NATO Warships to Visit Montenegrin Port

Four ships under the command of Standing NATO Response Force Mine Countermeasure Group, SNMCMG-2, will visit the Montenegrin port of Bar on Friday, the Defence Ministry has announced.

Under the command of Turkish captain Ramazan Kesgin, the fleet consists of the Turkish flagship Sokollu Mehmet Pasha, as well as three minesweepers, the Turkish ship Akcakoca, Germany's Weilheim and the Greek ship, Europi.

The Ministry of Defence said that the aim of the visit was to highlight the importance of NATO operations in the fight against terrorism, as well as foster cooperation betwean NATO Allied Naval Command and  Montenegro, one of the countries involved in the NATO Partnership for Peace program.

"This group of ships, as a uniqe unit, operates mainly in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and is specialized in mine clearance operations and other ordnance left over from the wars in the 20th century," the ministry said in a statement.

Under Active Endeavour operation, NATO ships are patrolling the Mediterranean and monitoring shipping to deter, defend, disrupt and protect against terrorist activity.

The operation evolved out of NATO's response to the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.

Montenegro's government wants the Adriatic country to join NATO as soon possible, although the issue remains controversial among the 600,000 inhabitants, especially among members of the large Serbian community, many of whom still resent NATO for its role in bombing Serbia in the late 1990s.