Maine National Guard Leaders Continue Support of Montenegro at 27th US-Adriatic Charter Chiefs of Defense Conf

TIRANA, ALBANIA (09/20/2024) (readMedia)-- Leaders from the Maine National Guard attended the 27th US-Adriatic Charter (A-5) Chiefs of Defense Conference, held in Tirana, Albania from September 17 to 19. The Maine delegation, present in support of their partner nation Montenegro, was led by Brig. Gen. Diane Dunn (The Adjutant General of the Maine National Guard and Commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management) and State Command Sgt. Maj. Alexander Clifford.

This annual event serves to foster key discussions centering around defense cooperation and partnership plans amongst military leaders from the United States and the A-5 nations in the Western Balkans-Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also attending as observers were representatives from Kosovo and Slovenia, who are not official members of the A-5. This year's discussions largely centered on how the war in Ukraine is affecting security throughout the region and what is required to enhance interoperability and security through NATO contributions.

Brigadier General Zoran Lazarevi?, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, was on hand to meet with the Maine delegation and other key international leaders. Of note, Albanian President Bajram Begaj and General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, were present to facilitate discussion and respond to international requests for support.

In addition to Maine, the National Guard leaders from other U.S. states with European partnerships also attended the conference, including Vermont, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Colorado. New Jersey, who is partnered with Albania, played a large part in facilitating a successful trip for the Mainers.

Since 2006, Maine has been partnered with Montenegro through the Department of Defense's State Partnership Program. Under the State Partnership Program, each of the 54 U.S. states and territories are linked with one or more nation to collaborate on military, security, and disaster response capacities. These states and nations regularly meet, train, and work together to build mutually beneficial relationships and capabilities.

This summer alone, Montenegro contributed directly to Maine in-state efforts by sending soldiers to assist the National Guard with engineering projects. In Augusta, Montenegrin engineers assisted with the expansion efforts at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Meanwhile, in Brewer, the Montenegrins also helped the National Guard renovate a range complex for the Brewer Police Department, to include the construction of a new multi-purpose training facility that enables the police department and other local entities to train on a wide variety of scenarios. This year also saw the two partners conduct multiple "subject matter expert exchanges, where expert engineering, aviation, and cyber defense service members would train together to learn from each other and fine tune their skills even further.

Lazarevi? lauded Maine and Montenegro's long and fruitful partnership. "We are very thankful for our friends in Maine – not just in a military or professional sense, but we have built and kept some great relationships over the years. I really hope we can continue to work together," Lazarevi? told General Cavoli.

Dunn echoed those sentiments, telling General Cavoli that, "Our partnership with Montenegro has paid dividends over the years. Our service members learn so much from each other, and they all become even higher-level experts in their jobs every time they come together and build on those skills."

"As much as we're here to support Montenegro, I want to talk about how Montenegro has really supported us," said Dunn. "Just a couple of months ago, they helped us with a truly meaningful project in expanding the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the capital. Our state partner nation is quite literally and tangibly serving Maine and its veterans – and it means so much to us."

In addition to continuous military cooperation, Maine plans to continue its successful relationship with Montenegro by facilitating collaboration with both the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and Montenegro's National Park Service. The two entities hope to conduct ranger exchanges, planning conferences, and round table discussions focused on forest and wildlife protection. Such events will help Montenegro with their accession into the European Union while simultaneously bolstering Maine's own ability to combat climate change challenges.

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