On invitation by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, in the period from 9 to 12 December delegation from YATA Macedonia led by the president, Mr. Ilija Djugumanov visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels and Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe in Mons, Belgium.



In the NATO HQ in the Macedonian delegation attended sessions and briefings by NATO high officials on different topics. After each of the sessions the participants had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the current NATO security and defense topics.

The participants were firstly introduced with NATO’s Current Agenda by Ms Barbora Maronkova, Program Officer for the Balkans from the NATO Public Policy Division.

The second briefing concerned NATO’s relations with Russia and Ukraine held by Ms Gwendoline Vamos-Ancellin, Deputy Head of Russia and Ukraine Relations Section. The discussion was mainly focused on NATO’s current position and action regarding the development of its partnership and cooperation with Russia.

The contemporary security threats and challenges were addressed by Dr. Detlef Puhl, Senior Advisor Communication from the Emerging Security Challenges Division. He discussed the emerging security challenges such as the rise of terrorism, cyber security, energy security and WMD proliferation, as well as NATO current policies to counter them.

One of the most interesting topics for the participants was the presentation entitled: “Online and Onthe-Air: NATO’s Digital Outreach” held by Mr Steve Mehringer, Head of Communication Services. The
participants were acquainted with the social media tools used by NATO to promote its network and to spread its values.

The last briefing was presented by Mr Thomas Strickland from the Cyber Defence Section which was concentrated on the challenges to security emerged in the cyber domain. The youth atlanticist had a honor to visit the Macedonian delegation in NATO and discus the latest happening regarding Macedonian road to NATO personally with H.E. Zoran Dabikj, Macedonian Ambassador to NATO.

As a second part of the visit, Macedonian delegation visited the SHAPE HQ (Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe) in the city of Mons, Belgium. The participants attended two sessions. During the first one they were presented with the organization and tasks of SHAPE and later they had a meeting with some of the current national representative at SHAPE, Lt. Col. Kuzmanovski.

YATA Macedonia delegation was composed of:

1. Mr. Ilija Djugumanov
2. Mr. Hristijan Koneski
3. Ms. Dina Arnaut
4. Ms. Mimoza Musliu
5. Ms. Marija Jankuloska
6. Ms. Ema Ciguljin