(Newswire.net — December 2, 2015) — NATO has formally invited Montenegro, a small country in the Balkans to join the alliance, in spite of Russia’s comments that this is an ‘irresponsible’ action which presents the alliance as untrustworthy.
Montenegro’s Foreign Minister Igor Luksic received a very warm welcome and applause in Brussels today, when the official announcement was made. Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic said, “Today, we proudly receive NATO membership invitation. This is a historic day for Montenegro. The most important since 2006 independence referendum.”
Messages for Russia seem to be very clear: Russia has got nothing to do with NATO expansion, it cannot stop it; NATO is a defensive alliance that provides safety and is not focused on anyone. Russians, on the other hand, are of the opinion that NATO doings do not contribute to building equal and shared security in Europe.
As far as Montenegro-Russia relations are concerned, Russia warned that it will stop all ongoing projects with Montenegro if it becomes the new NATO member. NATO-Russia relations broke off last year after Russia annexed Crimea and intervened in the conflict in Ukraine. There is still an ongoing debate over Georgia, ex-Soviet republic, which has been waiting for membership in NATO for many years, but it seems that some of the Europen members argue whether the alliance would be able to defend Georgia or not, in the case of a potential conflict with Russia. If Russia was to withdraw from Georgias’ separated south regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, maybe its membership would be more possible.
As far as the other Balkan countries are concerned, Croatia And Albania have been members for six years now; Bosnia and Hercegovina and Macedonia have already received some supporting signals from the alliance, but it does not seem that they are going to join very soon, which leaves Serbia, the only country in the Balkan region which has not had any inspirations of becoming a member of the alliance so far.
Montenegro will still have to wait for several months before its formal joining NATO. The first occasion when this might happen is the next NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland, next July.