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Montenegro Officially Joins NATO At Ceremony In Washington

RFE/RL June 05, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Montenegro officially became the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a ceremony in Washington on June 5.

Prime Minister Dusko Markovic officially handed over Montenegro's accession instrument at the ceremony in the State Department's Treaty Room in the U.S. capital.

Markovic said his country's membership was an indication that "never again will anyone else decide our fate behind our back as it was in the past."

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon, who attended the ceremony, said Montenegro had asserted "its right to choose its alliances openly even in the face of concerted foreign pressure."

The small Balkan country joins at a time when the alliance created to counter Soviet aggression looks to curb Russian attempts to increase its influence in Eastern Europe.

Montenegro was previously a close ally of Russia, but its decision to join NATO has outraged Moscow.

Nestled on the Adriatic Sea between Croatia and Albania, the tiny country and its $69 million annual defense budget may appear to have little military value.

Its army of some 2,000 soldiers will barely make a ripple in NATO forces, but its 293-kilometer coastline is a strategic parcel of real estate -- the penultimate piece in the Adriatic puzzle.

With the former Yugoslav republic securely in the fold, NATO will control the entire coast of the Adriatic, from the heel of Italy's boot to the rugged shores of Greece, except for a 20-kilometer stretch of land held by Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Montenegro's accession "reaffirms to other aspirants that NATO's door remains open to those countries willing and able to make the reforms necessary to meet NATO's high standards, and to accept the risks, responsibilities, as well as benefits of membership," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

Montenegro's accession also marks the end of a long and often arduous road to membership that the Kremlin has repeatedly tried to derail.

Moscow has said in various contexts that Podgorica's NATO course runs counter to hundreds of years of "fraternal relations" between the two mostly Slavic, Orthodox Christian nations.

Russia also wields considerable economic power, as it is the largest investor in the Balkan country and an estimated 7,000 Russian nationals permanently reside in the nation of about 620,000.

Russians own about 40 percent of the country's desirable Adriatic Sea coast and Russian tourists account for as much as one-third of overnight visits in Montenegro.

Despite all its saber rattling, analysts said it is unlikely Moscow will take any real action over Montenegro's accession.

"The Kremlin isn't ready to commit significant resources to keep Montenegro out of the U.S. orbit," said Maksim Samorukov, an analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center.

Montenegro's flag is to fly over NATO headquarters in Brussels for the first time on June 7.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/montenegro-joins- nato-russia-outraged/28529932.html

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.