In November 2021, the Greek Air Force assumed responsibility for safeguarding North Macedonia’s airspace under the NATO Air Policing mission umbrella.
Synopsis
In November 2021, the Greek Air Force assumed responsibility for safeguarding North Macedonia’s airspace under the NATO Air Policing mission umbrella. North Macedonia is NATO’s newest member, having joined on 27 March 2020. Air Policing is a peacetime activity that secures the airspace over and near NATO Allies 24/7, 365 days a year by ensuring safe and predictable behaviour. When civilian or military air traffic behave unsafely – for example, by failing to respond to air traffic controllers – NATO Allies can scramble jets to investigate and verify the traffic. Some Allies lack supersonic jets capable of preforming interceptions, so others step up to cover their skies, either on a permanent or rotational basis. Footage includes shots of Greek F-16 Fighting Falcons performing a simulated interception, as well as interviews with Lieutenant General Fernando de la Cruz Caravaca, Commander, NATO Combined Air Operations Centre Torrejón, and Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST— (00:00) WIDE SHOT – SKOPJE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (00:05) VARIOUS SHOTS – NATO AWACS AIRCRAFT LANDING AND TAXIING (00:53) VARIOUS SHOTS – GREEK AIR FORCE F-16 FIGHTING FALCONS PERFORMING SIMULATED INTERCEPTION OF NORTH MACEDONIAN LEAR JET (01:48) VARIOUS SHOTS – F-16s LANDING AND PARKING (02:12) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Lieutenant General Fernando de la Cruz Caravaca, Commander, NATO Combined Air Operations Centre Torrejón “NATO Air Policing is a mission to safeguard the airspace of all NATO nations.” (02:19) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Lieutenant General Fernando de la Cruz Caravaca, Commander, NATO Combined Air Operations Centre Torrejón “We have to thank Greece to provide the aircraft, and also the air picture to secure the airspace in North Macedonia. But this is just an example of the cohesion among all allies in NATO. We cooperate to work together. We do it in CAOC Torrejón. We have 17 nations working together to secure the airspace from the Canary Islands to Turkey.” (02:45) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia “North Macedonia has been trying to become a NATO member for 30 years, so that was the first milestone. And then of course our ambitions became larger. The first step was to actually accomplish our full military integration, which we did in record time, practically 19 months. But this was the second milestone, to actually have full NATO air policing mission in North Macedonia so that we could guarantee the safety and the sovereignty of our country and people both on land but also in the skies. (03:18) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia “NATO has been providing for the security and the safety of its citizens for 72 years. Out of these 72 years, 60 years NATO has been providing air policing missions. So to join this biggest military alliance just less than two years after our membership, and to add the air policing to the general sense of security and safety for our citizens was a major thing for all of us, and we do appreciate the support by NATO but also by Greece. (03:53) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Radmila Shekerinska Jankovska, Minister of Defence of North Macedonia “So today we were able to look at the scenario in which an unidentified plane, or a plane that has lost communication with the ground, was supported through this NATO mission in order to do a safe landing. So these are the sorts of things that you hope will never happen, but you have to prepare for them as well.”
