France: Montenegro not yet ready to join NATO

France: Montenegro not yet ready to join NATO

Previously Hollande's statement about halting the enlargement of the alliance at present time caused misgivings "in the Montenegrin public" about whether he had in mind those countries that are in the accession process.

Podgorica-based Vijesti TV asked for clarification and in response his office explained that no candidate country, Montenegro included, is ready to receive an invitation to join NATO.

"Montenegro, as indicated in the last NATO progress report, must continue reforms in the areas that are examined in the context of annual national plans, especially when it comes to the modernization of armed forces and the reform of security forces. Based on the conclusions from the summit in Wales, the candidacy of Montenegro will be reviewed in the last quarter of 2015," said the press service of the French president.

Montenegro's National Coordinator for NATO Vesko Garcevic commented to say that the statement "contains nothing Montenegro is not already aware of."

"We are listening and monitoring what our allies in NATO think... and continue our activities on the implementation of the plans, so that by the end of the year we get the invitation for NATO," he told the Dnevne Novine daily.

If Montenegro does receive the invitation by the end of the year, it would be "a great recognition, incentive, both politically and economically and, most importantly, it will open the door for entry into a collective security system" - this was the message sent from a meeting yesterday in Podgorica by representatives of the government, parliament, party leaders and ambassadors of NATO countries.

The gathering, organized by the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, said that in case there is no invitation to join - "NATO will remain a long-term goal of the country, regardless of the voices against it both inside and outside."

The meeting also concluded that NATO is "the best framework for Montenegro to continue reforms and create a society in which all citizens and political leaders, those who now support Montenegro's membership in the alliance, but also those who currently oppose it, will perceive and appreciate all the benefits that this alliance brings to a country like Montenegro."