Montenegro–Russia relations

Montenegro's tourism business is gearing up for the summer, expecting more Russian tourists than in previous years.

On Thursday, the tourism authorities presented the country's offer at the largest Moscow travel and tourism fair, MITT, saying that, "trends show that more Russian tourists are interesting to visit Montenegro."

AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

NATO is celebrating Montenegro's accession for the third time in two weeks - a flag raising ceremony has been held today in Brussels.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Montenegro's accession to NATO was "imposed" on the country by the West, as Moscow also warned of unspecified retaliatory measures against Podgorica.

Montenegro became the 29th member of NATO on Jun 5 and was praised by the United States for sticking to its path of joining the Western military alliance in spite of Russian pressure.

Moscow on Sunday took the unsual step of expelling a Montenegrin MP, Miodrag Vukovic, from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, after he was reportedly declared "persona non grata".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro on Wednesday rejected as unfounded allegations of "Anti Russian hysteria" in Montenegro which was presented at the press conference by a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

Montenegro's Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed Kremlin's claims that Russian citizens could be endangered in Montenegro due to worsening relations between the two countries.

The ministry said a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman's talk of growing "anti-Russian hysteria" in Montenegro were totally unfounded.

Montenegrin PM Milo Djukanovic said in an exclusive interview for B92 that by recognizing Kosovo no one in Montenegro had any bad intentions towards Serbia.

Joseph Biden has told Milo Djukanovic he is convinced Montenegro will work diligently and successfully complete the process of joining NATO.

BALKANS INFLUENCE Montenegro invited to join NATO

NATO has invited Montenegro to become the 29th member state of the organization, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The decision to invite Montenegro was adopted unanimously, Beta is reporting on Wednesday.