NATO officially invites Montenegro to join allianceDecember 2, 2015 - 13:17 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - NATO has formally invited the nation of Montenegro to join the military alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Wednesday, December 2, according to CNN News. The move is likely to displease Russia, which views NATO expansion as a threat to its security. Montenegro started on a path to join the alliance in 2009. The formal invitation marks the beginning of accession talks, NATO says. Montenegro already supports NATO's efforts in Afghanistan and has actively cooperated with the alliance in other ways. NATO expects Montenegro to make progress on reforms "especially in the area of rule of law." During the accession talks, NATO says it will engage Montenegro in alliance activities, CNN says. Membership in NATO is voluntary and open to European democracies willing and able to contribute to Western security, the alliance says. Aside from Montenegro, three further countries are partnering with NATO and are interested in becoming members -- Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia. The latter two were, like Montenegro, once a part of former Yugoslavia. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |