Army of Montenegro will be obliged to participate in NATO military operations
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As one of the first steps in the upcoming negotiations on joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Government of Montenegro plans to amend the laws on defense, thereby determining the participation of its armed forces in the alliance military operations, which is mandatory for all members of the bloc.
In accordance with the plan, changes to the law that determine the use of military units of Montenegro in international operations will be completed by the end of March and sent to parliament.
According to information received from the Ministry of Defense, the new law will abolish the principle of voluntary service abroad, which operates in the country since 2010, when Montenegro joined the ISAF.
Editor's note : ISAF (English International Security Assistance Force) is an international military contingent led by NATO and operating in Afghanistan since 2001. It was established in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1386 of December 20, 2001.
The possibility of military personnel to make an independent decision to participate in NATO operations was provided for by the law adopted in 2008. It was introduced as a compromise after several soldiers expressed an interest in joining the international operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan, which began in 2003.
The new law also specifies which troops will be available for rapid dispatch overseas, if such a decision is made by the allies in the North Atlantic Alliance.
The deployment will now be mandatory, which means that soldiers will have to go to Afghanistan, for example, or some other region where they will conduct NATO operations in the future if their superiors decide so. Otherwise, they risk losing their jobs, the ministry said.
In February, Montenegro will begin negotiations on joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Recall that the official invitation to join the alliance the country received in December last year.
Obligations include changing the key laws on security and defense, which must be adapted to the collective rules of the NATO defense system.
Most of the inhabitants of Montenegro are still resolutely opposed to military intervention of the country in such regions as Afghanistan. According to some surveys of the Ministry of Defense, only 30 percent of servicemen consider the issue of taking part in operations conducted by the Bloc acceptable.
Recently, the government has asked the North Atlantic Alliance to approve the country's participation in the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, despite opposition from the large Serb community.
In order to increase the number of soldiers who are ready to participate in the alliance missions, the authorities offered numerous advantages for those who serve abroad, such as raising salaries and additional items in the country's housing stock ranking.
After joining NATO in 2004 and 2008, Slovenia and Croatia also abolished voluntary participation in international missions. In Slovenia, dozens of soldiers lost their jobs in 2004 after refusing to go to Kosovo and join KFOR.
Source: The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN#VitoSergejevic
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