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Farkas and Serwer: Senate supports to Montenegro’s membership in NATO

On the tenth anniversary of independence, Montenegro is another step closer to accession to the alliance that will be the strongest guarantee of the inviolability of its borders. As expected, it has come under attack by Russian officials once again. After the last week’s signing of the accession protocol, they warned that Russia would have a proportional response. Although Russia will continue to protest until Montenegro becomes a full NATO member state, it cannot achieve anything, said Fracas.

“Bearing in mind that that this represents a sovereign decision of the 29 states, there is nothing Russia can do. The Russian government has many other things to take care of. We would like to cooperate with Moscow when it comes to Syria and other areas. We also have to talk about arms control and Russian rhetoric regarding nuclear issues. The Russian government should not focus on Montenegro’s membership in NATO”, Farkas said, portal RTCG carried.

Analyst Daniel Serwer also believes that Moscow should stop worrying about the expansion of NATO, primarily because of economic problems.

“Russia is making great efforts to disrupt the process of Montenegro’s joining to NATO. It is clear that Moscow finances some of the protests and opposition politicians. Nevertheless, it fails in implementing its plans and becomes dissatisfied”, Serwer said.

And while the Kremlin does not hide his displeasure by the alliance’s enlargement, the West welcomes Montenegro’s progress which should pass through the ratification process on its path to the final goal. Evelyn Farkas does not expect any problem in the process and points out that Montenegro’s membership in NATO is supported by two parties in the Senate.

“The US Senate would ratify the protocol immediately if it may do that. I expect the Senate to hurry to take action as soon as possible in order to show it really believes in it”, said Farkas.

It has not been known when the lawmakers may discuss the issue. Daniel Serwer believes that is unlikely to happen after the November presidential elections and before the inauguration of the new US president.

“The US is usually at the end of the ratification process. The ratification could take a year or two, particularly having in mind the current atmosphere in Europe, where the Dutch rejected the agreement between Ukraine with the EU. Sincerely, Donald Trump’s campaign, which is essentially against NATO, also significantly complicates things. This does not mean that the Congress members agree with that, but makes it more difficult for the Republicans to push the admission of Montenegro through”, Serwer said.

“I do not understand Donald Trump’s position on NATO completely. He said a lot of things that are mostly not accurate. In fact, the positions on Montenegro’s accession during the campaigns are irrelevant, because this is something that current president has decided about and that has broad support in the Senate”, Farkas said.

In the meantime, Podgorica has to continue the transition to modern and professional armed forces, to align its defence budget with NATO’s requirements and to further contribute to alliance’s missions. As a future Balkan member, it has another responsibility – to assist those countries that still aspire to membership in NATO.

“First of all I mean Bosnia and Macedonia”, Farkas said.

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