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Good morning.

Dobr Dan. Dobrodosla Crna Goro. And welcome to all of you.

This morning, we made a historic decision, the twenty-eight Allies in NATO decided to invite Montenegro to begin accession talks to join the Alliance. 

This is a historic achievement.

Montenegro has conducted significant reforms.

It has shown commitment to our common values, and to international security.

I congratulate the government and the people of Montenegro for all that they have achieved.

And NATO membership will make both Montenegro and NATO more secure.

With NATO’s help, Montenegro has modernised and reformed.

NATO membership integrates Montenegro within the Euro-Atlantic community.

And it strengthens security across the Western Balkans.

We look forward to continuing to work closely with the government of Montenegro throughout the accession process.

NATO’s Open Door policy has been one of the Alliance’s great successes.

Moving us ever closer to our vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace.

NATO enlargement has fostered reform, strengthened collective security and provided the stability which is the foundation of prosperity.

And we have done this in a way that allows sovereign countries to choose their own security arrangements.

NATO’s door is open.  Today’s decision is proof of that.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are also making progress towards NATO membership.

We remain as committed as ever to the membership aspirations of these countries.

We will do everything we can to assist them in achieving their goals, judging each aspirant country on its own merits.

And we encourage them to continue along the path of reform.

Today’s decision shows that the hard work of reform pays off.

Minister, once again, congratulations. 

NATO membership is good for Montenegro, it is good for Europe, and it is good for the whole Alliance.

So once again welcome.

Igor Luksic (Montenegro Foreign Affairs Minister): Thank you Mr. Secretary General. Ladies and gentlemen a very good morning to you and indeed good morning for Montenegro. It is really a great pleasure, great honour, to be here today at the historic moment for my country, together with Minister Pejanovic-Durisic we took part in the NAC meeting and this is indeed a historical milestone for Montenegro. After restoring independence nine years ago, after opening accession talks with the EU three and a half years ago, but today has come a day that Montenegro receives membership invitation and this is definitely a long awaited decision but also a recognition of very hard work over the past nine years since we restored our independence but also since we started with Path For Peace at the summit in Riga.

This is also, I believe, an important day for the alliance as Secretary General already said. We owe our gratitude to all the NATO member states, to you Mr. Secretary General, to your staff, for tremendous support you have given us throughout the whole process. But also I'd like to be very clear today, the invitation doesn't mean the end of the process, it means the beginning of the next stage and reforms will then have to continue.

We are aware of all the obligations we have in the accession period, we stand ready to successfully complete them. At the same time well continue our national reforms, especially in the area of the rule of law and also well continue our efforts in fighting corruption, organized crime but also building ever stronger public support for the membership.

I believe this invitation is a great encouragement for all the countries that aspire to join NATO and it is of particularly good news for the western Balkans because another western Balkan country as part of the NATO means a strong voice for security and stability of the entire region. I'd like to thank also our neighbours for supporting us on our path towards NATO. Definitely a great day for our country, definitely also a new beginning and well continue to be as diligent in the future in fulfilling our obligations as we have been up to now. Thank you.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay. Were now going to open for some questions. Vijesti.

Q: Dadray Morich (sp?), Vijesti. What exactly will NATO expect from Montenegro from this moment on when it comes to rule of law and is there a minimum of public support that you expect to be gathered for the membership?

Jens Stoltenberg: First of all I think it is important to remind us all of the fact that this is a very good day for Montenegro and for the whole alliance because we have decided to invite Montenegro to become a full member. At the same time as Minister Luksic has and all of us have underlined several times, this is not the end of the road. So we expect Montenegro to continue on its path of reform, rule of law, fighting corruption and also continue to build public support. But I'm very confident that Montenegro will do exactly that because Montenegro has made so much progress so far and we will continue to work closely with Montenegro during the accession process. So this is a good day and we will continue to work very closely together with Montenegro in the following months.

NATO Spokesperson: AFP.

Q: Secretary General, Do you expect, I have two questions, they're a bit inter-related. Do you expect this decision because Russia has warned several times that they were against this move and this enlargement, do you expect this is going to make relations with Russia more complicated? And my second question is, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said this morning you had been tasked to reconvene a NATO Russian Council, is that correct? Is this going to happen? When, in what format?

