BALKANS INFLUENCE Montenegro invited to join NATO

BALKANS INFLUENCE Montenegro invited to join NATO

NATO has invited Montenegro to become the 29th member state of the organization, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The decision to invite Montenegro was adopted unanimously, Beta is reporting on Wednesday.

Montenegro's state television directly broadcast the meeting of ministers of countries - members of NATO, at which the secretary general of the alliance announced the decision to invite Montenegro to join NATO.

Stoltenebreg asked Montenegrin Foreign Minister Igor Luksic and Minister of Defense Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic to join the meeting.

In addition, he stated that this was "a great day for NATO and Montenegro," but that the process of accession the country's accession to the alliance "did not end here, as there is still work to do."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday that NATO members reached a consensus that Montenegro should be invited to join.

The British daily Guardian wrote yesterday that NATO's "new big step" towards expanding would further heat up tensions with Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday in Brussels that NATO's expansion was "not aimed against Russia."