NATO Should Offer Membership to Montenegro: US Senator

[Ars Moriendi]

NATO Should Offer Membership to Montenegro: US Senator

http://en.ria.ru/world/20141101/194933262/NATO-Should-Offer-Membership-to-Montenegro.html

http://en.ria.ru/images/19388/34/193883433.jpg
Flags of member nations flap in the wind outside NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday, Aug. 29, 2014.

WASHINGTON, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - NATO (http://en.ria.ru/video/20141031/194886844/Secretary-General-on-NATO-Russia-Relations-We-Are-Not-at-War.html) should prevent Russia's (http://en.ria.ru/world/20141025/194578503/NATO-Not-Interested-in-Conflicts-With-Russia-Alliance.html) spreading influence in the Balkans by reinforcing its positions in the region and offering membership to Montenegro, US Senator from Connecticut and chairman of US Senate’s Subcommittee on European Affairs Chris Murphy said on Friday.

“I believe NATO should offer membership to Montenegro as soon as possible,'' Murphy said in his speech at Johns Hopkins University.

''We shouldn’t just assume that Montenegro will continue to spurn Russia’s security office, if NATO (http://en.ria.ru/world/20141020/194350655/US-NATO-Stand-Behind-Gaddafis-Death-Former-Soviet-Ambassador-to-Libya.html) continues to spurn Montenegro,'' he said.
The Senator pointed out that Montenegro’s democracy is still young and the question is whether it will develop “under NATO’s umbrella or Putin’s”.
Murphy said that if NATO does not continue its policy of accepting new states, it will encourage Russia (http://en.ria.ru/video/20141020/194335008/Lavrov-Explains-What-US-Statements-on-NATO-Russia-Confrontation.html) to spread its influence in the Balkans.

“The best signal to send Russia right now is that NATO is open for business and growing along the lines and rules that it traditionally has,” Murphy concluded.
Currently NATO has 28 member countries; the last states that joined the alliance in 2009 were Albania and Croatia.

[Ars Moriendi]

So far, it seems the sentiment in Montenegro is against joining the military union. Yet, the portion of people that do want it is significant:
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Montenegrins still in two minds over NATO
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/173208/montenegrins-still-in-two-minds-over-nato.html

About 35 per cent of Montenegrins want to join NATO, 45 per cent are against, and 20 per cent don't know, a new survey has indicated.

If a referendum was held immediately on whether Montenegrins was to join NATO, the outcome would be uncertain, a survey released on Tuesday suggested.

The survey, conducted last month by the local watchdog CEDEM, sampling the views of 1,025 people, suggested that 20 per cent remained undecided on the issue.

The strongest support for NATO membership is among the country's ethnic Albanians and Bosniaks - about 76 per cent. Around 40 percent of those who identified as ethnic Montenegrins said they supported NATO membership but only 9.3 per cent of ethnic Serbs did so.

CEDEM's representative Nenad Koprivica said that about half of all citizens feared that joining NATO might negatively affect Montenegro's relations with Serbia and Russia.

The government insists that support for NATO member is significantly higher than it was, and is increasing.

Commenting on the survey, Foreign Minister Igor Luksic said that according to the government's own data, about 46 per cent of the population now support joning the Western military alliance.

On Tuesday, an anti-NATO campaign group, the Movement for Neutrality of Montenegro, accused the government of releasing "false information" about public support for NATO because, it said, CEDEM's research "unequivocally showed that support is continually dropping".

The government has been pushing to join the alliance ever since Montenegro restored its independence in 2006. It joined the NATO Membership Action Plan in 2009, which is regarded as a final step before joining the alliance.

In a setback in June, however, ministers of NATO countries did not to offer the country membership at the alliance summit in Wales this year, saying they would reconsider Montenegro’s bid in 2015.
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Unsurprising to see the discrimination by ethnicity.

[Kotrag]

Joining NATO means scrapping whatever military the ex-eastern block states have left, if Montenegro joined, they would just become a protectorate and a subjugated nation.

[StormBringer]

I remember reading an article according to which Croatians will be "guarding" their sky, not sure what became of that.

[Crn Volk]

Joining NATO means scrapping whatever military the ex-eastern block states have left, if Montenegro joined, they would just become a protectorate and a subjugated nation.

Montenegro doesn't have a military, so won't matter.

[Kotrag]

Montenegro doesn't have a military, so won't matter.

Yes they do, they even have fighter jets, unlike fyrom.

They would be able to defend themselves in case of Albanian insurgency. Fyrom needs Bulgaria to defend it.

[Crn Volk]

Yes they do, they even have fighter jets, unlike fyrom.

They would be able to defend themselves in case of Albanian insurgency. Fyrom needs Bulgaria to defend it.

