Montenegro protesters
© ReutersA demonstrator raises his fist during anti-NATO protest as Montenegro’s parliament discuss NATO membership agreement in Cetinje, Montenegro, April 28, 2017.
Montenegro's Parliament formally agreed to join NATO - the military bloc that was pounding the tiny Balkan country with bombs just 18 years ago during the Kosovo War. Washington's consent cleared the way for its membership.

On Friday, Montenegrin MPs voted 46-0 to become the 29th member of NATO.

Opposition lawmakers boycotted the parliamentary session, while hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building before the vote to express their discontent with the idea of Montenegro joining the alliance.

The protesters chanted "treason" and "thieves" and held a banner that read "NATO murderers, your hands are bloody!" They also burned a NATO flag before peacefully dispersing.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders announced they would not recognize the results of the parliamentary vote and would call a referendum on the issue should they come to power in future, Reuters reports.

"I feel humiliated because others are making a decision in my name," former Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic told Reuters. "What is happening now is triumph by force and lies!"

The approval had been anticipated long before voting day, as the ruling pro-NATO coalition holds a majority of seats in the nation's parliament. The opposition has branded the approval illegitimate, insisting that NATO membership must be put to a nationwide referendum.

Montenegro, a country with a population of around 622,000 people, was granted a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2009. Membership in the military alliance remains highly controversial in the small Balkan nation, which seceded from Serbia in 2006.

Serbia and Montenegro, which formed one country after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, were subjected to a three-month bombing campaign during the NATO invasion of 1999.

The bombing, which was conducted without authorization from the UN Security Council, left hundreds of civilians killed, and many public buildings, bridges, industrial facilities, and cultural heritage sites damaged or destroyed.

Friday's vote follows US President Donald Trump's decision to approve Montenegro's membership bid on April 11.


NATO is "central to ensuring peace and security on the European continent," the White House said in a subsequent statement, adding that granting NATO membership to Montenegro will send a message to other aspirants that the "door to membership in the Euro-Atlantic community of nations remains open."

"President Trump congratulates the Montenegrin people for their resilience and their demonstrated commitment to NATO's democratic values," the White House said.

Critics in the US questioned what benefit a country with a 2,000-strong military will bring to NATO. However, the country's strategic position will give the alliance full control over the Adriatic Sea, as other Adriatic countries Albania, Croatia, and Italy are already long-time NATO members.

Moscow maintains that Montenegro's accession to NATO will diminish stability in the Balkans and the rest of Europe.

"Reasons for Montenegro to enter the alliance are unclear. Is someone threatening it?" Russian President Vladimir Putin said last June at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, also mentioning "the bloc's blatant disregard of our position."

In December of last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik news agency that Montenegro's leadership had "betrayed all [their] commitments and promises, betrayed Russia, although Russia did not do anything to [them]," referring to Montenegro's signing of the NATO Accession Protocol in May of 2016.