Operation Essential Harvest (or Task Force Harvest) was a deployment mission in the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, officially launched on August 22, 2001, and effectively started on August 27. Because national contributions were larger than expected, the force ultimately grew to approximately 4,800 troops. Troops from

2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment The Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), is a formation of the Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army, and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade. 2 PARA is an airborne light infantry battalion capable of a wide rang ...

9 Parachute Squadron RE 9 Parachute Squadron RE (often abbreviated to '9 Sqn') is an Airborne forces, airborne squadron (army), squadron of the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers. It is part of 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment based at RAF Woodbridge, Rock Barracks ...

and members of the SAS working in the A.O.R. The operation was headquartered in a fruit processing plant called Tri Kruši in Dracevo.

Background

"Although France was not a member of the NATO integrated command structure, then President

Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Paris ...

had begun to reintegrate into the military structure of the Alliance in order to allow for French participation in combined operations in Bosnia under NATO command. . . . At the summit in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

on 12 June, Chirac's suggestion for military cooperation with German units within NATO was confirmed by

Schröder Schröder (Schroeder) is a German language, German surname often associated with the Schröder family. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Schröder (1892–1986), German actor * Atze Schröder, stage name of German comedian Hubertu ...

and put in place by the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries on 5 July. Both countries cooperated in NATO Operation Essential Harvest – two German, two French and one Spanish companies were placed under the overall French Command."

Battle of Tetovo

The

Battle of Tetovo The Battle of Tetovo (, ), was the largest engagement during the 2001 insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia, in which Macedonian security forces battled the National Liberation Army (NLA) for control of the city. Prelude Tetovo is the 5th ...

occurred in the beginning of January 2001 which also involved NATO and the Macedonian Armies to disarm Albanian insurgents who had occupied a number of cities, towns and villages in the

. This battle lasted until November 2001. During the operation, Sapper Ian Collins of

was killed when a concrete block thrown at his vehicle by Macedonian youths struck him on the head.

Operation Amber Fox

Following the conclusion of Operation Essential Harvest and at the request of the Macedonian President, NATO established

Operation Amber Fox Operation Amber Fox also known as Task Force Fox was a NATO-led operation in the Republic of Macedonia, led by Germany and the Netherlands and initially under the command of German Brigadier General Heinz-Georg Keerl. It followed on from Operat ...

, to allow for a continuing NATO presence in the country.

Background

Battle of Tetovo

Operation Amber Fox

See also

References

Further reading