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 In a scripted session at NATO's headquarters in Brussels,
Montenegro's Foreign Minister Igor Luksic strode into the imposing
conference hall to loud applause from his peers as NATO chief Jens
Stoltenberg declared: "This is the beginning of a very beautiful
alliance."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the decision to invite
Montenegro was not directed at Russia. "NATO is not a threat to
anyone ... it is a defensive alliance, it is simply meant to provide
security," Kerry told a news conference. "It is not focused on
Russia or anyone else."
NATO diplomats said the decision sends a message to Moscow that it
does not have a veto on the alliance's eastwards expansion, even if
Georgia's membership bid has been complicated by its 2008 war with
Russia.
Moscow opposes any NATO extension to former communist areas of
eastern and southeastern Europe, part of an east-west struggle for
influence over former Soviet satellites that is at the center of the
crisis in Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in September that any
expansion of NATO was "a mistake, even a provocation". In comments
to Russian media then, he said NATO's so-called open door policy was
"an irresponsible policy that undermines the determination to build
a system of equal and shared security in Europe."
 RIA news agency cited a Russian senator as saying on Wednesday that
Russia will end joint projects with Montenegro if the ex-Communist
country joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The Adriatic
state of 650,000 people is expected to become a member formally next
year.
Viktor Ozerov, head of the Russian Federation Council's defense and
safety committee, said the projects which could be axed included
those in military areas, RIA reported.
NATO foreign ministers broke off practical cooperation with Russia
in April last year after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula
and sparked the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed more
than 8,000 people. They can still talk to Russia through political
and military channels, however.
Still, NATO allies are divided over what message to send to Georgia
over its long-delayed membership bid, with some European capitals
arguing the alliance would be unable to defend the ex-Soviet state
in the event of a conflict with Russia.
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'BLATANT' CONTRADICTION
Those difficulties were underlined by a foreign ministers' joint
statement that provided little momentum in Georgia's membership
talks.
Ministers repeated their long-held position that Tbilisi must
continue to prepare for membership one day, calling for Russia's
military to withdraw from Georgia's breakaway regions of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Russia's continued presence there and agreements signed between
Russia and the two regions "blatantly contradict the principles of
international law," the statement said.
NATO's founding treaty deems an attack against one ally an attack
against all, giving any member a guarantee of protection. But
Georgia, which is a partner but not an ally, does not qualify for
any such protection.
NATO membership is also dependent on a country settling any
outstanding territorial disputes - another big hurdle for Georgia.
After Albania and Croatia joined NATO in 2009, only Serbia, Russia's
closest ally in the Balkans, is the only Balkan country not actively
pursuing membership of the alliance. Foreign ministers signaled
support for Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but neither are
expected to join soon.
Even though Montenegro has now been invited, it could take months
for it formally to join. But Stoltenberg said he expected accession
talks to go quickly, suggesting that the small Balkan state might
become a member at the next summit of NATO leaders in July in
Warsaw.
(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Richard
Balmforth)
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