"Nobody joins NATO by force, Serbia included"

"Nobody joins NATO by force, Serbia included"

"I respect the decision of Serbia (not to join NATO)," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Voice of America, and added that partnership cooperation so far "proved to be very good."

He pointed out that "no member of NATO in the history of this organization joined by force" and that each country itself decides who will be its allies.

Asked about "the growing influence of Russia in the Western Balkans," Stoltenberg noted that this was "a very diverse region, where some countries are already members of NATO, while others, such as Serbia, have parter relationship."

He then recalled that as the son of a Norwegian diplomat serving in Serbia he spent a part of his childhood in Belgrade, about which he has "fond memories."