Asked by Montenegrin journalists to comment on the attempted terrorist attack on 16 October, the alliance said in a statement that “NATO was not part of the investigation of the alleged planned attack”.
“Serbian and Montenegrin authorities conducted a number of arrests and they are the ones who can make comments on the investigation. NATO gives great importance to the right of sovereign states to make their own decisions. There is no room for violence, pressure and foreign interference in the electoral process”, NATO stated.
According to the statement, the alliance is looking forward to the upcoming Montenegro accession.
Slovenian Secretary of State for Defence, Milos Bizjak, said he was aware of the situation and that the incident was disturbing when was asked to comment on the attempted terrorist attack in Montenegro.
“As far as we are concerned, it is particularly worrying because it happens close to our country and that is why we are interested to see Montenegro in the alliance as soon as possible, so that we can prevent these kind of attacks”, he told Montenegrin journalists in Brussels.
He added that Montenegro’s membership in NATO guaranteed stability.
Hungarian Ambassador to NATO, Peter Staraj, believes that the incident which took place in Montenegro on 16 October may not affect Montenegro’s path to NATO.
“I’ve learnt about this event, but it is not a subject of discussion in NATO. As far as I know, the process of ratification of Montenegro’s NATO Accession Protocol is developing in the right direction and I hope that it will be completed in the middle of next year”, Staraj said.
