So far, Montenegro’s accession to NATO has been confirmed by seven of the 28 member countries: Iceland, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Albania. Also, the Italian Council of Ministers on July 15 approved a draft law on the ratification of the accession of Montenegro to NATO, with the expressed expectation that our country will soon acquire the status of a full member of NATO.
The strongest force in the Alliance, the USA, has already initiated the process of ratification of the Protocol at the end of June, when the White House sent a letter to the US Senate. US President Barack Obama has asked the Senate to continue working with him to advance the whole of Europe, giving advice and consent to ratification of the Protocol.
In early July, the accession protocol was formally presented to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Bearing in mind the demanding procedure, expectations are that ratification will be completed in the Parliament in mid-September.
When it comes to the region, Croatia is among countries soon expected to ratify Montenegro’s Accession Protocol. However, the Croatian parliament has been dissolved and parliamentary elections scheduled for September 11, which is why ratification is expected in autumn. The Czech Republic has announced that it will ratify the Protocol also in the autumn, when it is expected that a large number of member countries will also ratify Montenegro’s accession. Officials of Lithuania said their copy of the Protocol is in translation and that ratification will be over “very soon”.
Montenegro signed the Protocol on full NATO membership on May 19, 2016, in Brussels. As part of this process, it is necessary that all members of NATO, within their parliaments, ratify the Accession Protocol.
Finally, all that will remain is for Montenegro to ratify the document, thus ending the process. The process of ratification of the Protocol by the parliaments of 28 member states of the Alliance, as previously announced, should be completed by mid-2017.
