BELGRADE (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova — On Wednesday, NATO invited Montenegro to start accession talks to become the 29th member of the alliance. Now the 28 NATO member states will need to ratify the invitation in their parliaments.
"It was a surprise for me. I suppose, they are doing that to stabilize situation in the the Balkan area," Kanerva said.
He added that since some Balkan countries had status of the NATO member nation, alliance could be trying to create "some kind of network" in the region.
NATO’s invitation is the latest expansion of the US-led military bloc since it accepted Albania and Croatia in 2009. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia have all made strides toward accession, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
