NATO team in North Macedonia to help against hybrid attacks

NATO has sent a senior-level delegation to North Macedonia to help the NATO Ally cope with the consequences of recent hybrid attacks.

Led by James Appathurai, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Emerging Security Challenges, the team of experts will assist their North Macedonian counterparts to assess recent hybrid attacks, which included a spate of bomb threats and cyber-attacks, and discuss further NATO support, according to the message posted on the NATO website.

“North Macedonia is facing a deliberate, sustained and cynical hybrid attack. But as a NATO member, it is not facing this challenge on its own, but as part of a family of democracies that stand together and support one another”, Mr Appathurai said following talks with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski in Skopje on March 8.

Mr Appathurai said he welcomed the substantial steps taken by North Macedonia’s government to defend and build resilience against hybrid attacks.

In recent months, NATO and Allies have shared information and provided technical support to North Macedonia cope with a series of hybrid attacks, and Mr Appathurai said the talks focused on what more NATO could do to support North Macedonia. While in Skopje, Mr Appathurai also held talks with Defence Minister Petrovska, Interior Minister Spasovski and other senior officials.