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Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, took to the floor of the Senate on Monday to say that the addition of Montenegro to the NATO alliance holds no national security value. He voted against a cloture motion which would have ratify the Accession Protocol for Montenegro to become the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“There is no national security interest that an alliance with Montenegro will advance. If we invite Montenegro into NATO, it will be a one-way street, with the U.S. committing to defend yet another country, and you, the taxpayer, being stuck with the bill. Even the advocates of Montenegro joining NATO admit as much,” stated Dr. Paul on the Senate floor.
Paul’s speech was accompanied by a statement from his office which read:
Before the cloture vote, Dr. Paul attempted to uphold the Constitution by introducing an amendment to prevent U.S. troops from being committed to defend Montenegro in an Article 5 situation without Congress first passing a declaration of war. You can read the amendment, which the Senate refused to consider, HERE.
Montenegro would fail to meet the standard repeatedly set by President Trump that NATO members should pay their fair share, as the country would not be able to meet the guideline to spend a minimum of two percent of its GDP on defense by 2024.
While the Senate is being urged to quickly act, the matter is far from settled within Montenegro’s own borders, with a 2016 opinion poll in Montenegro revealing that only 46.5 percent of the public supports NATO membership.
