Earlier in the day, 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.
"Secretary Kerry: Today we took another step toward the full integration of Europe by inviting Montenegro into the Alliance," the US Mission to NATO said on Twitter.
Secretary Kerry: Today we took another step toward the full integration of Europe by inviting #Montenegro into the Alliance
— US Mission to NATO (@USNATO) December 2, 2015
Earlier on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that it was not yet possible to name a date for when Montenegro would become a full NATO member, but the process of accession is expected to last around a year.
In September, the United States announced that it was ready to extend an invitation to Montenegro to join the bloc, which sparked a wave of anti-government protests in the Balkan country, demanding Podgorica to stay out of the bloc.
The first deputy chairman of the defense committee of Russia's Federation Council, Evgeny Serebrennikov, said Russia would have to boost its military capabilities if Montenegro were to join the bloc.
