On Tuesday evening the Hungarian press agency MTI quoted Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Tibor Navracsics as saying that Hungary considers Montenegro to be ready for NATO membership.

The Minister was speaking at a working dinner on the first day of a meeting in Brussels of foreign ministers from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; he said that Montenegro is ready for NATO membership, while of the other three countries aiming to join – Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia – the latter has done much to prepare for entry to the next important stage leading to NATO membership: the Membership Action Plan.

According to the Ministry’s communiqué, Mr. Navracsics argued that maintaining prospects for enlargement is important for the stability of the region.

The main item on the agenda at the working dinner was NATO's so-called "open door policy", which was described as a historic success by a NATO source this week. One diplomat stated that if Georgia does not receive the opportunity to start preparations for membership as part of the Action Plan, the Alliance will be showing that Moscow – which strongly disapproves of NATO expansion in the region – has significant influence in questions related to enlargement.

At the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, both Georgia and Ukraine were promised that if they meet membership criteria and wish to join, they will be invited to become members. No timescale was attached to this pledge, however.

(MTI)