NATO Enlargement? The Case of Montenegro

http://europeaninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2023:nato-enlargement-the-case-of-montenegro&catid=251:ea-april-2015&Itemid=199

NATO Enlargement? The Case of Montenegro

By Robert E. Hunter, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 1993-98

 

 Should the Republic of Montenegro be invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?  That question has now been posed and the Alliance is expected to answer it sometime later this year.

 

The simple answer is “Why not?” Montenegro is certainly eligible under Article 10 of the 1949 NATO Treaty and it is a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe which, since 1996, has defined the group of countries eligible to ask to join NATO. The Alliance is also committed to its so-called “open door” policy, which it regularly reconfirms. And to the extent there are any formal criteria for joining NATO, Montenegro seems to fit the bill. It is a democratic country, it is making economic progress, and it has no territorial claims against neighbors. So, again, the simple answer is “Why not?”http://europeaninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2023:nato-enlargement-the-case-of-montenegro&catid=251:ea-april-2015&Itemid=199