The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, sent a letter to Lt. Gen. Michael Dubie, congratulating him on his promotion to Lieutenant General and assuming the new post - Deputy Commander of the United States Northern Command.

Lieutenant General Michael Dubie made an outstanding contribution to the development of the partnership between the Army of the Republic of Macedonia and the Vermont National Guard, by embedding Macedonian troops in the Vermont National Guard within the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. In addition, Lieutenant General Michael Dubie contributed to the strengthening of the relations between the peoples of the Republic of Macedonia and the United States.

“It is with particular pleasure that I wish to congratulate you on your promotion to Lieutenant General as well as on assuming your new function of Deputy Commander of the United States Northern Command. I wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your contribution to the development of partnership relations between the Army of the Republic of Macedonia and the Vermont National Guard. This partnership also contributed to the strengthening of relations between the people of the Republic of Macedonia and the people of the United States of America; relations which have continuously been developed and expanded to areas such as education, healthcare and culture.

Dear friend, one thing is clear. You have the leadership qualities which are necessary to bring the two peoples closer. If we add to these qualities the values you aim towards – integrity, excellence and teamwork, then success is inevitable. Macedonia is thankful for your leadership in the development of partnership between our nations. The culmination of these efforts was the embedding of Macedonian troops in the Vermont National Guard while it was deployed in Afghanistan. There can be no bigger proof of partnership between two peoples than the one when their soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder for the same values. As the Supreme Commander of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, I wish to thank you for your leadership in the achievement of this partnership.

As you know, the main priority of the Republic of Macedonia, ever since its independence, has been its fully-fledged membership in NATO. Unfortunately, due to the opposition by our southern neighbor, the Republic of Macedonia is still not able to obtain an invitation to join NATO. However, this has not, in any way, discouraged us or detracted us from achieving that goal. We are indeed grateful to the United States of America and to you personally for allowing us to prove that we are de facto a NATO member, by embedding Macedonian troops in the Vermont National Guard within the frame of ISAF.

I am strongly convinced that the partnership and fruitful cooperation between Macedonia and the United States of America and Vermont in particular, and the partnership between the Army of the Republic of Macedonia and the National Guard will continue to develop, because you are one of those who laid the solid foundation for this to happen. Therefore, I wish once again to convey the gratitude of Macedonian people.“

Dr. Gjorge Ivanov