Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his NATO counterparts about offering a Membership Action Plan for Montenegro; and if he will make a statement.

The first cycle of Montenegro’s Membership Action Plan was initiated in 2009.

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), together with his counterparts from NATO Allies, met NATO’s aspiring members, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro, on 4 September 2014 during the NATO Summit in Wales to discuss their progress towards joining the Alliance. The Allies welcomed the significant progress made by Montenegro in its reforms and looked to Montenegro to continue its efforts to address the remaining challenges, particularly with respect to the rule of law and completing security sector reform.

At the Summit, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed to commence ‘intensified and focused talks’ with Montenegro before reassessing their progress no later than December 2015. As a part of this process NATO’s Military Committee visited Montenegro on 27-28 October 2014.

The United Kingdom strongly supports NATO’s Open Door policy on enlargement and welcomes the membership aspirations of all the countries currently seeking to join the Alliance.