NATO's Invitation to Montenegro Provokes Russian Anger

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has invited Montenegro to join the alliance, provoking anger from Russia. According to Reuters, NATO foreign ministers officially invited Montenegro to join the alliance on Wednesday, December 2. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's Secretary General, described the invitation to Montenegro as the 'beginning of a beautiful union' during a meeting held at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Meanwhile, although Mr. Stoltenberg stated that the invitation to Montenegro is not intended as a threat to Russia, diplomats from the organization commented that this matter serves as a 'message' to Moscow that it will not be able to prevent NATO's expansion. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also emphasized that NATO is a 'defensive alliance' and stated that the organization 'poses no threat to anyone.' However, Russia, which has long opposed the membership of Montenegro and other countries that were once part of communist states in NATO, immediately expressed its anger at this invitation. This news comes at a time when Turkey, as a NATO member, is in conflict with Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, over the downing of a Russian jet in Syrian territory. Russian news agency TASS reported that Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that the country will discuss the issue in a meeting with NATO. Mr. Lavrov had previously described any NATO expansion as a 'mistake' and 'provocative.' RIA Novosti also quoted Viktor Ozerov, head of the Security and Defense Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, stating that if Montenegro joins NATO, Moscow will cease joint cooperation with the country. Montenegro, located on the Adriatic Sea in Southeast Europe, has a population of 650,000 and is considered one of the smallest and least populated countries in Europe. Its accession to NATO is expected to take a year. Until a few years ago, it was part of the former Yugoslavia, which was targeted by NATO bombing in 1999. NATO, consisting of European countries, the United States, Canada, and Turkey, is considered the largest military alliance in the world.