:picard2:

[Kotrag]

:picard2:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegrin_Air_Force

Correct me if I was wrong.

[Kotrag]

:picard2:

You know I was referring to Montenegro, so how about you find an actual argument as opposed to making fun of the English of a person who learned it as a second language?

[Crn Volk]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenegrin_Air_Force

Correct me if I was wrong.

Yes they have a few planes, but with a population of 500,000 of which half are Serbs, 30% are muslim, can hardly defeat greater-albania.....

[Kotrag]

Yes they have a few planes, but with a population of 500,000 of which half are Serbs, 30% are muslim, can hardly defeat greater-albania.....

Montenegrins have Serbia, Macedonians could have Bulgaria...

[Stefan_Dusan]

As far as I know there is no problem with the Montenegrin Albanian population really.

[Crn Volk]

Montenegrins have Serbia, Macedonians could have Bulgaria...

Serbia recognizes Montenegrin ethnicity and language. If Bulgaria did the same with us, we could have Bulgaria as friend.

[Kotrag]

Serbia recognizes Montenegrin ethnicity and language. If Bulgaria did the same with us, we could have Bulgaria as friend.

The common Montenegrin recognizes himself as a Serb. Why don't FYROManians do the right thing and recognize themselves as Bulgarians?

[Crn Volk]

The common Montenegrin recognizes himself as a Serb. Why don't FYROManians do the right thing and recognize themselves as Bulgarians?

About 50% of them do. They are mountain Serbs as far as I know. The Albanians consider them Slavicized Albanians, so not all is clear there too.

As for Macedonians, we are not Tatar-Mongols :p

[Stefan_Dusan]

The common Montenegrin recognizes himself as a Serb. Why don't FYROManians do the right thing and recognize themselves as Bulgarians?

There are Montenegrins who vehemently deny they're Serb (they're usually coastal populations). The Brda clans are usually the strongest in declaring as Serb. It's quite a complicated picture in Montenegro.

I think its accurate to say that once upon a time they were Serbs, and now they're Montenegrins. It didn't help that both Montenegro and Serbia got their independence in parallel, with different ruling monarchs, separated by the Ottoman Empire (Sandzhak).

Oh well.

[Borna]

Whats up with Serbs and Bulgarians claiming neighbor countries ? You gust both lost all wars during 20th century.

[Stefan_Dusan]

Whats up with Serbs and Bulgarians claiming neighbor countries ? You gust both lost all wars during 20th century.

In terms of Croatia, Serbs only claimed the territories where ethnic Serbs made a sizable chunk. After all the borders of your country Croatia were drawn by a communist after WW2, its not like we had to accept those borders.

But oh well we did lose in Croatia (we sort of won in Bosnia), we had bad luck that the world would turn against us.

[Skerdilaid]

About 50% of them do. They are mountain Serbs as far as I know. The Albanians consider them Slavicized Albanians, so not all is clear there too.

As for Macedonians, we are not Tatar-Mongols :p

But you are the same stock with the rest of bugars.

[Kotrag]

About 50% of them do. They are mountain Serbs as far as I know. The Albanians consider them Slavicized Albanians, so not all is clear there too.

As for Macedonians, we are not Tatar-Mongols :p

Bulgarian south Slavic blood overwhelms their Turkic blood (the average Bulgarian is only 5% turanid), but their Turkic-Mongol blood is still something to be proud of, the bulgars conquered a huge portion of Eastern Europe and the Eurasian steppe, and the bulgar identity continues to be the most relatable identity for Bulgarians (with some bulgar words even remaining in use in the bulgarian language). Also, Tatars are bulgars, but bulgars were not tatars. To say that the bulgars were tatars implies that they have kypchak blood from the Golden Horde, which the bulgars did not have.

[Crn Volk]

But you are the same stock with the rest of bugars.

Only with those of Macedonian back-ground who fled Macedonia to there during various wars. Them and their descendants number in the millions.

[Kotrag]

Only with those of Macedonian back-ground who fled Macedonia to there during various wars. Them and their descendants number in the millions.

You should follow their lead ;)

[Skerdilaid]

Only with those of Macedonian back-ground who fled Macedonia to there during various wars. Them and their descendants number in the millions.

Come again, bugar?

[Crn Volk]

Come again, bugar?

I was going to do a mum joke, but I won't.

[Vukodav]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2NiRcanWS_c/U33ZlC91vgI/AAAAAAAACH4/8yf4o60NiME/s1600/Protest-Ne+u+Nato+(2).JPG
http://facebookreporter.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/reg-nato_620x0.jpg?w=639
http://gdb.rferl.org/71163321-42DC-4E6E-B055-14C8159376BF_w974_n_s.jpg
http://ww.novosti.co.rs/upload/images/2014//04/04n/reg-protest-pg.jpg