WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, on Tuesday welcomed Montenegro to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). By a vote of 97-2, the Senate ratified Treaty 114-12, Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on the Accession of Montenegro. 

“Expanding NATO to include Montenegro will advance U.S. security interests and help protect our allies. Growing and strengthening our transatlantic security alliance is more important now than at any time since the Cold War. We’ve seen that Russia will stop at nothing to grow its sphere of influence in and around Europe, and keeping them at bay will take all hands on deck,” said Murphy. “Montenegro’s membership also sends an important signal that NATO’s door remains open to aspiring countries in the face of Russian aggression and interference.”

Murphy has been a steadfast proponent of Montenegro’s accession to NATO. He spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate earlier today on the importance of Montenegro’s accession to NATO amid Russian aggression, and in 2014, he delivered remarks to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies’ Center for Transatlantic Relations. During that speech, Murphy said, “NATO should offer membership to Montenegro as soon as possible. Russia is trying to muddy the waters as quickly as possible inside Montenegro, and we shouldn’t just assume that Montenegro will continue to spurn Russia’s security offers if NATO continues to spurn Montenegro… The best signal to send Russia right now is that NATO is open for business and growing, along the lines and rules that it traditionally has.” Murphy traveled to Montenegro in October 2014.