NATO headquarters in Belgium (source: TASR/AP)
The Slovak Parliament ratified Montenegro’s NATO membership on June 14, with 78 MPs voting in favour of the NATO Accession Protocol.
NATO foreign affairs ministers approved the invitation for Montenegro to begin accession talks in December 2015 and the Slovak government last month greenlighted the protocol. The Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry underlined that Montenegro’s NATO membership will considerably bolster security and expand the zone of stability and freedom in the western Balkans, the TASR newswire reported.
In order for Montenegro to become a fully-fledged NATO member, it is necessary for national parliaments of the 28 NATO-member states to ratify the accession protocol first.
Slovakia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has declared that the document is in accordance with both the Slovak constitution and other laws and regulations. From the perspective of the constitution, the protocol has the character of a political international military treaty, which requires the approval of the parliament prior to the ratification process, TASR reported.
