Russian diplomat warns Montenegro against trying to join NATO

Moscow, 20 November 2015 (MIA) - Russia warned Montenegro against attempting to join NATO, saying that it would be a rash decision at this point. Russian Deputy Ambassador to Podgorica Vladimir Gurko said that the country should reconsider its application, a decision on which is expected to be made by NATO foreign ministers next month.

"The Russian Federation considers the project of NATO expansion to be opposed to the realistic needs in the realm of security. Mechanical enlargement of the Alliance that does not take into account the interests of all states of the Euro-Asian community has already led and continues to lead to new lines of division", Gurko said.

The Montenegro opposition, led by its Serbian minority parties, held several rounds of unruly protests, demanding that long serving Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic steps down and that the process of NATO enlargement is stopped. NATO said it will admit Montenegro, if the country performs in the fight against corruption, and if it can show that a sufficient percentage of the public supports NATO membership. Polls usually put the level of support little short of 50 percent. Montenegro was bombed by NATO in 1999, when it was still part of Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, Russia is a major investor in its industrial and real-estate sectors, on top of having maintained historically close ties with the small country, ever since the days of its fight against the Ottoman rule.