Montenegro formally accepted into the ranks of the countries — members of NATO. The ceremony was held on Monday, June 5, in Washington, the broadcast was carried on the website of the US state Department.
During the event, the US Deputy Secretary of state Thomas Shannon was given the Protocol on the accession of Montenegro to the North Atlantic Alliance.
The ceremony was attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Dusko Markovic. Stoltenberg noted that the entry of the Republic in the organization “it is important for the stability in the Balkans and international security”. According to him, Podgorica chose their future, “your path of freedom and peace.”
The country became the 29th member of the Alliance. For the first time Montenegro flag will be raised at the headquarters of the organization on 7 June, said the us Agency.
Earlier the Russian foreign Ministry announced that in light of the hostile lines of the Montenegrin authorities, the Russian side reserves the right to retaliate on the basis of reciprocity. In Moscow also expressed regret in connection with the ongoing in the Republic of anti-Russian hysteria and reminded that in politics, as in physics, every action generates a reaction.
On 1 June the Montenegrin authorities announced a ban of entry 149 citizens of Russia and Ukraine.
The day before it was reported that the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic, the former head of government and leader of the Democratic party of socialists Milo Djukanovic, Parliament speaker Ivan Brajović, as well as a number of other Montenegrin politicians fell to the Russian sanctions list.