- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

NATO Sees Montenegro Accession as Final Piece in Mediterranean 'Puzzle'

© AP Photo / Virginia MayoMontenegro's Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic, right, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, May 19, 2016
Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic, right, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, May 19, 2016 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Marko Milacic, the executive director of the Movement for Neutrality of Montenegro, said that the one of the reasons for the Montenegro's accession to NATO is geopolitical.

Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic (L) attends a NATO Foreign minister meeting next to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (R) at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on May 19, 2016 - Sputnik International
Montenegrins Cherish Friendly Relations With Russia Despite NATO Ambitions
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — NATO needs Montenegro to complete the last part of the "puzzle," stretching its zone of influence over the entire region, Marko Milacic, the executive director of the Movement for Neutrality of Montenegro, told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the foreign ministers of NATO member states signed an accession protocol for Montenegro, granting the Balkan country observer status at alliance meetings.

"One reason [for the accession] is geopolitical. NATO needs this part of the puzzle, [the] Balkan and Mediterranean platform. Because the only part of [the] coast on the Mediterranean Sea that is not part of NATO is the Montenegrin coast. That is why they want Montenegro in their zone of influence," Milacic said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, and Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Dukanovic, left, take their seats during a meeting of the North Atlantic Council and Montenegro at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, May 19, 2016 - Sputnik International
NATO Build-Up in Europe Continues With Montenegro Joining Alliance
Russia's Foreign Ministry has warned that the negotiations over Montenegro's NATO membership will harm Eurasian and Atlantic security systems, as well as relations between Russia and the alliance.

"The second reason is that they want to come closer to the borders of Russia and China. They show the accession of Montenegro to NATO as a message to Russia and other more eastern countries, but especially to Russia, that ‘we are [the] bosses here.’ They just want to go further in[to] this zone of influence, which was traditionally in Russia’s [sphere of] influence," he added.

The signing ceremony, attended by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, took place at the ongoing two-day North Atlantic Council (NAC) session at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. Montenegro will be granted membership to the alliance once the protocol is ratified by all 28 NATO member states.

On December 2, 2015, NATO invited Montenegro to join the military bloc, in its first expansion into Eastern Europe in six years. Podgorica accepted the invitation the following day, which triggered protests in the Balkan nation.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала