Torrejón Combined Air Operations Center commemorates Montenegro's National Day

• The event was attended by the business manager of the Montenegrin embassy in Madrid

Montenegro's business manager in Spain, Milica Đuričković, has visited the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre located in Torrejón de Ardoz (CAOCTJ) in the framework of the commemoration of its bank holidays. The Centre is permanently manned by an officer from the Montenegrin Air Force, who is part of the international operational structure.

The representation was received on arrival by the Chief Commander of the CAOCT, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, and later joined the military ceremony in commemoration of Montenegro's National Day. On this day, the Balkan country commemorates its independence following the referendum held on 3 June 2006, when it decided to separate from Serbia, thus becoming a fully-fledged sovereign republic and joining the UN in the same year. In 2017, the young nation joined NATO.

In his speech, General Sánchez de Lara highlighted the special location of the Montenegrin country in the Balkans, an area of great interest to the Alliance. The general highlighted NATO's contribution to the defence of Montenegro's airspace, demonstrating the values of solidarity and cohesion that have characterised the organisation since its founding in 1949. As an example, he said that fighters on alert from Greece and Italy ensure the safety of Montenegrin skies.

For her part, Montenegrin diplomatic representative Milica Đuričković remarked that with its entry into NATO as the 29th NATO nation in 2017, her country achieved one of the main goals of its foreign policy, giving it stability and security that has brought great prosperity to its citizens. In exchange, Montenegro has been committed to Alliance integration by participating in all possible missions and contributing to deterrence and defence mainly in the eastern part of Europe.

He also underlined the work and importance of the presence of a Montenegrin officer in Torrejón and thanked on behalf of his country the support of NATO and in particular, the OSTC in the air-policing mission that guarantees the sovereignty and integrity of his nation's airspace.