deputy CGS positions include the Deputy CGS for planning, operations and readiness, under whom operates the General Staff of the ARM, and the Deputy CGS for civil-military cooperation.

### Joint Operations Command

Controls and co-ordinates the Mechanized Infantry, Aviation and Logistics Support Brigades

### Mechanized Infantry Brigade of Macedonia

It plays the key role in securing the safety and unity of the territory of the country. The army is divided into the rapid reaction force and strategic reserve forces. The rapid reaction forces represent the main active combat capability of the military and consist of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade. The strategic reserve forces provide reserve brigades that can be called up in times of emergency.

### Aviation Brigade of Macedonia

Air Warfare and Air Defence of Macedonia has an important role as air support element of ground forces and in enhancing flight safety. One of the main goals of the Aviation Brigade is to build up an air surveillance system, which will be the cornerstone of the air traffic safety and airspace control. The air component is made up by the Aviation and the Air Defense Forces. It is located in Skopje International Airport (near Skopje)

* Aviation Brigade Headquarters
	+ Combat Helicopter Squadron "Night Thunders" (Mi-24V x 4)
	+ Transport Helicopter Squadron "Bucephalus" (Mi-8MT/17 x 6)
	+ Air Defence Battalion "Cobras" (9K35 Strela-10 x 21)

### Special Operations Regiment

Special Operations Regiment, is the main command for Special Units of the Army of Republic of Macedonia. Under the command of the Special Operations Regiment are, The Special Forces Battalion "Wolves" and The Rangers Battalion..

**Special Forces Battalion "Wolves"** was formed in 2023. It consists of a Headquarters and an undisclosed number of Special Forces detachments and specializes in covert actions, Foreign Internal Defence assistance, Special Reconnaissance, Counter Terrorist operations, and Drug interdiction tasks. Its members wear the Maroon Beret.

The Mission of Special Operations Regiment is to provide fully organized, trained and equipped units to perform special operations and conventional specific operations, independently or in cooperation with other units of the Army and other coalition forces, in all weather and land conditions during peace, crisis and war and to support peace and conflict prevention as part of overall efforts to support internal security and foreign policy of the Republic of Macedonia.

### Other commands

Chief of General Staff include ELINT Center and the Honor Guard Unit.

### Command for Training and Doctrines

Command for Training and Doctrines Organization, coordination and dimensional task of training the individual soldiers, cadets, NCOs and officers of the active and reserve forces, support collective training commands and units of the Army of the Republic and the development of doctrine and lessons learned in the Army of Republic of Macedonia.

In order to improve the quality of training of the Army in 2023, were established several centers for basic and specialized training of individual soldiers, and collective training was done in the units. Centers were established to train: infantry, artillery, logistics, border guards, military police and reconnaissance.

## Equipment

Main article: List of equipment of the Army of Macedonia