(VOVworld) - NATO will sign an accession agreement with Montenegro, paving the way for the small Balkan country to become the 29th member of the trans-Atlantic alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

NATO invited Montenegro to join the Western military alliance on December 2, 2015 (Photo: nato.int.)

In a Wednesday press briefing ahead of a two-day NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, Stoltenberg said Montenegro's membership is "a clear sign that NATO countries continue to build stability and security in the Western Balkans."
The move also shows that "NATO's door remains open," he added, as the alliance prepares a high-level summit in Poland this July which is expected to adopt a major NATO military overhaul.