Milo Djukanovic

The Democratic Front is planning new protests aimed at forcing out Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic - who has held power since 1991 - on September 27, it said on Monday.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has welcomed Montenegro's commitment to regional security and cooperation and thanked the country for its continued contributions to the Alliance's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Kosovo parliamentarians have accused their government of not being transparent in its negotiations with Montenegro over the northwestern border - and even of handing over territory. 

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurtz on Friday said recent attacks on journalists in the country were "very regrettable and should not happened".

Speaking after a meeting with Montenegrin Foreign Minister Igor Luksic in Podgorica, he said he had came to Montenegro primarily to meet civil society groups and the media and hear what they have to say.

Montenegro's ruling party congress, scheduled for next week, is expected to reaffirm Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's position as leader and tighten party discipline.

Djukanovic, a former communist, has led Montenegro for almost 25 years. He is seeking his seventh mandate as leader of a party that has been in power without interruption since the beginning of the nineties.

NATO should invite Macedonia and Montenegro to join when it holds its next summit in Poland in July of next year, Polish Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak has said.

"It would be excellent news if the invitations could be sent from (the NATO summit in) Warsaw to Macedonia and Montenegro," Reuters quoted Siemoniak as saying at a conference in Wroclaw, Poland on Friday.

The loss of all lives in 1999 was a tragedy, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday during a visit to the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

"I deeply regret everything that happened. I want to express my condolences to the families and all those who lost loved ones in 1999," Stoltenberg told a press conference after meeting Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

NATO chief offers condolences to families of victims

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the loss of all lives during NATO's bombing campaign against the SRJ represented "a tragedy."

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, is coming to Podgorica on Wednesday on a two-day visit to discuss Montenegro's aspirations to become a full member of the Atlantic Alliance by the end of 2015.

Montenegro's annual national report on the weapons trade said the country exported arms worth around 11 million euros over the last year, a rise of 41 per cent in value in comparison to previous years.

The Ministry of Economy report, which BIRN has seen, contains information on each export licence issued, a description of the goods, the number of items involved and the total value.