Montenegro Should Remain Russia’s Ally as NATO Member – EU Parliamentarian

Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Eva Kaili urged the European Union, NATO, the United States and Russia to work toward a "feasible and constructive rapprochement" to face the global security challenges ahead.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Montenegro can and should remain a close ally of Russia as a member of NATO, Chair of the European Parliament's (EP’s) Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Eva Kaili told Sputnik on Thursday.

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.

"I do believe in multilateral relations. Being a member of NATO and a close ally of Russia is possible," Kaili said.

The parliamentarian said that she, as chair of the EP delegation to NATO, supported the development of stronger EU-Russia relations.

"The same could and should apply to Montenegro," Kaili added.

The parliamentarian urged the European Union, NATO, the United States and Russia to work toward a "feasible and constructive rapprochement" to face the global security challenges ahead.

"There are substantial efforts by EU politicians to re-establish open routes and maintain a dialogue with Russia, taking all the necessary measures towards that direction," Kaili added.

NATO’s invitation is the latest expansion of the US-led military bloc since it accepted Albania and Croatia as members in 2009. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia have all made strides toward accession, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow considers NATO's invitation to Montenegro to be a blatantly confrontational move that directly affects Russia's interests and could lead to the destabilization of the security situation in Europe.