Armed forces chiefs from Greece, North Macedonia, sign air policing deal

The armed forces chiefs of Greece and North Macedonia on Monday signed a technical agreement to allow the policing of the latter's airspace by Greek fighter jets, as the country prepares for its full accession into NATO.

Meeting in Thessaloniki, the head of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA), Christos Christodoulou and his counterpart Vasko Gjurchinovski also discussed issues of mutual interest, GEETHA said in a press release.

On May this year, a pair of Greek F-16s conducted a test flight in Macedonian airspace to assess compatibility of communication and radar systems.

The agreement on air policing came after Athens and Skopje signed a landmark deal in June 2018 to end a decades-long dispute on the name of North Macedonia.