Milo Djukanovic

Montenegrin PM Milo Djukanovic on Friday described "the security picture of Europe" as incomplete without the region's "full integration in NATO."

"Our region's countries can preserve their security only within the Euro-Atlantic community, and we belong to that circle regardless of the stories about neutrality," he told a forum, dubbed "2BS (To Be Secure)", held in Podgorica.

Metropolitan Amfilohije on Wednesday accused the Montenegrin authorities of "crucifying and persecuting" his Church and of wanting to "grab Church property".

At a service in Cetinje, Bishop Amfilohije said Montenegro was also trying to obstruct the legal residence of his clergy.

A day after Montenegro's Tax Administration filed a petition to declare TV Vijesti bankrupt, Vladan Micunovic, chief editor of TV Vijesti, told BIRN on Wednesday that the request was proof that the government was determined to punish critical voices in the media.

Italy supports Montenegro's bid to join NATO, Italian President Sergio Mattarella said at a meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart, Filip Vujanovic, on Tuesday.

Mattarella said he was confident that Montenegro would obtain an invitation to join the Western military alliance by the end of the year .

A Montenegrin newspaper expressed bitter disappointment after a court ruled on Monday that there was no evidence to convict two men from Podgorica of staging a bomb attack that targeted the independent daily Vijesti.

The main opposition alliance, the Democratic Front, urged the government on Monday to delete more than 70,000 voters from the central electoral roll because it said they could not prove that they have resided in the country continuously for the past two years.

State-owned national carrier Montenegro airlines on Tuesday admitted a net loss of 9.5 million euro in 2014, blaming the economic crisis for its poor financial performance.

Germany's Foreign Minister pledged Berlin's strong support for Montenegro's strategic foreign policy goals of EU and NATO membership, hailing the country as "a success story in the region.

"I would like to see more examples like Montenegro," Steinmeier said on Wednesday after a meeting in Berlin with the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic.

The EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy, Johannes Hahn, on Tuesday said the "Western Balkan Six" conference in Brussels had reached agreement on a regional transport network.

BRUSSELS - Establishing better transport connections is crucial for regional development, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said at a Western Balkan Six conference in Brussels on Tuesday.