NATO invited Montenegro on Wednesday to become the 29th member of the US-led military alliance, defying Russian warnings it would be a provocation and threat to stability in Europe.
The invitation to the small Balkan country comes with the West at loggerheads with Moscow over a host of issues, as NATO has responded to the Ukraine crisis with a military upgrade to reassure nervous ex-Soviet states they need not fear a more assertive Russia.
Announcing the move at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted the “historic” invitation to Montenegro was no one else’s business and “not directed at anyone.”
“It is extremely important to underline once again that every nation has the right to decide its own path, its own security arrangements,” Stoltenberg said. “No one else has the right to interfere in that decision.”
Stoltenberg said he expected Montenegro’s accession talks to be completed early next year but ratification by the 28 NATO member state parliaments could take some time.
Montenegro Foreign Minister Igor Luksic said the decision reflected the great efforts his country had made to modernise and meet western civil society norms.
“It is a great day for my country and for the alliance … It is great news for the western Balkans, for its unity and security,” Luksic said.
– Russia bitterly opposed –
Russian President Vladimir Putin has bitterly complained of what he sees as NATO encroachment and last week, Moscow condemned the expected Montenegro invitation as a “serious blow by the euro-Atlantic bloc.”
“This sort of initiative has the real potential to bring about confrontation. It will not promote peace and stability in the Balkans nor in Europe in general,” the Russian foreign ministry said.
“It will only further complicate relations between Russia and NATO.”
The tiny Balkans country of just over 600,000 people won its independence in 2006 following the bloody break-up of what was Yugoslavia.
It had been part of a federation with Serbia, a long-time Russian ally which Moscow has always regarded to be part of the same Slav family.
Montenegro’s army has 2,000 soldiers, and it has contributed 25 soldiers to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan since 2010.
Russia has traditionally been a close ally of Montenegro and several thousand Russians live there, having bought houses and established businesses.
However, relations between Podgorica and Moscow have soared since Montenegro joined EU-led sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine conflict.
The Montenegrin government has accused Russia of being behind recent violent anti-government protests in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
Daliborka Uljarevic, analyst and head of the Centre for Civic Education, one of the most prominent Montenegrin NGOs which promotes EU and NATO integration, said that “considering the region in which Montenegro is located, the question of borders is very important.”
“An invitation to join the alliance is an additional guarantee that we will not have to reopen this issue again and that we can devote ourselves calmly to the democratisation of society without being concerned about our borders,” she told AFP.
– Ukraine and Georgia problems –
A NATO-led air campaign in 1999 forced Serbian forces out of its rebel Kosovo province, which went on to declare independence in 2008 — another bone of contention with Russia.
Most of the former communist states of the Soviet-era Warsaw Pact have joined NATO, starting in 1999.
Balkan states Croatia and Albania were the most recent new members, in 2009, and Bosnia and Macedonia are also seeking to join along with Georgia.
Western diplomats say the decision on Montenegro was relatively “easy” but the position of the three others, especially Georgia which fought a brief war with Russia in 2008, was much more difficult.
NATO offered Ukraine and Georgia membership in 2008 but Kiev dropped the option in 2010 only for pro-western President Petro Poroshenko to revive the possibility last year.
Moscow says NATO membership for Ukraine would pose a major threat to its national security.
Stoltenberg said Bosnia, Macedonia, Georgia were making progress towards NATO membership and the foreign ministers reaffirmed the 2008 invitation to Tbilisi.
“We will do everything to help them meet their goals … we encourage them to continue along the path of reform,” he said.