Vote in Montenegro backs joining NATO

Pro-Russia lawmakers boycott session

Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said Friday after the vote in the Montenegro Parliament that “this day will be marked among the brightest in our history.”
Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said Friday after the vote in the Montenegro Parliament that “this day will be marked among the brightest in our history.”

CETINJE, Montenegro -- Montenegro's Parliament on Friday supported the Balkan country's membership in NATO in a historic turn toward the West despite protests by Russia and the pro-Russia opposition.

Lawmakers voted 46-0 in the capital of Cetinje to ratify the accession treaty with the Western military alliance. They then stood up and applauded the decision.

The Parliament has 81 members, but pro-Russia opposition lawmakers boycotted the session. Several hundred opposition supporters gathered outside the hall before the vote.

Montenegro has a small military of about 2,000 troops, but it is strategically positioned to give NATO full control over the Adriatic Sea. The other Adriatic nations -- Albania, Croatia and Italy -- already are in the alliance.

Russia has been angered by NATO's expansion to Montenegro, which is in Russia's traditional area of interest.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday denounced the Montenegrin parliament's ratification of NATO membership as "a demonstrative act of trampling all democratic norms and principles."

The ministry took a dismissive swipe at the country's size and military capability, saying that "given the potential of Montenegro, the North Atlantic alliance is unlikely to receive significant 'added value.'"

Montenegro has accused Russia of being behind a foiled Election Day coup in October that it says was designed to throw the country off its path toward NATO. Russia has denied the accusation, but has actively supported the opposition.

Prime Minister Dusko Markovic told lawmakers that NATO membership was a guarantee for Montenegro's future security, economic progress and regional stability.

"This assembly and its members have a historic privilege to make a decision that will be remembered as long as there is Montenegro and Montenegrins," Markovic said. "This day will be marked among the brightest in our history."

Markovic's predecessor, Milo Djukanovic, who was the head of government during the alleged coup attempt that reportedly included plans for his assassination, said joining NATO was the most important decision in recent history.

"After long suffering and roaming through history, [Montenegro] is finally in the position where it logically, historically, civilization-wise and culturally belongs," Djukanovic said.

Anti-NATO demonstrators chanted "treason" and "thieves" and burned a NATO flag during the protest outside parliament before peacefully dispersing. A banner read: "NATO murderers, your hands are bloody!"

"I feel humiliated because others are making a decision in my name," former Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic said. "What is happening now is triumph by force and lies."

Opposition leaders said they don't recognize the parliamentary ratification of the NATO accession and will call a referendum on the issue if they come to power in the future.

Both Russia and the pro-Russia opposition in Montenegro have evoked the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 --which included Serbia and Montenegro at the time -- as a reason to stay out of the alliance.

Markovic said Montenegro was drawn into Serbia's war with NATO and that membership in the alliance would help prevent anything like that from happening again.

"NATO and the EU have always been and remain a guarantee of stability and security and cooperation and the main basis for peace in Europe," Markovic said. "It is about what kind of future we choose for us and generations to come."

Montenegro was formally invited to join NATO in December 2015. Markovic said 27 out of 28 NATO member states have ratified Montenegro's entry protocol, and Spain would do so in the coming weeks.

Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006.

A Section on 04/29/2017

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