“The sequence of steps is clear. After signing the protocol, ratification starts and it lasts until all the member states ratify this process. In the end, Montenegro shall also ratify it. Usually, referendum on accession can be organised then,” Garcevic explains.
“The process will go in that direction and will not be changed. It has not been created by us, but by the member states themselves,” Garcevic said.
Garcevic said NATO had not contacted Montenegro regarding the initiative of the SNP.
”No one has contacted us, nor have we been asked about it,” he said.
Garcevic reminded that only two out of 28 member states decided on their NATO membership in a referendum. Those were Hungary and Slovenia, which organised the referendums in the final phase of the process.
Garcevic noted that there was no rule according to which the decision must be made at the plebiscite.
The SNP president Srdjan Milic earlier said that the party’s demand that the citizens should decide on NATO membership at the upcoming elections was not negotiable.
On the other hand, prime minister Milo Djukanovic said that the SNP’s offer should be rationalised, noting that Montenegro would decide on membership in NATO by itself.
The PM added that the Constitution did not prescribe nor forbid taking decision on NATO membership in a referendum. However, he reiterated that the Parliament would decide on the membership.
