Coronavirus response: NATO and Slovakia support to North Macedonia
Today (8 February 2021), Slovakia delivered four pulmonary ventilators to North Macedonia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation was coordinated by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and Slovakia to respond to North Macedonia’s urgent requirement.
Photo credit: Tomáš Bokor.
This support is part of the overall NATO COVID-19 assistance package Allies have agreed to provide North Macedonia to address the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other medical equipment will be delivered to North Macedonia in the coming weeks, under NATO’s Pandemic Response Trust Fund.
Slovakia had previously provided support to North Macedonia through the EU civil protection mechanism in October 2020. This assistance included masks, hygiene packs, blankets, tents and generators.
The ventilators were handed over to the Ministry of Health by the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Korčok during a small ceremony in Skopje in the presence of North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, and Minister of Health Venko Filipche
The ventilators have been produced by a Slovak-U.S. company. Provision of ventilators and their transportation to North Macedonia was funded by Slovakia as part of the contribution to the NATO Pandemic Response Trust Fund. The NATO Pandemic Response Trust Fund maintains an established stockpile of medical equipment and supplies to be able to provide immediate relief to Allies or partners in need.
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is managing the purchase and storage of relief items for the stockpile in the NSPA Southern Operational Centre in Taranto, Italy. Romania has also offered to host warehousing facilities. Several Allies have made donations of medical equipment to the stockpile.