Jens Stoltenberg: The decision to invite Montenegro to become a full member is not about Russia, it is about Montenegro and about NATO. And the decision to invite Montenegro is not directed against anyone. It is for our shared security and I think its extremely important to once again underline that every nation has its right to decide its own path and its own security arrangements and the question of whether Montenegro is going to become a member of NATO or not is up to Montenegro and 28 NATO allies to decide, no one else has the right to interfere in that decision.

When it comes to the NATO Russia Council I think it is important to remember that NATO decided last spring to suspend the practical cooperation with Russia as a result of Russia's actions in Ukraine, annexing Crimea. But we decided also to keep at the same time channels for political contact open and the NATO Russia Council is part of these channels for political contact and dialogue. So there has actually been meetings in the Council since the events or the annexation of Crimea last spring. And I will now explore how we can use the Council as a tool for political engagement and we have never decided to not use it and I welcome this report to then convene the Council and look into how we can do that, I will do that together with the ambassadors and then come back to when and how this can be done.

NATO Spokesperson: Okay well go to Rustavi 2.

Q: Georgian broadcasting company Rustavi 2. First of all my congratulations and Secretary General you already mentioned Georgia now and we also waiting for final document today, can you tell us do we have all necessary tools to be NATO member? And will it be mentioned in final communique? And to the Mr. Minister are you support Georgia on our way to be NATO members? Thanks.

Jens Stoltenberg: As I said we will continue to work with Georgia and we are as strong in our support for Georgia's aspiration for membership as we were before. And I think what we have seen today is that NATO's door is open, it remains open and we have proven that today by inviting Montenegro. And Georgia is and has made a lot of progress, I have visited Georgia myself, I have seen and I took part in the inauguration of the joint training and evaluation centre and we are working together with Georgia in many different areas, we have exercises and we also have expanded our political dialogue. So we are continuing to work with Georgia and we will also then issue a statement; we will also have text and renewed commitments to our strong support of Georgia's aspiration for NATO membership.

NATO Spokesperson: Lady in the second row.

Igor Luksic: Well as I said already I believe the invitation to Montenegro is a great encouragement for all countries that aspire to join NATO. I remember a couple of years ago when we reconvened Baltic Adriatic Charter meeting in the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting we also made sure that other aspirants are invited including Georgia to make sure that we have a forum to exchange views, exchange information, exchange experience and therefore I really believe that, I mean we, we that help and share as Secretary General has said there is still work to be done but there's, this is again strong encouragement.

Q: DVF Montenegro. Secretary General after we have received the invitation when is the closest date for official accession? And is it possible for us to become 29th member on Ministerial Meeting as well?

Jens Stoltenberg: What well do now is that well sit down with the Government of Montenegro and discuss the practical details around how we conduct and organize the accession talks. I expect them to start quite early and that they can finish by, as, early next year. So the accession talks I think can also go quite quickly. But then after we have agreed on the accession then of course there is a process with the 28 parliaments where all 28 parliaments in the NATO alliance has to, or have to ratify. And that will take some time and I think its impossible to sit in Brussels and design exactly how long time this will take in 28 different capitals. So that will take the time it takes. Last time it took about one year but I will not give any dates because its not possible to say anything with certainty about how long time this will take in different parliaments. But after we have agreed the accessions and while we are waiting for ratification then Montenegro will start to participate in our meetings without voting rights but they will be part of our meetings and as a first step towards membership.

NATO Spokesperson: One last question, gentleman over there.

Q: Bulgarian National Radio: I have a question to Mr. Luksic, Foreign Minister how do you see the game changing in the security and political environment in the Balkans after Montenegro would join NATO? Especially with your neighbours Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thank you.

Igor Luksic: One of the arguments we quite often use to express our views is that there is an added value in asking Montenegro to join because its not only about Montenegro's security and stability, that's first and foremost, it is definitely a historical milestone and a game changer for our own security and stability as it obviously sets the platform for further democratization of the country but also economic prosperity [inaudible]. But again as I said the argument goes also that this is quite important for the western Balkans stability and security and as I believe every step towards the integration process on, on our way towards EU membership and the same accounts for NATO membership, it has had positive impact on all of our neighbours despite their views whether they really want to join NATO or at this stage they're still hesitant or they're taking some other political decision. So this is definitely going to have only in our view positive impact as this contribution I'm sure will be seen in days, weeks, months, years to come.

NATO Spokesperson: Thank you very much.