Montenegro's Accession to NATO to Destabilize Regional Security - Envoy

If Montenegro joins NATO, security in the Balkans may be undermined, Russia's envoy to the Alliance said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Montenegro's Accession to NATO is a geopolitical decision that could lead to the deterioration of the security situation in the Balkans and destabilize the situation in the country, Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Friday.

On Wednesday, NATO invited Montenegro to start accession talks to become the 29th member of the alliance, despite deep divisions on the matter within the tiny Adriatic nation.

"It's pure geopolitics…an attempt to prove that nobody can stop them [the NATO] from carrying out the so-called 'open door' policies," Grushko said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.

"In reality, this move would only worsen the situation in Western Balkans. It is obvious even now, that it already destabilizes the situation in Montenegro itself, where people have taken to the streets [in protest]," Grushko stressed.